Constructed from 1950 to 1952 on New York City’s Park Avenue, the 22-story Lever House was designed by noted architects Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in the International Style, a mid-20^th-century modern. The building was the headquarters of soap company Lever Brothers, a subsidiary of Unilever.

After the completion of the building, it seemed urban planners and architects in many other large American cities started to mimic the design of Lever House. Instead of a masonry and brick facade, builders were installing blue-green glass and stainless steel façades, which reflected the nearby buildings in the daytime and brought life to the city after dark with cozy, light-filled offices, visible to the pedestrians below. Of course, having a location on Park Avenue added more sophistication to the building’s aura. Six years later, Mies van der Rohe’s Modernist Seagram Building moved across the street, causing New Yorkers to offer their opinion on which building was more beautiful.

© Lucas Blair Simpson – SOM

In 1982, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Lever House as the city’s first Modernist landmark. However, by the 1990s, more than 40 years of winter weather and the limitations of midcentury materials caused the exterior to lose its brilliance (literally); only 1 percent of the original glass remained intact.

In 2002, the original architects were asked by the new owners of the property, Brookfield Properties and WatermanClark, to restore the building’s original mid-century appearance and revitalize its 1950s interior.  Working with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, SOM restored the building, maintaining its original design using new materials to duplicate its original iconic look. The $100-million restoration was completed in 2023.

© Lucas Blair Simpson – SOM

Included in the work was an updated public plaza and outdoor spaces, a restored lobby using the same furniture design, and new mechanical systems throughout to update energy efficiency. The tower’s third floor and 15,000 square feet of terraces have been restored and transformed into The Lever Club, an indoor-outdoor hospitality suite with interiors designed by Marmol Radziner and services managed by Sant Ambroeus Hospitality Group. This renovation and restoration, completed in 2023, revitalizes Lever House and makes it once again Park Avenue’s premier boutique office building.

Fortunately, the public can enter the lobby; stroll among the outdoor foliage; and dine at posh Casa Lever, a new Milanese-style Italian restaurant on the building’s first floor. The restaurant reopened last summer after the renovations. There are two colorful Damien Hirst paintings to view, and guests are surrounded by blond wood paneling and Australian oak chairs. The ambiance is subdued, the décor subtle and tasteful. Casa Lever serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

© Lucas Blair Simpson – SOM

There is also Casa Lever Garden, an outdoor oasis which serves drinks, snacks and light meals. Guests include corporate executives, celebrities and well-dressed tourists who want to view a beautiful mid-century office building and indulge in a refined (yes, of course it’s expensive) upscale Manhattan dining experience.