The 18,000-square-foot dining facility is on the lower level of the PepsiCo Headquarters entrance pavilion. Food preparation, storage and mechanical areas wrap the self-service cafeteria, and an entry lobby and dining room bracket this dense zone. The lobby joins two vertical circulation nodes and introduces the materials palette: steamed Danish beech, small-fissured parolino bianco marble, brushed stainless steel gridded walls and a continuous steel baseboard.

The dining room is an expansive room with seating for 400 people and areas for special functions at either end. Two doors lead outwards to the patio and garden beyond. Special ceilings offer a high degree of spatial depth and emphasize the cafeteria’s connection to the garden.

The 12,500-square-foot, 150-person Leadership Conference Center is a state-of-the-art meeting facility with rear projection screen and multimedia capabilities. All seating areas are equipped with data outlets and individual microphones. 2,000 square feet of flexible breakout space can be further subdivided into smaller, acoustically separate rooms.

The gallery and dining room addition extends the existing dining room on the lower level. The extension of this unique cantilevered building required extensive technical coordination and structural ingenuity. The addition contains a two-story, glass- enclosed gallery on the first floor and a two-story glass-enclosed and skylit dining room on the lower level. A landscaped roof terrace was created off the executive office floor for private functions.

A 12,000-square-foot renovation of the reception area and corporate meeting rooms provides views to the surrounding garden and state-of-the-art, flexible meeting rooms.

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Other changes were more unexpected. Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman redefined the Sony Atrium and Public Plaza as an accessible enclave of activity with a strong presence on Madison Avenue. Enclosing the soaring, 60-foot-high arcades flanking the north and south sides of the original building with aluminum-framed bay windows recast the previously open spaces as two entertainment retail stores. The special interior features of the retail spaces incorporate superscale images and exhibition, media, and display systems, as well as banners, flags, neon lights, and music.

The former annex building contains a series of new spaces, including a newsstand, commissary, ticket booth and the Sony Wonder Museum. Organized around theatrical motifs, the museum is an interactive, state-of-the-art attraction featuring electronic display signs and graphics meant to enhance visitors’ understanding of communication through technology.

In the ground-floor lobby, sheets of dramatic black glass have been inserted into arched recesses to offset the original granite walls and Lutyens-patterned inlaid marble floor. Black glass paired with anegre veneer recurs at significant points throughout the 35 floors. Color-coded elevator lobbies clearly express each Sony division—yet materials, colors and interior detailing provide a cohesive visual impression. The original perforated metal pan ceiling detail installed by Philip Johnson and the basic core organization were retained. What is new is a rigorous architectural approach to layering the space, both vertically and in plan, as well as in the custom-designed workstations and reception desks.

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