Bvlgari Façade Conservation—Private

The Bvlgari retail store in New York, New York is located on the ground floor of the historic Crown Building. Originally constructed as the Heckscher Building in 1921, the structure was built by for philanthropist August Heckscher and designed by the architecture firm Warren and Wetmore. The building was bought and sold numerous times, also experiencing several name changes with changes in ownership. It was renamed the Crown Building in 1983, after its crown-like appearance when illuminated at night.

The Bvlgari company was originally founded in Rome, Italy in 1884 by Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari. It was founded as a luxury fashion house, offering jewelry, watches, fragrances, accessories, and other luxury goods. Bulgari made his way to the United States in the early 1970s, opening his first American store in the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. By the late 1980s Bulgari had outgrown its first space, moving to its current location at 57th and 5th. The store was completely renovated by architect Peter Marino from 2016 to 2017, reopening in October of 2017. Marino’s designs were aimed at reflecting and reinterpreting the architectural elements of the original Bulgari flagship store on Rome’s Via Condotti.

EverGreene was contracted by Bvlgari Corporation of America (Bvlgari) to perform conservation treatments on metal trellis and central lantern located on the exterior façade of their New York City flagship store in the Crown Building. EverGreene performed cleaning and conservation testing on the trellis in 2021 to determine the gentlest and most effective means of treatment. Treatment recommendations were provided to the client, and included stripping of the previous coating using laser cleaning methods, polishing, and recoating the metal with a protective urethane-based coating. EverGreene performed treatment on the lantern and lower sections of the façade in 2022.