383 Madison Avenue Building

The 383 Madison Avenue Building is a Contemporary skyscraper designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, with David Childs as lead architect, and built between 1999 and 2001 in New York, NY.

383 Madison Avenue Building is not the only name you might know this building by though. Between 2002 and 2008 it was also known as Bear Stearns World Headquarters.

Its precise street address is 383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY. You can also find it on the map here.

In 2003 the 383 Madison Avenue Building was awarded with the BOMA Award .

The building underwent a major restoration in 2003. The architect commissioned to undertake this restoration was Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects, PC.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, with David Childs as the lead architect, was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the 383 Madison Avenue Building a reality:

• WSP Cantor Seinuk in charge of Structural Engineering
• Turner Construction Company as the Main Contractor
• OTIS Elevator Company as the company in charge of the elevators system
• Gerald D Hines Interests as the Main Developer
• Jaros Baum & Bolles in charge of MEP Engineering

The 383 Madison Avenue Building can be categorized as a Contemporary building.

The 383 Madison Avenue Building uses a frame structure made of steel columns and poured concrete over metal decking slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade uses a non-load bearing modular, or panelized system. This type of facade can function as either a window wall or a curtain wall, depending on the design. Unlike traditional glass curtain walls or window walls though, the modular facade is not primarily composed of glass. Instead, it often features more opaque panels that mimic masonry or stone-clad finishes, with smaller windows cut into the panels.

This type of facade allows the building to benefit from the modern qualities of a curtain wall while giving the design team flexibility to achieve visual aesthetics beyond the all-glass modern skyscraper.

Two-thirds of the eastern portion of the building rise above two levels of tracks belonging to Grand Central Terminal, which led to the structural core with the elevators being placed on the west side. This reduced the efficiency of lateral bracing and required the installation of a Vierendeel truss with columns spaced every 3 meters on the eastern side.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features is clad in light-colored granite and lightly tinted glass with silver metal frames, topped by a 21-meter architectural glass crown.

The building rises from a rectangular 9-story base that occupies an entire city block and features several setbacks up to the 12th floor, where it becomes an octagonal tower with another setback at the 18th floor.