Manfredi Toyota
1589 Hylan Boulevard
Staten Island, NY

This project began seven years ago, when the owner, a long time client, approached our firm to design what was to be a one-story service building with a small showroom area for a small emerging car brand. He wanted the building to be iconic, to stand out on Hylan Boulevard and attract attention to the new brand that would be housed there.

Our design team designed a high glass trapezoid to express the showroom. The showroom was originally designed to be at the east end of the low one-story service portion. The deal eventually fell through, and over the next several years, as different brands were considered for the site, the building went through several redesigns. The glass trapezoid was ever so present, but shifted from east to west to the center of the building, with the building changing to a showroom with an office mezzanine and cellar inventory storage area. The form and size of the building and location of the trapezoid was set when it was to be occupied by Subaru. When that was changed to Toyota, the building went in to its final design development.

The building had to remain iconic. The owner has enough clout with manufacturers that Toyota did not impart any of their corporate buildings in the owner, but Toyota did dictate signage design and color selection. The owner desired a building that would look mechanical on the interior, which lead the architects to design the building with exposed structure and HVAC elements, painting them black. The mezzanine is hung from the roof trusses, with some of the hangers exposed, yielding a column free interior.

The exterior materials consist of EFIS and glass. A grid pattern was developed for the sides and rear of the building to break up the mass of the building. The glass curtain wall trapezoid is 30'-0" high and visible far up and down Hylan Boulevard. The southeast-facing trapezoid floods the interior with sunlight all day, which enhances the display of the cars. The mullions of the trapezoid are set high enough so that they do not interfere with the view of the cars displayed inside. The high trapezoid collides with the 9'-0" storefront windows, creating a dramatic spatial experience inside. The interior color palette is neutral, to highlight the vehicles. The crystal chandelier, chosen by the owner, adds a bit of post-modernist twist to an otherwise modernist building, and appears like a classical art piece in a modernist gallery.