Lever House

Lever House, completed in 1952, is a pioneering International Style office tower designed by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Its signature green-tinted glass curtain wall—inspired by Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe—created a sleek, transparent facade that ushered in a new era of modern corporate architecture. The building’s slender 21-story tower perches atop a recessed two-story podium, forming an open ground-level plaza and courtyard—a physical embodiment of the then-new zoning allowances for slender high-rises with public open space.

Originally housing the Lever Brothers headquarters, the interior included dedicated employee spaces: an executive lounge, medical suite, cafeteria, and terrace. After Unilever’s departure in 1997, the building changed hands and underwent two major restorations. The most recent, a $100 million renovation completed in 2023, reintroduced a public-facing plaza, revitalized the lobby, and added upscale tenant amenities like the Lever Club—an indoor-outdoor lounge, dining venue, and terraces curated by SOM.

Interesting Facts

• Second glass skyscraper in NYC: Following the UN Secretariat, Lever House introduced full-height glass on all facades.

• Historic design precedent: It exploited a 1916 zoning exception to create a slender tower that occupies only 25% of its lot—a groundbreaking concept that others followed.

• Landmark status: Declared a NYC Landmark in 1982 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

• Awards galore: Recipient of AIA First Honor (1952), AIA 25‑Year Award (1980), and Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award (2024).

• Public art installations: The plaza has featured sculptures by Isamu Noguchi, while the ground floor originally included an art gallery and computer room.