The Olayan Group’s LEED-Platinum 550 Madison Avenue Receives WELL Gold Designation

550 Madison Avenue has achieved WELL Gold certification, a milestone achievement that establishes the property as New York City’s first and only landmarked building to receive WELL Gold and LEED Platinum certifications.

The certification follows Olayan’s transformation of the Philip Johnson- and John Burgee-designed property into a world-class, multi-tenant new office destination. The building proudly became New York City’s youngest landmark in 2018, and opened as a multi-tenant building for the first time in 2022 – with office leases signed by Hermès, Chubb, Corsair Capital, Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Junto Capital.

Olayan created the half-acre 550 Garden adjacent to the building to offer a vibrant public amenity for the neighborhood with access to fresh air, greenery and sunlight. As part of Olayan’s commitment to redeveloping 550 Madison with a focus on wellness, the iconic tower includes a robust set of sustainability amenities, including:

• 75% of all construction waste was recycled or salvaged;
• Over 90% of regularly occupied spaces have a view to the outdoors to improve occupant health and comfort;
• Real time energy metering and monitoring tracks the project’s energy use, ensuring that the project performs as designed;
• 35% of the building’s electricity demand is offset by purchasing renewable energy credits;

All Garden irrigation needs are met using captured and reused stormwater. 550 Madison captures enough rainwater to irrigate the entire garden space saving over 93K gallons of water annually.

Additionally, the building features the latest ventilation technology, known as a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS), which infuses the entire structure with fresh, purified outdoor air. Buildings that use dedicated outdoor air systems have 30% more fresh air than those with other systems. This abundance of fresh and filtered air mitigates the spread of diseases, germs, and other viruses as there is more filtered air in the building, improving both health and productivity.