New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a renovation of the ground-floor lobby at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the 66-story, 850-foot Art Deco tower in Midtown Manhattan now known as the Comcast Building. The commission voted 10-0-0 on September 15 to approve a certificate of appropriateness, closing the hearing record that day without requiring changes to the plans.
The decision, first reported by New York YIMBY, allows owner Tishman Speyer to proceed with work in a lobby that received interior-landmark designation in 1985. The space dates to the building's 1931-1933 construction and was designed by the Associated Architects, the group responsible for the original Rockefeller Center campus.
What's Changing Inside the Historic Lobby
Gabellini Sheppard Associates' approved design focuses on circulation, lighting and visitor-facing areas. At the main reception point, the existing desk will be modified, while a movable glass-and-metal screen will separate office access from the area before the turnstiles. Public corridors and reception spaces will also be reworked.
The north and south corridors will gain lounge areas with leather seating, rugs, movable benches with integrated glass and custom cast-glass elements. In the elevator vestibules, a new nine-inch dropped ceiling will incorporate perimeter cove lighting and recessed downlights.
Lighting and Finishes Get an Update
The lighting plan combines new linear LEDs, directional downlights and spotlights with re-lamping of existing fixtures. At the Rockefeller Plaza entrance, a continuous valance will conceal devices and direct light across the building's cast-glass façade.
The proposal calls for refinishing the lobby's existing stone cladding, planters and HVAC enclosures, with the latter elements finished in dark bronze. New brass fixtures and trim will relate to the historic metalwork. Entry lighting will also be improved to illuminate the lobby's murals, including Josep Maria Sert's American Progress.
The Lobby's Landmark and Art Context
The lobby's interior-landmark designation is part of a broader preservation framework. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, the Rockefeller Center complex was designated a New York City landmark in 1985 and became a National Historic Landmark and a State/National Register property in 1987. The approved work retains the existing stone, metalwork, cast-glass elements and murals while updating lighting and visitor areas within the landmarked interior.
Rockefeller Center identifies American Progress as the lobby's focal mural, depicting the development of America through the unity of intellectual and physical labor. Rockefeller Center says a three-year restoration of American Progress and José Maria Sert's other murals, which removed decades of dirt and varnish, was completed in 2010. The approved lighting changes are intended to improve how those works are presented rather than replace them.
A Firm With Deep Rockefeller Center Roots
Gabellini Sheppard Associates has cited its commission-approved work at 195 Broadway and its lighting design for the 45 Rockefeller Plaza lobby as precedents for the proposal. According to Interior Design, the firm has worked at Rockefeller Center for more than two decades, with projects including Top of the Rock, the Rainbow Room, Bar SixtyFive and the 45 Rockefeller Plaza lobby.
Interior Design also reported that the Landmarks Preservation Commission directed Tishman Speyer to the firm after encouraging the owner to consider lighting as a way to make the ground floor more active. Michael Gabellini founded Gabellini Sheppard Associates in 1991.
Manhattan Community Board 5's landmarks committee had already recommended approval of the proposal unanimously before it reached the full commission.
