Security Fit for a Landmark

POSTED NOVEMBER 2, 2007

Built in 1929, the landmark Western Union Building at 60 Hudson Street was conceived many decades before the age of terrorism. But if the architect, Ralph Walker, had to design barriers against, say, a truck bomb, what would they have looked like? That was the question confronting designers wanting to secure the telecommunications hub with bollards that fit neatly with the Art Deco masterpiece.

The solution, by architect George Boyle, can be seen in these renderings: Geometric Art Deco casings made of bronze. Three will go outside the Hudson Street entrance, and three more inside the interior vestibule of its West Broadway entrance.

Last month, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved them, praising their minimal street impact and innovative design. Perhaps Walker would have agreed.

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