Penn Plaza Streetscape Planters- New York City, NY
Penn Plaza is one of New York City’s most active commercial districts, encompassing office towers, public spaces, and the pedestrian corridors that surround Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. With hundreds of thousands of daily commuters and pedestrians moving through the area, Vornado Realty Trust, a major owner and developer in Penn District, has invested heavily in redesigning the area’s streetscape.
This extensive project involved manufacturing a family of custom aluminum planters that anchor the district’s evolving pedestrian experience—spanning 7th Avenue, 31st Street, and the raised plaza at Two Penn Plaza. The planters include rectangular, cylindrical, and pill-shaped forms engineered for longevity and visual continuity across the entire development area.
Project Details
Location: Midtown Manhattan
Client: Vornado Realty Trust
Products: Custom Round, Rectangular, and Pill-Shaped Planters. All units (more than 50 in total) fabricated with drainage, gusset bracing where required, and integrated toe kicks or forklift access.
Color: RAL 7043 / Traffic Gray
Photo Credit: PureModern
Preliminary Objectives:
Vornado approached PureModern with several goals for the Penn District.
Develop a cohesive planter system. The district required a unified visual identity across multiple streets, plazas, and pedestrian corridors.
Translate design inspiration into manufacturable products. The client supplied images of planters they noticed in England, asking PureModern to recreate the aesthetic.
Engineer planters capable of supporting large trees. Some planters needed to accommodate multi-stem maples, requiring structural reinforcement, proper soil volume, and integrated drainage.
Ensure rapid deployment and flexibility. Planters needed to be easily relocatable as the district streetscape evolves—e.g., the relocation of planters from 7th Avenue to 31st Street.
And because this was such a high-profile project, PureModern produced a full-scale mockup for client’s review, refining shapes, proportions, and lip details before moving into full production. This allowed the client to see first-hand how the planters would actually look ahead of time, which was extremely helpful.
Behind the Project
Hear Eric from PureModern share how custom planter designs, mockups, and fabrication flexibility came together for a high-profile installation in Midtown Manhattan’s Penn District.
Custom Solution:
This project demonstrates PureModern’s capacity for very large, high visibility projects as well as the ability to take a conceptual reference—a picture, a sketch, or a description of the client’s vision—and engineer it into a fully functional, architectural-grade product.
To align with the client’s long-term vision for the Penn District, PureModern manufactured an extensive collection of custom planters that seamlessly unify the streetscape and add green space to the urban environment — an effort requiring precise engineering, iterative design refinement, and logistical coordination befitting a project positioned within one of the busiest neighborhoods in Manhattan.
The project also included other custom accommodations:
Fabricated in 5052 Marine-Grade Aluminum for corrosion resistance.
Structural gusset bracing added for large formats (rectangles & pill shapes).
Toe kicks and forklift access integrated into select designs.
Powder-coated in RAL 7043 to match Penn District’s contemporary palette.
Constructed from marine-grade aluminum, the planters are highly functional and also provide exceptional durability.
Project Success:
Across multiple high-profile locations, PureModern planters add a unified, architecturally refined streetscape solution softened by the greenery inside—while addressing the client’s need for products that could be easily relocated as the district evolves.
The custom-engineered planters not only elevate the look and feel of the Penn District, but also provide the structural durability required to support substantial plantings in high traffic areas.
Smooth collaboration across mockups, fabrication, and phased installation ensured the project’s long-term success, and the client’s positive feedback underscored both the aesthetic and functional impact of PureModern’s work.
Even in the middle of the world’s busiest city, the sky is the limit on design and what PureModern is able to do.
Finally, a reliable planter manufacturer that values your projects as much as you do.
We know that you work hard to uphold your reputation and need visually stunning design solutions to maintain it. Stop wasting time on mediocre companies and inferior products, and instead, create an empowering partnership with us at PureModern—an innovative planter manufacturer. With top-notch commercial-grade planters and exceptional customer service, we promise to provide transparent communication to ensure a seamless process from start to finish.
Hear From Happy Customers
“The planters are beautiful and you can't beat the price. Customer service is wonderful too!”
— Rob. via TrustPilot