Credit: Courtesy of TWA Hotel / David Mitchell

TWA Hotel

BBB's design for the redevelopment of Eero Saarinen's mid-century masterpiece reactivates this international landmark and opens it to the public as a hotel, restaurant and conference center.

The newly designed TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport maintains the integrity and legacy of the 1962 structure designed by Eero Saarinen. Vacant for over 15 years, the restored Flight Center serves as the lobby for the hotel, and the cornerstone for the restaurant and conference complex. Two new wings located behind the historic Flight Center house 512 hotel rooms, and a subterranean 46,000 SF conference center is set between the two TWA connecting tubes. Restaurants, a 10,000-SF public observation deck, retail shops, a rooftop pool and a health club complete the program. The TWA Hotel is the only hotel within the JFK Airport property, providing both a convenient travelers amenity and an event destination for the metro New York area. Included in the project plans is a museum focusing on the history of TWA, the story of Eero Saarinen and the Midcentury Modern design movement.

Print Project

Client

MCR Development

Location

Queens, NY

Size

512 key hotel

Completed

2019

Certification

Targeted LEED Gold

Keywords

People

Richard W. Southwick

FAIA, LEED AP
Partner, Director of Historic Preservation
Partner-in-Charge

AIA
Principal

AIA, LEED AP
Principal

AIA, LEED AP
Senior Associate, Project Architect

AIA
Senior Associate

ARB
Associate

Michael Elizabeth Rozas

AIA, LFA
Associate, Architect

AIA
Associate, Architect

Team

Lubrano Ciavarra Architects

Consulting Architect & Hotel Building Design
INC Architecture & Design

Events Center Interior Design
Stonehill Taylor

Hotel Interior Design
Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects

Landscape Architecture
Jaros, Baum & Bolles

Mechanical/Electrical
Arup

Structural
Langan

Geotechnical
Integrated Conservation Resources (ICR)

Materials Conservation
One Lux

Lighting Design-Flight Center & Building Exteriors
Cooley Monato Studio

Lighting Design-Hotel & Event Space
Cerami & Associates

Sound Design
Front Inc.

Curtain Wall
Next Step Design

Food Service
Code Consultants International (CCI)

Code Consultant
Turner Construction Company

Construction Manager

Awards

Press

23 Apr 2024

TimeOut —One of the best airport hotels in the world is in NYC
06 Dec 2016

The New York Times —Hotel Project Would Revive Embodiment of Jet Age at Kennedy Airport
08 Mar 2017

Curbed New York —TWA Terminal Redevelopment Team Reveals New Details About its Hotel Revamp
20 Jun 2018

Interior Design —Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center at JFK Prepares for a New Beginning
05 Jul 2018

Architect Magazine —Saarinen Soars Again
15 Nov 2018

Daily Mail —A Sneak Peek at JFK's New $265m Hotel in Its Space Age TWA Terminal
19 Sep 2019

Interior Design —Beyer Blinder Belle, INC, Lubrano Ciavarra, and Stonehill Taylor Propel Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center into a 21st-Century Hotel
15 May 2019

Architectural Record —TWA Hotel Opens at JFK, Giving New Life to Saarinen's Flight Center
23 Jul 2019

Curbed New York —Preserving an icon
12 Jun 2019

The Washington Post —The TWA Hotel revives a magnificent, mid-century vision of the friendly skies
16 May 2019

New York Magazine —TWA Takes Flight Again, Without Leaving the Ground
10 Sep 2019

How Stuff Works —Landmark TWA Flight Center Now Stuns as Hotel
03 Jun 2019

The American Scholar —Flights of Fancy
08 May 2019

Untapped Cities —NYC Makers: A Q&A with Richard Southwick, Architect for the TWA Hotel
31 May 2019

Metropolis —With Its Painstaking Restoration, Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center Gets a Second Life
26 Jul 2019

Wall Street Journal —Where the Airport Is the Destination
01 Jul 2019

The New York Times —Martinis at the Bar. Sinatra on Repeat. The TWA Hotel Sells a Jet-Age Fantasy.
07 Dec 2019

Wall Street Journal —The Best Architecture of 2019: Built to Be Experienced Off-Screen
28 Aug 2019

TIME Magazine —World's Greatest Places 2019
04 Jan 2020

Interior Design —Best Bar & Lounge Projects of 2019
02 Jan 2020

Interior Design —Top Public Space Designs of 2019