The 550 Madison garden Plaza was developed as part of the 550 Madison Avenue project. The area spanning 55th Street and 56th Street in Midtown Manhattan, which was once a closed-off passageway, is now an oasis-like privately owned public space (POPS) featuring innovative landscaping.
The garden features a magnificent glass canopy that partially covers the outdoor space, gathering rainwater for the trees and plants below.
Sponzilli Landscape Group handled the landscape installation, which included:
- Dozens of specimen trees—some as tall as 25’
- Extensive plantings
- A waterfall
- Custom outdoor furniture
- A common seating area
Key project members included:
The Olayan Group and RXR Realty – Developer
Snøhetta – Landscape Architect
AECOM Tishman – General Contractor
A Piece of Central Park in Midtown
The 550 Madison garden is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
Office workers, city residents, and visitors can relax, retreat from the summer’s heat or winter’s cold (thanks to a steam pit that emits heated vapor in winter), enjoy the garden’s beauty, and even grab a bite to eat from one of the three food vendors.
“The new public plaza at 550 Madison . . . is incredibly green, with fir trees, tall leafy shrubs, and delicate ferns cascading down a two-story-tall living roof that slopes into a hill. It’s almost like someone took a sliver of Central Park and stuck it in the heart of midtown.” (Diana Budds, Curbed, “Snøhetta-designed garden, 550 Madison finally has an exceptional public space.”)
“If you venture inside the garden, it reveals . . . hundreds of places to sit down (from built-in benches to white wire chairs at Saarinen Tulip tables), gender-neutral bathrooms, and a rock garden tucked under a portico. Standing by the plaza’s fountain . . . the sound of rushing water nearly drowns out the drone of traffic.” (Diana Budds, Curbed, “A Sealed-Up Midtown Arcade Opens Back Up to the City with a lush new Snøhetta-designed garden, 550 Madison finally has an exceptional public space.”)
Looking Forward While Respecting the Past
The new office building and gardens offer a nod to the past and commitment to the future.
“Originally built in 1984 for single-tenant occupancy, the reimagine tower and public space renew this icon as a state-of-the-art, multi-tenant office tower, a model of sustainable adaptive reuse for the contemporary workforce and ever-changing city. The design re-envisions the building’s public space as an expanded, densely vegetated garden. The transformation draws upon the building’s architectural heritage, the activity of the neighborhood, and the natural history of the region, offering the only publicly accessible vegetated open space in the East Midtown District.” (AIA New York, “550 Madison Garden”)
To appreciate the dramatic change brought by the new green space at 550 Madison, simply look back at what was there before.
“For 30 years it looked very different than it does today: It was enclosed and indoors. Between the bad art, fake-looking plants, and crowded seating, it was barely more than a glorified hallway between the building and the 10,000-square-foot Sony retail store and museum that took over the west side of the plaza.” (Diana Budds, Curbed, “A Sealed-Up Midtown Arcade Opens Back Up to the City With a lush new Snøhetta-designed garden, 550 Madison finally has an exceptional public space.”)
A Return to Nature Helps NYC Business
Developers and companies see the growing importance of offering amenities to support NYC’s businesses.
“Olayan is betting that fresh air, natural light, and trees will draw tenants to 550 Madison. ‘Buildings that focus on the health and wellness of the people in the building and energy efficiency tend to do better,’ says Erik Horvat, the head of real estate at Olayan, referring to how well the building leases and the price per square foot that tenants are willing to pay.” (Diana Budds, Curbed, “A Sealed-Up Midtown Arcade Opens Back Up to the City With a lush new Snøhetta-designed garden, 550 Madison finally has an exceptional public space.”)
Impressive Design, Greenery, and Innovation
The 550 Madison Garden offers color and variety.
“Built around a tranquil water feature and five sections centered on different focal structures, the 21,300-square foot garden is nearly twice the size of a previous public space in the same location. The garden’s bloom calendar is carefully timed for plant species to offer a wide range of colorful hues, from pink to purple, blue and yellow, at different blooming dates from February to October each year.” (Damian Holmes, World Landscape Architect, new public garden)
“The plaza features 48 trees including Yellowwood, Sweetbay magnolia, and River Birch; 200 shrubs such as Mountain Rosebay, Smooth Hydrangea, and Bottlebrush Buckeye; 6,300 bulb plants; and 10,000 herbaceous understory plants like Solomon’s Seal, Goatsbeard, Black Cohosh, Coral Bell, and Sword Fern.” (Michael Young, New York YIMBY, “ Madison Avenue’s New Public Plaza Opens in Midtown East, Manhattan”)
The garden’s innovative design and plant selection delights year-round.
“The walkway has a slightly meandering path, which is more leisurely than the straight-shot lane that came before it, and signals to people passing through that this is a place to slow down. The plantings are also less formulaic; it’s filled with more than 3,000 regional plants and 50 trees by the horticulturalists at Phyto, including Sweetbay magnolias that bloom in the summer and evergreens that offer foliage through winter — a much more naturalistic landscape than the typical plantings around midtown that swap neon-pink azaleas in summer for ornamental kale in the colder months.” (Diana Budds, Curbed, “A Sealed-Up Midtown Arcade Opens Back Up to the City With a lush new Snøhetta-designed garden, 550 Madison finally has an exceptional public space.”)
Specialized engineered soil, custom-designed irrigation, and a unique glass canopy, all work to insure the garden’s sustainability.
“Snøhetta’s triple-paned glass canopy is engineered to collect 93,000 gallons of rainwater annually that can be used to water all the plants below.” (Michael Young, New York YIMBY, “ Madison Avenue’s New Public Plaza Opens in Midtown East, Manhattan”)
Sponzilli Landscape Group is an award-winning commercial and residential landscape contractor. Contact us.
