Award of Merit Renovation/Restoration: Great Jones Distillery
This unique renovation of an 85-year-old Manhattan distillery included a five-level structure with two kitchens, a main floor restaurant, bars, event space, three elevator cars and a lounge. The lobby floor included one-half million tiles—some curving beside the spiral staircase that took 8,000 hours to bend into shape from a single piece of steel after removing it from the existing storefront glazing system and brick veneer. One online media report said the project included 6,000 floor plans.
Due to pandemic delays, construction took five years from approval through closeout for this $21-million project as the team wrangled with complex New York City zoning regulations, including a 1960s community board rule that prohibited whiskey still installation above the second floor.