Work Architecture Company

DIANE VON FURSTENBERG, NEW YORK

Meghan Edwards -- Interior Design, 12/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

The queen of the wrap dress warrants a suitable palace. She's found one in her 35,000-square-foot, six-story New York headquarters, which includes offices for Diane Von Furstenberg's 120-person staff and her private penthouse apartment. The penthouse's faceted-glass top protrudes from the roof like a crown and is lined with heliostat mirrors that rotate to follow the sun throughout the day. A further series of mirrors bounces the natural light down a precast-concrete staircase, which principals Amale Andraos and Dan Wood call a "stairdelier," since Swarovski crystals are used to brace the guardrail's steel cables. The stair descends through the double-height spaces below, which include the ground-floor lobby and retail shop and the second-floor showroom. For the storefront, Work AC set panels of tempered glass behind the landmark facade's original cast-iron columns. Geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, and nighttime illumination by LEDs keep the building's carbon footprint fashionably small.

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