NYC luxury condominium tower features custom doors that 'had to be perfect'

FALCONER, N.Y. - Ellison Bronze, manufacturer of premier custom balanced and standard doors for commercial entrances around the world, recently provided seven pairs of specialty doors at 520 Park Avenue, New York, meeting the architect’s design vision of big, vintage New York City bronze entrances.

520 Park is an impressive limestone-clad skyscraper in the Lenox Hill neighborhood on the city’s Upper East Side neighborhood. The luxurious, 54-story building features 35 residences capped off with a three-story, $130 million penthouse.

Project architects at SLCE brought Robert A.M. Stern Architects’ design concept to life, delivering full-height bronze doors to serve as an impressive entrance for residents at 520 Park, the newest building on NYC’s Billionaires’ Row. Ellison Bronze supplied bronze specialty doors for the main entrance, the adjacent service entrance, and additional doors leading to the building’s courtyard.

DOORS MATCH THE STYLE SET BY THE ARCHITECT STERN

“We were tasked with selecting a door manufacturer for 520 Park and we only presented Ellison,” said Richard Shamenek, Senior Project Manager at Enterprise Architectural Sales, Inc. “Ellison is the only manufacturer we are aware of that could provide a series of doors of this size while matching the style established by the architects.”

The building features seven pairs of custom offset pivoted swing doors. Made with #280 Muntz bronze, the doors feature a satin #4 finish and were statuary finished in the field to achieve a darker tone.

The entrances range from 6 feet wide to 9 feet 8 inches tall. The service entrance includes an additional bronze transom matching the doors for a total of 11 feet 6 inches tall.

DOORS 'HAD TO BE PERFECT' TO GET OWNER'S APPROVAL

Robert A.M. Stern Architects and SLCE knew their work on 520 Park would be critiqued like all new buildings on Billionaires’ Row are. The owner, Zeckendorf Development, has deep roots in NYC as a premium real estate developer and a rich history in high-end housing.

“We knew that each building component had to be perfect to get the Zeckendorf stamp of approval,” said Shamenek. “The Ellison entrances serve as the gateway to multi-million-dollar residences, and that in itself is a true testament to their merit.”

DURABLE MATERIALS IN A UNITIZED STRUCTURE

The main entrance includes an impressive downlit canopy bearing the tower’s name. Below are Ellison specialty doors, made of bronze, set in a coordinating frame and overhead transom finished in Antique Satin Bronze. The frames and canopy were provided by Hi-Tech Metals and installed by Enterprise Architectural Sales. Mackenzie Door Company installed the doors.

Ellison doors are built using durable materials that produce a rigid, unitized structure that allows them to outlast typical commercial entryways. Each door is custom-crafted to meet specific design criteria set forth by the architect.

The project team included Ellison Bronze, Enterprise Architectural Sales, Mackenzie Door Company, Hi-Tech Metals, SLCE Architects, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and Lendlease.

ELLISON BRONZE, INVENTOR OF THE BALANCED DOOR (1927)

Ellison Bronze, Inc., Falconer, N.Y., invented the balanced door in 1927. Today, Ellison leads the industry by providing custom marquee doors to the world’s most famous addresses. Made with the highest quality materials and unparalleled craftsmanship, Ellison doors are the standard to which all other commercial entry doors are compared the world over. Ellison also maintains every record and drawing it has produced and offers replacement balanced hardware for every door it has ever made. For more information, visit www.ellisonbronze.com.