PAC NYC
Restaurant
As part of the 2003 Master Plan to rebuild the 16-acre area around the World Trade Center, the Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) is a cultural organization bringing together audiences and artists in flexible performance spaces with wide-ranging programming. Designed by REX, in collaboration with executive architect Davis Brody Bond and theater consultant Charcoalblue, the 129,000-square-foot, cube-shaped building houses three theaters with radically flexible capabilities.
Rockwell Group designed PAC NYC's entry experience and lobby, as well as the lobby-level restaurant, Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson, which includes a lounge, bar, and outdoor terrace.
- Client
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- Marcus Samuelsson
- PAC NYC
- Project Category
- Selected Awards
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- AIANY Design Awards Honor
- Restaurant & Bar Design Awards: In Another Space Shortlist
- Selected Press
Driven by the desire to establish a warm and welcoming experience for guests upon arrival, glimpses of the glowing lobby ceiling from the street serve as an invitation for guests to venture up the stairs—while also signaling the building’s artistic and convivial purpose.
Clad in undulating sapele wood ribbons with integrated LED lighting that echoes the grid of the building, the ceiling helps orient guests to travel past a set of monumental exposed trusses towards a bar, lounge, and outdoor terrace. A set of smaller wood ribbons identifies a circulation corridor that connects to the elevator lobbies.
The lighting in the ribbons can also pulse or change color and intensity to support announcements for performances. Custom-made FitzFelt walls in grey and burgundy help with sound absorption while also creating a foil for the poured concrete floor and blackened steel details and exposed truss system.
At the heart of the lobby space and intentionally woven in is Metropolis, a welcoming, all-day restaurant helmed by chef Marcus Samuelsson. Loosely demarcated by vintage area rugs and furniture that accommodates both lounge and dining settings, the restaurant purposefully draws from the energy of visitors and showgoers at the various times of day.
