After taking over a glossy new-build tower on 42nd Street in 2000, Condé Nast decided to move 14 years later—this time to one of the world’s most symbolic sites, One World Trade Center. The decision to move legendary properties like Vogue into the 1,776-feet-high totem signified another rebirth for the neighborhood after 9/11.

In a signature masterpiece of 1.3 million square feet spread over floors 20 to 44, Condé Nast’s headquarters celebrates the media company’s diverse brands while helping its transition to the digital era. A dramatic spiral staircase connects two amenity floors housing specialty functions — including a new digital studio, a café and reference library, test kitchens, salons, and changing spaces for fashion models — with a multifunctional conference center.

The comprehensive brand positioning and environmental graphics program unifies the Condé Nast identity within the public spaces while allowing each brand to express itself within its own workspace. On each floor, one main corridor features Condé Nast’s collective digital content, while others exhibit the individual brands housed there. Conference room walls and fashion closets are cloaked in vinyl reproductions of published photography by greats like Irving Penn.

A minimalist-chic palette of stark white, dark gray, and glossy black features the whole design concept, even in the 35th-floor cafeteria, where chefs prepare kale and quinoa lunches at freestanding food stations. Conceived as a marketplace, the seating is varied: enclaves of banquettes separated by smoked glass, café chairs around intimate four-tops, and communal tables topped with marble.

For its sleek and clean shape, D81 Crio has been chosen as stunning pendants where journalists and fashionistas have their lunch and meetings.

From now on, we can definitely say that The Devil designs with Crio!


Architects: Gensler New York

Photo credit: Garrett Rowland