Eero Saarinen’s iconic Jet Age terminal at JFK Airport has been transformed into a truly cool hotel
The TWA Flight Center, the striking Jet Age marvel designed by Eero Saarinen, has been transformed into the TWA Hotel, a faithful restoration of the Finnish architect’s masterpiece with the addition of hundreds of rooms and modern amenities. The Saarinen head house functions as the hotel’s lobby, meaning anyone—hotel guests or curious architecture buffs—may stand under its swooping concrete shell again.
The Port Authority, which owns the building, hired architects Beyer Blinder Belle to restore the space (the firm remains on the project to this day), and other hoteliers were briefly courted, but concrete plans for its future didn’t come into focus until 2015.
That was the year that MCR won the bid to develop the property, and work on the hotel began in earnest. And from the start, Morse knew that he wanted to keep the vintage vibe of the space alive. “We’re bringing the building back to exactly as it was in 1962,” he explains.
Part of the reason for that is by design; the building is a New York City landmark and landed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. “We have a real debt to pay to the preservationist community,” says Morse. “They saved this building.” Since MCR began the redevelopment process, the firm has met with 14 preservation groups—including the Municipal Art Society, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy—and consulted with dozens of other interested parties to ensure their restoration is sensitive. Even the Finnish embassy, seeking to protect the legacy of one of its most famous names, got involved.
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