Project Description
–Global architecture firm Spectorgroup helped Columbia Property Trust create a modern lobby design and transformed arrival experience, celebrating the vibrant Grove Street community.
–Jersey City office building offers tenants abundant natural light and fully automated digital access, combined with direct transit access to mid and lower Manhattan, providing an ideal Manhattan satellite office location.
Columbia Property Trust, Inc. announces the completion of the redevelopment of 95 Columbus, its 680,000-square-foot office building located in the heart of Jersey City’s Grove Street neighborhood.
Working with global architecture firm Spectorgroup, Columbia has reinvented 95 Columbus – and contributed to the ongoing revitalization of the surrounding district – with a fresh and modernized lobby, an upgraded façade, and a reimagined entryway to enhance the arrival experience for tenants and guests.
“Our goal for the 95 Columbus renovation was to create the best possible environment to enable our tenants to work and thrive. We combined Spectorgroup’s striking design with cutting-edge technology and an emphasis on wellness, while also enhancing the property’s connection to the vibrancy of the Grove Street retail and neighborhood,” said Columbia’s David Cheikin, Executive Vice President – East Coast. “The revitalized 95 Columbus is ideally positioned to attract growing companies looking for a fully modernized workplace that offers exceptional one-seat Midtown and Downtown transit access in the midst of a vibrant, walkable, and culturally rich community.”
The pinnacle of Columbia and Spectorgroup’s redesign of 95 Columbus is an all-glass entrance and building vestibule that seamlessly connect the building to the surrounding neighborhood and fill the triple-height lobby with natural daylight. A grid of suspended light fixtures over the reception area, as well as strategically placed seating and meeting areas, bring human scale and warmth to the expansive space, which is highlighted by a custom designed reception desk made of polished granite and oxidized metal, and offset to allow for better traffic circulation through the lobby. Adding some visual punch, the building’s address number, “95”, is branded in backlit appliqué at the entry and repeated inside as a unique design detail. Additionally, Brushes for Beuys (2021), a series of large, shaped canvases by contemporary artist Gregory Coates installed on the wall near the elevator bank, brings a note of playfulness and urbanism that completes the modern lobby.
The fresh lobby design was carried out along the base of the building by recladding the retail spaces and repainting the building’s façade. Landscaping and seasonal greenery further activate the entrance and add a natural, biophilic aesthetic. The storefronts have been reinvented with new glass windows and a signage band to raise their visibility. Additionally, terracotta panels along the base of the building near the parking garage add texture and color, giving movement along the pedestrian path to-and-from the building.
Other finishes within the design include a pattern of brass inlays in the Terrazzo flooring that is carried from the lobby into the pavers outside. A combination of vertical and custom fabricated horizontal concrete panels replaced the lobby’s former monolithic dark granite. Dark-stained wood paneling and pops of color in the furnishings draw attention to the lounge and meeting areas and provide contrast to the overall neutral palette.