Built in 1979, the 800 Fifth Avenue property was considered to be among the finest of Manhattan’s ultra-luxury rental residences. Our gut renovation accomplished two important aspects: where the central lobby had previously existed as a series of unrelated spaces, we recreated them as a continuum of intimate areas, each one leading as an invitation into the next; in order to create a connection between the exterior sites of central park and the building’s private courtyard, we designed a journey, inspired by nature, incorporating raw material components - stone, wood, metal and glass - to recreate the sensorial experience of earth, light, air, and water. Each room symbolizes and captures a unique experience, in such order that it takes you from rich and heavier textures to light and transparency, culminating in the courtyard’s central water feature. All along the passage through to the courtyard, raw materials are framed on walls as art objects, so that the sense is that one is walking through a gallery space and absorbing the effects of marble slabs, sculpted teak root drift wood, woven metal and cracked/melted glass panels. The jewel of the entry foyer is a custom-designed chandelier of 1,000 glass tubes, that resembles the organic rhythm of rain, and reflections of trees on the forest-colored stone slab’s panels. Further in, a branch-like hand-blown glass chandelier and sculpted teak root drift wood wall art builds a nature of tranquility in the great room.