These Inspired Lobby Designs Prove that First Impressions Matter

When Marilyn Sygrove opened her design firm in 1982 to focus on the common areas of New York City’s residential buildings, “no one was doing what I was doing,” she recalled. “Lobby design was not prioritized.” 

Much has changed in four decades, and Sygrove has only seen business increase. She recently designed the lobby of The Kenilworth at 178 East 80th Street on the Upper East Side, taking inspiration from nearby American Redbud trees that sprout a striking bloom every spring. “We decided on porcelain handmade flowers mounted inside the lobby, on the walls, that refer to the uniqueness of the landscaping outside,” she said. The project speaks to what’s happening with lobby design across the city: customized, luxurious, and often defined by a distinct sense of place. 

The luxuriousness of today’s lobbies is reminiscent of early New York City apartment buildings. Beginning in the 1870s, developers had to convince wealthy New Yorkers to trade mansion living for grand apartments. As an incentive, lobbies were lavishly decorated, often including ground-floor restaurants that delivered food to residents. Midtown’s Osborne Apartments, for example, debuted with a lobby featuring marble, mosaics, murals, sculpture work, gilded surfaces, and leaded glass, as well as custom glasswork designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. 

The goal remains to attract wealthy buyers to New York’s most luxurious living spaces, but as luxury living becomes more appealing, the stakes are higher. “It has become very competitive, like more is not enough,” noted Sygrove.

Sygrove breaks down lobby design into two categories: new development and the conversion of prewar buildings. In conversion projects, developers typically highlight the meticulously restored historic lobby as a modern-day perk. Residents of The Woolworth Tower Residences, for example, enjoy one of the most famous and lavish lobbies in all of New York.

The list of impressive lobby perks is long. 277 Fifth Avenue’s lobby features a library lounge. 15 Hudson Yards showcases 25-foot-tall ceilings, a travertine wall, monumental painting, and pinhole light fixtures that illuminate the artwork and seating areas below. Inside 111 West 57th Street, opulent rooms lead to a lobby of limestone walls, cast-glass flowers backed by gold leaf, fused glass urns with decorative gold palms, and a gold and silver leaf mural depicting elephants escaping from the Central Park Zoo.

Sygrove doesn’t expect the trend of distinctive lobbies to disappear—with the growth of working remotely, she expects to see conversions of office buildings into live/work areas, with unique common spaces to boot. “I think we’ll continue to be thinking outside the box,” she said.