AXA Center
Encyclopedia
The AXA Equitable Center (originally The Equitable Tower or Equitable Center West) is a 752-foot (229.3 m)-tall skyscraper
located in New York City
.
It was built in 1986 in the postmodern
style by architect
Edward Larrabee Barnes
and currently serves as the Headquarters for AXA Financial, which consists of a number of subsidiaries of French
-based insurance and banking company AXA
, such as AXA Equitable Life Insurance and Mutual of New York. Other cornerstone tenants include Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
, BNP Paribas
, Sidley Austin
LLP, Willkie Farr & Gallagher
LLP, and Citigroup
. It is located at 787 Seventh Avenue
between 51st
& 52nd Street
, in New York
, New York.
The structure of the building is mainly composed of steel
. The facade is of brown granite
in a gridiron pattern with a white background. The tower rises through two setbacks on the north and south sides, indicated by recessed bays on the facade. The plain top has only vertical striping and the east and west sides end in arched windows where the Equitable
boardroom is at the ends.
The building is connected to the extensive Rockefeller Center
underground concourse. Pedestrian traffic moves through this tower (via an arched galleria at 7th Avenue), across the open mall (between West 51st and 52nd Streets), and into the eastern Equitable Tower.
The building has 54 floors and 142,660m², with a majority of offices, houses the 487 seat AXA Equitable auditorium, and the AXA Equitable Production Group studio.
The Auditorium at the AXA EQUITABLE CENTER is a versatile and convenient venue that has an established reputation as a premiere meeting and event space often used for product launches, corporate meetings, live television premiers and broadcasts, award ceremonies etc. Seats 487 and has full theater capabilities. The Auditorium along with the AXA Equitable Production Group's full production studio service many corporate clients in NYC area. The Atrium at 787 7th avenue is also used for after business and weekend elegant event space.
The skylighted entrance atrium features a large (22.3 x 10.8 meters) mural by Roy Lichtenstein
called Mural with Blue Brushstroke, which he completed in 1986.
, building that formerly housed the headquarters of AXA
, is in Paris
La Défense
. The building is currently 159 meters high, but a major renovation begun in March 2007 will take it to 225 meters.
There is also an AXA Center in Perth
, Australia
. The building is 75 meters (246 ft) high and has 20 floors. Its construction was finished in 1975 as well as Tour AXA
in Montreal
, Canada
which was complete in 1974.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
It was built in 1986 in the postmodern
Postmodern architecture
Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
style by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Edward Larrabee Barnes
Edward Larrabee Barnes
Edward Larrabee Barnes was a American architect.Barnes was born in Chicago, Illinois into a family he described as "incense-swinging High Episcopalians", consisting of Cecil Barnes, a lawyer, and Margaret Helen Ayer, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for the novel Year of Grace...
and currently serves as the Headquarters for AXA Financial, which consists of a number of subsidiaries of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-based insurance and banking company AXA
AXA
AXA S.A. is a French global insurance group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. AXA is a conglomerate of independently run businesses, operated according to the laws and regulations of many different countries. The AXA group of companies engage in life, health and other forms of...
, such as AXA Equitable Life Insurance and Mutual of New York. Other cornerstone tenants include Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. is an investment banking firm headquartered in New York City, specializing exclusively in the financial services sector...
, BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...
, Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin
Sidley Austin LLP, formerly known as Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, is one of the oldest law firms in the world. It is the sixth-largest U.S.-based corporate law firm with more than 1,650 lawyers, annual revenues of more than one billion dollars, and offices in 17 cities worldwide, with the most...
LLP, Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Founded in 1888, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is an international law firm with eight offices in six countries . The firm has cultivated a strong corporate practice focused on investment funds, bankruptcy and intellectual property...
LLP, and Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
. It is located at 787 Seventh Avenue
Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue, known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park, is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park....
between 51st
51st Street (Manhattan)
51st Street is a long one-way street traveling east to west across Midtown Manhattan.-East 51st Street:*The route officially begins at Beekman Place which is on a hill overlooking FDR Drive...
& 52nd Street
52nd Street (Manhattan)
52nd Street is a long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan.-Jazz center:The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue were renowned in the mid-20th century for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life...
, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New York.
The structure of the building is mainly composed of steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
. The facade is of brown granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
in a gridiron pattern with a white background. The tower rises through two setbacks on the north and south sides, indicated by recessed bays on the facade. The plain top has only vertical striping and the east and west sides end in arched windows where the Equitable
Equitable
-Companies:*Scottish Equitable, is an investment company located in Edinburgh*Equitable PCI Bank*The Equitable Life Assurance Society, life insurance company in the United Kingdom...
boardroom is at the ends.
The building is connected to the extensive Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
underground concourse. Pedestrian traffic moves through this tower (via an arched galleria at 7th Avenue), across the open mall (between West 51st and 52nd Streets), and into the eastern Equitable Tower.
The building has 54 floors and 142,660m², with a majority of offices, houses the 487 seat AXA Equitable auditorium, and the AXA Equitable Production Group studio.
The Auditorium at the AXA EQUITABLE CENTER is a versatile and convenient venue that has an established reputation as a premiere meeting and event space often used for product launches, corporate meetings, live television premiers and broadcasts, award ceremonies etc. Seats 487 and has full theater capabilities. The Auditorium along with the AXA Equitable Production Group's full production studio service many corporate clients in NYC area. The Atrium at 787 7th avenue is also used for after business and weekend elegant event space.
The skylighted entrance atrium features a large (22.3 x 10.8 meters) mural by Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
called Mural with Blue Brushstroke, which he completed in 1986.
Other AXA buildings
The Tour AXATour AXA
Tour First is an office skyscraper located in Courbevoie, a Paris suburb in the La Défense district....
, building that formerly housed the headquarters of AXA
AXA
AXA S.A. is a French global insurance group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. AXA is a conglomerate of independently run businesses, operated according to the laws and regulations of many different countries. The AXA group of companies engage in life, health and other forms of...
, is in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
La Défense
La Défense
La Défense is a major business district of the Paris aire urbaine. With a population of 20,000, it is centered in an orbital motorway straddling the Hauts-de-Seine département municipalities of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux...
. The building is currently 159 meters high, but a major renovation begun in March 2007 will take it to 225 meters.
There is also an AXA Center in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The building is 75 meters (246 ft) high and has 20 floors. Its construction was finished in 1975 as well as Tour AXA
Tour AXA (Montreal)
The Tour AXA is a 104.0 m tall skyscraper located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
which was complete in 1974.