Herzog & de Meuron to Turn Breuer Building into SothebY’s HQ
Herzog & de Meuron restores one of New York’s iconic examples of urban Brutalism, the Breuer Building, set to open to the public in late 2025 as the new global headquarters of Sotheby’s, marking the latest chapter in the life of a structure that has continually adapted to house some of the city’s most significant art collections.
The restoration, in collaboration with local firm Platt Byard Dovell White Architects (PBDW), embraces a ‘light-touch’ approach, retaining Breuer’s original materials and spatial intentions while updating infrastructure to improve accessibility, curatorial flexibility, and the visitor experience. The character-defining features of the building remain intact, including bush-hammered concrete walls, coffered ceilings, mahogany finishes, and bluestone floors. Yet new interventions, such as a discreetly inserted elevator and revamped lighting systems, prepare the building for diverse programming.
Herzog & de Meuron restores the Breuer Building | images courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron
A New Chapter for new york’s Brutalist Icon
Originally completed in 1966 by Bauhaus-trained architect Marcel Breuer for the Whitney Museum of American Art, the inverted ziggurat form, with its recessed windows and robust concrete facade, was designed to provoke. Since its opening, the building has served as a home for art, temporarily housing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection after the Whitney’s departure in 2014. Now, nearly 60 years later, Sotheby’s takes over as steward of the building’s next phase, preserving its cultural role while offering free public access for the first time in its history.
Τhe project embraces the contradictions of the building, retaining the severe materiality of the lobby, including bronze, concrete, and wood finishes, but now integrates vitrines and display counters in dialogue with Breuer’s original benches. On the gallery floors, the design team at Herzog & de Meuron reinterprets the irregular window openings as curatorial assets, using them to organize the space and reintroduce a connection with the street. Formerly dim interiors are brightened through layered lighting strategies that allow the building to support new media and a wider range of exhibitions.
retaining the severe materiality of the lobby
a shift from museum to auction house
According to Jacques Herzog, the firm sees this project as part of a long-standing practice of working with existing buildings. ‘We have always admired the Breuer Building,’ he notes, describing it as ‘an architectural icon of postwar modernism.’ Like their earlier work on the Park Avenue Armory, the design team approaches this intervention with a sense of excitement and responsibility, aiming to restore lost spatial clarity and make the building relevant for a new audience and function.
As the city continues to grow and build in all directions, the transformation of the Breuer Building offers an approach that values the past while shaping the future. Once a museum and soon to be an auction house, the building is shifting from one part of the art world to another, remaining a striking presence.
formerly dim interiors are brightened through layered lighting strategies
vitrines and display counters dialogue with Breuer’s original benches
the team reinterprets the irregular window openings as curatorial assets
project info:
name: Sotheby’s Global Headquarters
building: The Breuer Building (originally Whitney Museum of American Art)
original architect: Marcel Breuer (1966)
renovation architect: Herzon & de Meuron | @HerzogdeMeuron
executive architect & preservation: Platt Byard Dovell White Architects (PBDW) | @pbdwarchitects
location: 945 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, USA
site area: 1,200 square meters (12,916 sqft)
gross floor area (GFA): 7,268 square meters (78,232 sqft)
design team: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Wim Walschap (Partner in Charge), Philip Schmerbeck (Associate, Project Director), Jackie Bae (Associate, Project Manager), Bethany Herrmann (Project Designer), Farhad Ahmad, Marija Brdarski, Javier de Cárdenas Canomanuel, Sebastian Frowein, Nathan Mehl, Melodie Sanchez
structural engineering: Silman Structural Solution / TYLin
MEPFP engineering: AMA Group USA
lighting design: Tillotson Design Associates
AV & low voltage consulting: TMT Technology
acoustic consulting: Eligator Acoustics Associates
geotechnical consulting: Langan Engineering and Environmental Services
vertical transportation: DTM Inc.
life safety: Homes Keogh Associates
code consulting: Gillman Consulting Inc.
waterproofing & special inspections: Socotec Engineering, Inc.
contractor: J.T. Magen
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