Aston Martin Park Avenue, NY

Aston Martin’s Q New York sets precedent in luxury retail design

It’s in Manhattan at Park Avenue and 57th, near a stretch some call “Billionaire’s Row.” That’s because it’s where the big luxury names – Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany.

Aston Martin has partnered with Alexander Zilberman Architecture (AZA) to unveil Q New York, its inaugural ultra-luxury flagship showroom at 450 Park Ave. The showroom unites digital and physical elements to connect clients intimately with their dream cars.

Clients can visualize their personalized Aston Martin on a 10.7 x 3 m (35 x 10 ft) LED wall, providing a 360-degree view in real-life size. The showroom seamlessly blends British craftsmanship, immersive technology, and a bespoke atmosphere, offering a unique gateway into the world of Aston Martin. The collaboration is a milestone for both the British automaker and AZA, known for opulent retail designs for brands such as Versace, Jimmy Choo, Soho House, Helmut Lang, and Equinox.

Alexander Zilberman, Founder and Principal Architect of AZA Design, created a clear representation of the 5000-square-foot destination:

“It’s a showroom and a specs room. It’s not a dealership – it’s for Aston Martin customers and dealers in the area.”

The outcome is a space of two parts

On one side, there’s an “outer display area which is about presenting the cars, which rotate, from time to time,” says Zilberman. On the other side, there’s an area with the feel of a library, “the drawing room,” where potential purchasers can sit down with a sales associate and configure a car. European walnut was used, adding to the sense of sophisticated luxury.

The centerpiece of Q New York, as seen by visitors to 57th Street and Park Ave., is the “Champagne Frame,” which is a grand window installation. As claimed by the architect, it is to be created with one of the largest single panes of glass ever installed into a New York building. It offers a view into the stars—Aston Martin’s iconic models—accentuated by a bespoke chandelier composed of 3,000 hand-blown, mirror-coated glass globes.This computer-backed light fixture enables the car area to be programmed for mood and movement.The flagship also serves as a showcase for Aston Martin’s latest products.

“It is painstaking work, making all interworking mechanical details virtually disappear from sight so that all focus is on the cars or the specification and brand experience functions of the showroom,” says AZA’s founder and principal, Alexander Zilberman, AIA, NCARB.

The interior features walnut floors, precision joinery, and residential elements such as a fireplace and lounge seating, dining room spec table, and a library sample wall with a massive, state-of-the-art video display as the backdrop and focus of the space. The showroom’s laid in Italian limestone, using the largest slabs the designers could find. “It’s from the manufacturer who had the same limestone that was popular with Palladio,” he says. “Palladio gets credit for discovering it – he used it in a lot of his villas.”