New York, October 11, 2005—Shawmut Design and Construction today announced completion of Country, chef Geoffrey Zakarian’s new high-end restaurant concept in the Carlton Hotel, located at 88 Madison Avenue in New York City. Designed by the renowned Rockwell Group, the project includes unique, high-end finishes and custom elements, and required significant historic preservation to the 1912 hotel. Shawmut completed construction on an aggressive eight-month schedule while the hotel remained occupied; a hallmark of Shawmut’s customer service.
It was a priority of the Wolfson Group, the Carlton Hotel’s owners, to keep the building operational during the renovation. Shawmut developed a sequenced construction schedule to preserve the hotel guests’ and staff’s daily experience, and re-routed lobby traffic to an alternate location. The team finished the project in just eight months, including working on the lobby in accelerated 12-hour night shifts, in order to minimize disruption.
“It is challenging to work on projects in which the building is still functional, especially when guests depend on a relaxing and elegant experience,” said Brian Stys, vice president of the Restaurant Group at Shawmut Design and Construction. “We were pleased that the Wolfson Group, along with the design team at The Rockwell Group and Geoffrey Zakarian, selected Shawmut to construct Country and restore the hotel.”
A counter-part to Zakarian’s “Town” restaurant, the Country project included significant historic preservation and restoration work to restore mosaic tiles, plaster moldings, wood trim, and a glass dome skylight with Tiffany glass. Shawmut’s historic preservation expertise was also tapped to complete renovation of the hotel’s historic meeting room, including restoration of millwork, wood trim and crown molding, a signature of early century design. The construction team brought in an expert from the Building Conservation Agency to ensure the historic integrity of the restored components.
The dramatic focal point of the restaurant is an all-glass, cantilevered bridge, manufactured in Israel, which connects a private dining area to the champagne bar located over the first floor café. Shawmut’s work with unique materials on several other high-end construction jobs was instrumental in constructing the bridge. Other unique design elements include the Carlton Hotel’s lobby, which boasts a 24-foot water feature streaming over a backlit image of the Hotel as it appeared at its opening in the early 1900’s.
Since the building was constructed nearly a century ago, the construction team rebuilt several structural elements to support the renovation. Country includes two new kitchens and upgraded M/E/P systems to accommodate increased occupancy. A new water system, boilers and cooling towers, and additional restaurant infrastructure elements were also added to the space.
