Preston Welker, 32
Associate design architect at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
The first project that Preston Welker took from conception to completion was 1245 Broadway, a boutique office building in Manhattan’s NoMad characterized by its classic wedding-cake structure and bare concrete facade.
“It’s not a glass building. It’s cast-in-place concrete, which is kind of a bold material choice for New York,” said Welker, an artist and design architect at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. “The material itself is imperfect and has flaws. But when done correctly, and paired with refined materials, it has a really nice presence.”
The property’s developer, Michael Kirchmann, himself a designer who had previously worked at SOM, was invested in the design. Kirschmann wanted the building, with its smaller floor plates and less aggressive scale, to cater to more creative and unique tenants. And, in fact, when the building was completed last year, it was occupied by anchor tenant A24 and other creative tenants such as video game companies, production studios and talent agencies.
Since the building was constructed during COVID, the new emphasis on health in buildings was taken into consideration, but no substantial changes were made to the design side of the project. It had already incorporated light and outdoor space via its large windows and staggered terraces.
For Welker, the process was a learning experience, and he’s proud of the result. “Anybody walking by can see the character of it, being this concrete massive building with interesting setbacks,” Welker said. But it takes a trained eye to notice the level of craft and detail that conveys the desired effect.
Welker earned his master’s in architecture from the University of Illinois in 2016 and began his career at SOM in Chicago, where the company was founded, and then later transferred to New York. Welker is also the founder of Creteur, a sculpture studio that evolved from a graduate school project. Welker’s sculptures are designed to look like inviting and almost animal-like furniture, but are actually made from industrial materials such as concrete, and are cold and hard on closer contact.
“I’ve always had a passion for concrete, which is kind of a foreshadowing,” Welker said.
