A man walking through a living room with a large lamp
Helmut Scheufele’s textural Anga rug runs beneath Josh Greene’s Yosemite tables in the lobby lounge of the office-to-residential conversion, on which BHDM Design collaborated. Photography by Garrett Rowland.

September 4, 2025

Words: Peter Webster

Indulge in the Luxe Life at This Reimagined Residence

From the street, Pearl House still resembles many of its neighbors—a typical 1970’s curtain-wall office building, albeit with a spruced-up facade—located between Manhattan’s Financial District and South Street Seaport. But that nattily refreshed exterior only hints at the massive transformation Gensler’s New York studio oversaw inside, turning the 480,000-square-foot former workplace into a 588-unit apartment tower—the second largest office-to-residential conversion in the city to date. Such makeovers address two of the most pressing challenges facing many urban areas: a glut of underused downtown office space thanks to the rise in remote and hybrid work, and a chronic shortage of available housing.

Gensler was able to grow the tower from 24 to 30 stories by running three empty shafts through the building’s core—the darkest, least residential-friendly part of the floor plate—and transferring the sealed-off square footage upward to add new penthouse levels. These include the clublike Sky House, a full floor of coworking, social, recreational, and terrace spaces, ranging from a screening room with a 12-foot video wall to outdoor seating areas with firepits. “Our team crafted over 30,000 square feet of hospitality-inspired amenities to create a lifestyle-centered residential experience,” says Gensler principal and design director Peter Wang, who collaborated with BHDM Design on accessory styling and furniture in the public zones and apartments, which include a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom rental units—all light-filled and airy, thanks to the upgraded curtain wall’s operable double-pane windows.

Interior Design celebrates Gensler's 60th anniversary with this special section featuring Q&As and dozens of projects in four of the firm's practice areas including cities, health, workplace, and lifestyle. Check it out today.

Residents also enjoy a luxury hotel–worthy lobby: Featuring a sleek tile-fronted reception desk, fireside lounge, and coffee bar, the block-long double-height volume is anchored by a custom stair. This sculptural structure—a ribbon of terrazzo treads and risers spiraling around a fountainlike column of bronze rods that rises to the ceiling—leads to the basement level, where more five-star amenities await: gym, spa, bowling alley, and billiard and party rooms, among others. Not that it’s all fun and games. “We made an existing building 30 percent more energy efficient from code baseline,” Wang notes, “while saving 20,000 metric tons of carbon and landfill.” No surprise that in May the project won the NYCxDesign Award for best residential lobby and amenity space.

A man walking through a living room with a large lamp
Helmut Scheufele’s textural Anga rug runs beneath Josh Greene’s Yosemite tables in the lobby lounge of the office-to-residential conversion, on which BHDM Design collaborated. Photography by Garrett Rowland.
A person walking a dog in a large room
Glossy ribbed ceramic tiling fronts the reception desk. Photography by Garrett Rowland.
A man playing pool in a living room
Bertjan Pot’s Heracleum III linear fixture hangs above the billiard table in the game room. Photography by Garrett Rowland.
A living room with a large screen behind the couch
In the party room, Antoni Arola’s Flamingo pendant fixtures are an airy complement to moody glazed ceramic tile backsplash and custom velvet-upholstered sofas. Photography by Garrett Rowland.
A couple of people walking through a library
Vertical panels of fluted dichroic glass and honed terrazzo flooring delineate the mail room. Photography by Robert Deitchler.
A spiral staircase in a modern building
Composed of bronze rods with a patina finish and a balustrade and walls sheathed in oak-effect HPL panels, the custom stair connects the lobby to the basement, where a gym, spa, game room, and other social areas are located. Photography by Garrett Rowland.
A woman is walking in a pool with a wooden bench
The spa offers a hot tub and a cold-plunge pool. Photography by Robert Deitchler.
PROJECT TEAM

GENSLER: ROBERT FULLER; PETER WANG; AMBROSE ALIAGA-KELLY; JOE LO; HENRY HONG; LINA AYALA; JUN PAK; TONYEE NG; HARRISON STURNER. BHDM DESIGN: DAN MAZZARINI; JOHN DOYLE.

PRODUCT SOURCES

FROM FRONT WALTER K.: RUG (LOUNGE). DOWEL FURNITURE: COFFEE TABLES. RESTORATION HARDWARE: SOFAS. TOWN & COUNTRY SURFACES: DESK TILE (RECEPTION). EESTAIRS AMERICA: CUSTOM STAIR (LOBBY). FORMS+SURFACES: STAIR RODS. DURITE TERRAZZO COMPANY: FLOORING (MAIL ROOM). MCGRORY GLASS: DICHROIC GLASS. VIBIA: PENDANT FIXTURES (PARTY ROOM). ANN SACKS: BACKSPLASH TILE. COMPOSITION HOSPITALITY: CUSTOM SOFAS. ÉLITIS: SOFA FABRIC. LULU & GEORGIA: ARMCHAIRS. PIERRE FREY: ARMCHAIR FABRIC. TREND GROUP: MOSAIC STAIR TILE (SPA). MOOOI: PENDANT FIXTURE (GAME ROOM). THROUGHOUT ARBORITE: HPL PANELING.

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