| The Grand Madison | |
|---|---|
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 Interactive map of The Grand Madison | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Renaissance Revival |
| Location | Manhattan,New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°44′36.5″N73°59′16″W / 40.743472°N 73.98778°W /40.743472; -73.98778 |
| Opened | 1906 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | Francis H. Kimball andHarry E. Donnell |
TheGrand Madison, originally theBrunswick Building, is an office building located at 225Fifth Avenue betweenEast 26th and27th Streets inManhattan,New York City, on the north side ofMadison Square Park. The building is part of theMadison Square North Historic District, aNew York City designated landmark district, and is located in the neighborhood known asNoMad ("NOrth of MADison Square Park").
TheRenaissance Revival building "is constructed of multi-colored brick laid in a faint striped pattern, exquisitely ornamented in contrasting limestone. Itspalazzo composition is articulated by arusticated,trabeated base and arcadedloggia under an impressivecornice."[1] Designed by architectsFrancis H. Kimball andHarry E. Donnell, the Brunswick Building was completed in 1907.[2]
The 1907 structure replaced some brownstone residences and the once-fashionable Hotel Brunswick, a series of three connected buildings remodeled byHenry Hobson Richardson in 1870-71. Reflecting the stark commercial turn of the neighborhood, the new Brunswick Building served as an office and loft building after briefly being considered by the developers as the site for a new hotel. The architectural press sniffed at its “commonplace” commercial function, savaging the building upon its completion as “a monument of vulgarity and turpitude.”[3] Time has considerably improved the building’s critical fortunes. A 1999 Columbia University academic study that presaged its landmark status praised the structure’s “multi-colored brick laid in a faint striped pattern, exquisitely ornamented in contrasting limestone. Itspalazzo composition is articulated by arusticated,trabeated base and arcadedloggia under an impressivecornice."
For the latter quarter of the twentieth century, 225 Fifth Avenue was known as theNew York Gift Building, for many years the city's premier showcase for glass, ceramic and silver giftware. In 2008, ElAd Properties converted the building into 195 luxury apartments and renamed it The Grand Madison. Its common spaces were renovated byRawlins Design beginning in 2012.
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