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.
TWA Hotel
Queens, NY
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
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.
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
For the first phase of the project, BBB restored the exterior of the building and completed the primary interior spaces, addressing important life safety concerns such as smoke evacuation modeling, detection, annunciation, and egress. Returned to its finely detailed glory, the building was prepared for the second phase: its reuse as a hotel, restaurant and meeting center complex.
Courtesy of TWA, David Mitchell
Process
Original Fabric Swatches
A strategy for restoration and redevelopment was formulated based upon extensive research, interviews with surviving members of the original design team, and the analysis of archival materials.
Exterior Restoration
BBB restored the exterior of the building, from the glass, to the repair of failing concrete, to the restoration of the historic land-side entrance.
Restoration of Original Mosaic Tiles
Approximately 3.5 million pieces of the mosaic tile were sourced from China to match precisely the matrix and aggregate colors, texture and size of the original Italian tile, while meeting current ASTM
requirements.
Sustainable Infrastructure
Infrastructure upgrades were another major component: the TWA Hotel now operates independently from the power grid, thanks to a co-generation plant that generates all electricity, heating, and cooling required to operate the facility.
Courtesy of TWA, Max Touhey
Courtesy of TWA, David Mitchell
Image Galleries
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Courtesy of TWA Hotel, David Mitchell
Project Credits
BBB Partner-in-Charge
Richard W. Southwick
BBB Team
Susan Bopp
Joe Gall
Carmen Menocal
Ariane Prache
Michael Elizabeth Rozas
Joe Gall
Carmen Menocal
Ariane Prache
Michael Elizabeth Rozas
Consulting Architect & Hotel Building Design
Lubrano Ciavarra Architects
Events Center Interior Design
INC Architecture & Design
Hotel Interior Design
Stonehill Taylor
Landscape Architecture
Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects
Mechanical/Electrical
Jaros, Baum & Bolles
Structural
Arup
Geotechnical
Langan
Materials Conservation
Integrated Conservation Resources (ICR)
Lighting Design-Flight Center & Building Exteriors
One Lux
Lighting Design-Hotel & Event Space
Cooley Monato Studio
Sound Design
Cerami & Associates
Curtain Wall
Front Inc.
Food Service
Next Step Design
Code Consultant
Code Consultants International (CCI)
Construction Manager
Turner Construction Company
Photography
John Bartelstone, Eric Laignel, and Christopher Payne/Esto
Before / After - Courtesy of TWA, Max Touhey and David Mitchell
Before / After - Courtesy of TWA, Max Touhey and David Mitchell
Awards & Press
AIA
2021 National AIA Award for Architecture
The New York Landmarks Conservancy
2021 Chairman’s Award
AIA New York State
AIA New York State Design Awards, Honor Award & Best of the Best
Urban Land Institute New York
Excellence in Hotel Development Award
Hospitality Design
Awards for Restorations, Transformations, + Conversions and Midscale Public Space
The New York Landmark Conservancy
2019 Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award
The Municipal Art Society of New York
2020 MASterworks Award for Best Adaptive Reuse
New York State Historic Preservation Office
2019 NYS Historic Preservation Award
BD+C Reconstruction Awards
Honorable Mention
Building Design + Construction
Reconstruction Awards
Business Traveler
Exploring the Iconic TWA Hotel
TimeOut
One of the best airport hotels in the world is in NYC
Wall Street Journal
The Best Architecture of 2019: Built to Be Experienced Off-Screen
Wall Street Journal
Where the Airport Is the Destination
Curbed New York
Preserving an icon
Metropolis
With Its Painstaking Restoration, Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center Gets a Second Life
Architectural Record
TWA Hotel Opens at JFK, Giving New Life to Saarinen’s Flight Center
CBS News
Up, Up and Away at the TWA Hotel
Untapped Cities
NYC Makers: A Q&A with Richard Southwick, Architect for the TWA Hotel
The New York Times
Hotel Project Would Revive Embodiment of Jet Age at Kennedy Airport
Next Project
TWA Hotel