An iconic space comes back to life

Rainbow Room

Working as part of the team tasked with renovating New York’s historic Rainbow Room, our engineers updated and replaced old and outdated systems to give new life to the glitter and glam of one of New York’s most romantic settings.

Sitting high atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the challenge was not only to renovate, but also preserve this 80-year-old space. The architects made significant improvements including adding a spacious new cocktail lounge and new kitchen while preserving and restoring original details—the rotating dance floor, original brass railings and crystal bollards.

Our challenge was to address the outdated and antiquated systems behind the walls without disturbing the historic nature of the space. We removed and replaced the fire alarm system and designed new HVAC systems to work within the existing building infrastructure. We consolidated numerous power feeds into a concise, more efficient sub-metered arrangement that allows for separate accounting of power within the space. New systems were also designed for a relocated commercial kitchen one floor below the new space. Finally, we provided a lighting rectifier to accommodate architectural lighting in this beautiful old space, allowing a New York City landmark to shine once again.