Scope of Work
A custom storefront modification at 128 West 23rd Street in Manhattan, for the Wonder restaurant taking the ground-floor space. The building already had a dark aluminum and glass storefront in its street-level bays. Our work was to modify that storefront to suit the new tenant, without replacing the whole front.
Modifying, Not Replacing
When a new tenant moves into an existing retail space, the storefront rarely matches what the business needs. The entrance may be in the wrong bay, a restaurant may need a different door or door hardware, or a fixed light may have to change. Where the existing framing is sound, the efficient answer is to modify it: take out the bays that have to change, reframe them in material that matches the existing profile and finish, and reglaze, leaving the rest of the front in place.
The difficulty is in the matching. New members have to line up with the old sightlines, the finish has to read as the same color next to metal that has already weathered, and the new work has to be sealed into a system that someone else installed. See our storefront repair and modification page.
The Storefront in the Photograph
The photograph was taken in May 2023, before the restaurant opened. The ground-floor bays are covered on the inside with the tenant's announcement graphics, and the entrance is a pair of glass doors with full-height pull handles in the left bay. Above the storefront, the building's own large fixed windows continue up the facade in the same dark framing.
For door options see storefront doors.
Photographs
Photographed from the sidewalk in May 2023.
Similar Work and Related Specifications
Storefront repair and modification · Storefront doors · Commercial aluminum storefront · Amsterdam Avenue: pass-through window · 217 Main Street: storefront modification · 300 East 50th Street: ground-floor curtain wall
Planning Something Similar?
If you are fitting out a restaurant or shop and the existing storefront needs to change, send us photos of the front and what you need. We will propose the modification and price it.