Project Overview

Eero Saarinen's 1960's modernist terminal building at New York's JFK Airport has been renovated and expanded into a first-class, 512 room hotel that faithfully incorporates the aesthetic of the era.

Project Commissioner

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey / MCR / MORSE

Project Creator

Lubrano Ciavarra Architects / Beyer Blinder Belle / INC Architecture / Stonehill Taylor

Project Brief

From the moment guests and visitors arrive at the 392,000sf TWA Hotel, they will find themselves immersed in the ethos of 1962’s rich culture, architecture, sights, sounds and ambience. The attention to the smallest of details permeates the entire guest experience, paying homage to the magnificent landmark and special time in American history.

Restoring the beloved building (a project led by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects), constructing two brand new hotel wings behind it (designed by LUBRANO CIAVARRA Architects with interior design by Stonehill Taylor) and building a 50,000sf events center (by INC Architecture & Design) was a massive three-year long endeavor, involving over 170 government agencies and consulting firms.

Project Innovation/Need

Set in two new low-rise buildings, and connected to the terminal through the original red-carpeted flight tubes, the TWA Hotel’s 426 guestrooms and 86 suites are ultra-quiet through specially-designed 4.5in thick windows, the second thickest windows in the world. A new rooftop infinity pool and observation deck offers guests once-in-a-lifetime views of JFK’s runways while having a drink from the Pool Bar.

The rooftop bar incorporates terrazzo and stainless-steel materials from the interior and is wrapped with period Bertoia stools. The heated pool is open for year-round enjoyment, as waders and sunbathers alike enjoy runway views to the east and the iconic Saarinen building to the west.

The two new hotel guest room buildings are positioned behind the Flight Center and radiate out symmetrically about its central axis. The buildings’ primary elevations of glass and aluminum create a neutral background against which Saarinen’s historic icon can once again be clearly understood.

Vertically oriented and carefully proportioned, grey-tinted rectangular curtainwall panels repeat vocabulary elements found in Saarinen’s broader oeuvre. Consecutive vertical mullion caps are detailed to create continuity between the panels, while the tonality of the mullions is warm in color to harmonize with the warm white exterior finish coating of the Flight Center.

End wall panels of pre-cast concrete, fluted to mimic the shape of the mullion cap, relate to the palette selected by Saarinen and serve to frame the overall composition of the site.