It’s a cube with curb appeal.
When the auction house Phillips moves to its new headquarters at the base of skyscraping residential tower 432 Park Ave., it will have space on East 57th Street and Park Avenue in two glass cubes.
Architect Markus Dochantschi of studio MDA has been commissioned to design the light-flooded, glass-walled interiors.
The design will reflect Phillips’ core belief that “auctions should be accessible, transparent” and part of the overall fabric of the cities in which they do business — which now include London, Hong Kong and Geneva.
New renderings reveal the 55,000-square-foot auction house will be entered from the public plaza on East 56th Street.
Here, visitors will be treated to a dramatic double-height exhibition area.
Though it’s partially underground, the space will be flooded with light from large glass walls on Park Avenue.
Auctions themselves will take place in a huge hall below the public plaza. There will also be exhibits and event on the second floor.
Currently located next door at 450 Park Ave., Phillips will also move to roughly 19,000 square feet of new space. The space on the third floor of 40 E. 57th St.
It’ll be in a glass-fronted office and retail cube between Park and Madison avenues that will link underground to the auction area in the white cube.
When it opens in the base of the sky-high tower, it’s sure to set sky-high auction prices.
