A New York City landmark is entering a new era, as the iconic Flatiron Building undergoes a full renovation that transforms its historic office floors into private residences. Recently released interior renderings by Studio Sofield, the design team behind 111 West 57th Street’s renowned tower, offer a rare inside view of how the building’s wedge-shaped geometry will define its future living spaces. Despite its narrow form and 1903 steel-frame structure, each residence is being planned to highlight the inherent proportions of its triangular footprint. Designer William Sofield emphasizes measured proportions that work with the narrow footprint rather than against it.
The project centers on a comprehensive restoration effort that safeguards the Flatiron Building’s ornamental façade. Specialists have been working to repair and replace terra-cotta units, limestone bands, and decorative brickwork, preserving the visual identity that has long stood at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway. While these exterior elements anchor the building firmly in its past, the interiors represent a new typology — thirty-eight private residences shaped by the tower’s original constraints and craftsmanship.
Historic details discovered during the renovation, including railings, ironwork, and traces of early twentieth-century craftsmanship uncovered during the process, are influencing new design decisions. These fragments are not being recreated literally, but instead guide subtle material references that root the new interiors in the building’s original construction.
The newly unveiled visualizations portray interiors defined by large, arching windows that bring daylight deep into the narrow floor plates. Some units embrace the curved southern point of the Flatiron, creating living areas that gradually widen, and spaces where geometry becomes an architectural focal point. Rather than overpowering these unique shapes, the design relies on restraint — austere materials and precise detailing allow the shard-like geometry to play a central role.
Material choices carry historical weight while introducing modern comfort. Plaster walls, stone thresholds, and metal accents echo the character of the early skyscraper, while contemporary finishes temper the building’s monumental heritage with a quieter, residential atmosphere.
Studio Sofield’s approach prioritizes circulation patterns that respect the structure’s original lines. Corridors track alongside the angled exterior walls, and rooms align with window bays that were originally spaced to lighten the steel frame. What once served a commercial skeleton now frames residential views that shift as residents move through the building — from bustling Fifth Avenue to the open green of Madison Square.
The renovation demonstrates how the Flatiron’s famously thin floor plates can serve domestic life. Kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms unfold in sequences shaped by the taper of the plan, creating a variety of spatial conditions: cozy corners tucked into narrow ends, extended rooms that stretch toward daylight, and dynamic layouts no rectangular building could offer.
In transforming a landmark, the project presents a new kind of Manhattan home — one where history, architecture, and geometry become inseparable parts of daily living.
Originally reported by Design Boom.
