MdeAS Architects honored with MASterworks Design Award for PENN 2; MNLA for Plaza 33

Manhattan, NY According to MdeAS Architects, one of its projects, PENN 2, as well as the adjacent Plaza 33 designed by MNLA, have been honored by The Municipal Art Society of New York with a MASterworks Design Award in the Special Recognition category.

For more than 25 years, the MASterworks Design Awards have recognized projects completed in the previous year that exemplify excellence across the municipal arts of architecture, landscape architecture, preservation, and public art. From iconic buildings to neighborhood gems, winning projects are reviewed and selected by an esteemed jury of architects, designers, preservationists, scholars, and critics. MdeAS previously received a MASterworks Design Award in 2007 for Best Privately-Owned Public Space at the GM building.

As part of Vornado Realty Trust’s revitalization of THE PENN DISTRICT, the former 2 Penn Plaza underwent a restoration and expansion. Led by MdeAS, the building’s transformation spurred the revitalization of a populated, well-visited area of New York City. Today, this 1.75 million s/f, 31-story building embodies the future of the workplace, incorporates new sustainability and efficiency measures, and enhances tenant wellbeing, balancing architectural ambition with an experience-driven interior environment that reconnects the building to the city and its people. Plaza 33 creates a campus-like connection between PENN 1 and PENN 2, turning the area into a safe, inviting community hub for Midtown Manhattan. MNLA prioritized pedestrian flow and connectivity for the new, 17,700 s/f pedestrian plaza, transforming 33^rd St. between 7^th and 8^th Aves. into a seamless public space with trees, plantings, stone paving, new lighting, and public seating.

MdeAS has led several high-profile office, residential, and hospitality projects for clients such as SL Green Realty Corp., Macklowe Properties, RFR Realty, Vornado Realty Trust, Tishman Speyer, RXR, and Rockrose.