Soffes wood architecture to design two bank branches

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 16, 2002

Soffes Wood Architecture & Interiors has been commissioned to design two new branch offices for North Fork Bank.

The spaces are both in Soho. One is at 594 Broadway, just south of Houston Street, where the 1,650-SF space is being designed as a business branch.

Memo

The other, which is at 200 Lafayette St. at the corner of Broome Street and across from tiny Lt. Petrosino Park, will serve as a retail and business branch and is approximately 4,200 SF.

Although the two sites are technically only five blocks apart, they are in distinctively different parts of Soho. With its large, national retailers and landmark shops like Dean & DeLuca and Canal Jeans, Broadway is a major tourist thoroughfare for shopping and strolling. The corner of Lafayette and Broome Streets, on the other hand, is a quieter yet trendy corner at which residents of nearby Chinatown, Nolita and Little Italy mingle with curious tourists, and neighbors include new media, graphic, architectural and interior design offices, light manufacturing and small, high-style shops. North Fork's forward-looking approach to discovering new, underserved markets is evidenced by the choice of the Lafayette Street location.

Consistent with North Fork Bank's site-specific approach to design, Eliot Soffes and Jim Wood, partners of Soffes Wood, plan to use a "boutique" approach at the new locations. "We will draw from the attitude, energy and imagery of the immediate neighborhood to develop our design, which will be part banking, part theatre and totally memorable," says Soffes.

594 Broadway has been designated a landmark by federal, state and city agencies. Accordingly, Soffes Wood is working with the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to establish an appropriate identity for the bank at this location. At other North Fork branches, Soffes and Wood have successfully integrated photography and fine art into the interiors. Both new offices will open this year.

Soffes Wood Architects and Interiors is a medium-sized Manhattan firm that has designed eight other North Fork branches. Its diverse client base includes banks, restaurants, retail, multi-family projects and high-end private residences. North Fork Bank, based in Melville, NY, is the sixth-largest bank in New York, and one of the fastest-growing banks in the country.