COMMERCIAL
WALDORF ASTORIA NYC
New York City
The Waldorf Astoria New York has been part of the city’s story since it opened on Park Avenue in 1931. For its next chapter, SOM led an extensive restoration and transformation of the landmark, bringing its Art Deco character forward while adapting the building for contemporary hotel and residential use. The project took nearly a decade, including eight years of construction, and has been reported as a roughly $2 billion renovation.
Client | SOM
SERVICES PROVIDED
Video
ABOUT
SOM brought Arturo + Lauren in to help tell the story of the restoration through a film featuring architect Frank Mahan, a Principal at SOM. SOM With the hotel unavailable for filming, the story would need to come from the people, research, and materials behind the work.
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GOALS
Our goal was to shape a clear, engaging account of what it takes to restore a landmark of this scale. The film needed to establish the Waldorf Astoria’s place in New York history, explain the challenges SOM encountered, and show how the team used research and careful design decisions to bring the building into its next chapter.
We worked with SOM to develop the narrative and interview approach, giving Frank’s perspective a central role. The story moved from the hotel’s history to the condition of the building and the discoveries that informed the restoration.
CHALLENGES
We couldn’t film inside the Waldorf Astoria, so the film couldn’t rely on the usual hotel footage to carry the story. We had to build it from the materials SOM had available, including project photography and behind-the-scenes images, then make those assets feel like part of one cohesive film.
The restoration itself also involved uncovering what had changed over decades of renovations. In some cases, only a small number of original details remained. The team reviewed archival material and existing examples to understand the original design and determine how best to restore or recreate it.
STRATEGY
We worked closely with SOM to shape the script around the project’s central tension: how do you bring a celebrated building back to its original intent while preparing it for contemporary use?
Frank Mahan was filmed at SOM’s office, pairing his interview with footage of the team at work. Printed drawings and project imagery on the office walls, material reviews, and moments of discussion gave the film a sense of the process behind the finished building. We combined these scenes with the archival and behind-the-scenes photographs SOM shared, using them to illustrate the history, discoveries, and restoration decisions discussed in the interview.
The edit brought those elements together into a continuous narrative, moving from the Waldorf Astoria’s legacy to the investigation and craft involved in its transformation.
OUTCOME
The finished film presents the restoration through the perspective of the architects who worked on it. Frank’s interview gives the story its throughline, while SOM’s project imagery and behind-the-scenes material make the research and decision-making visible.
Together, the film and photography tell a story of preservation, adaptation, and the work required to carry an architectural landmark into its next chapter.
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