MILAN — Rising above Grand Central Terminal, JPMorgan Chase’s hydropower, all-electric headquarters has become a defining addition to the New York City skyline since its completion in 2025. Replacing the 1960s era Union Carbide Building, the tower has come to the fore not just for its scale and sustainable features, but also for the design language shaping its interiors — a story in which Italy’s Molteni Group is now staking a claim.
On Monday, Molteni Group said through UniFor, which specializes in architectural and workplace systems, and luxury furniture company Molteni&C, the group helped shape key interior spaces within the new headquarters. UniFor delivered bespoke architectural and workplace systems, while Molteni&C curated furniture for hospitality, meeting, and lounge areas.
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UniFor installed its architectural office solutions within the JPMorgan Chase tower in New York City. A. Saletta e A. Bedini – DSL Studio
Designed by Foster + Partners, the JPMorgan Chase 60-story, 2.5 million-square-foot-tower building is positioned as a “city within the city” with trading floors, collaboration spaces, executive areas, client spaces, terraces, and wellness facilities. Officially opened in October 2025, it is now New York City’s largest all-electric skyscraper and runs entirely on renewable hydroelectric energy and net-zero operational emissions.
“The building redefines the contemporary workplace through a combination of iconic architecture, intelligent technology, flexible operational spaces, and an exemplary focus on sustainability, health and human well-being,” Molteni Group said in a statement.
UniFor’s contribution is concentrated in some of the building’s most complex spaces. On the eight trading floors, the company installed custom partitions and operational furnishings built to meet the demands of high-performance financial operations. The workstations combine wood-finish surfaces and divider panels with height-adjustable desks and integrated systems for managing cabling and mechanisms, bringing a sense of order and warmth to an otherwise technical environment.
Molteni&C inside the JPMorgan Chase headquarters.A. Saletta e A. Bedini – DSL Studio
The company also developed tailored systems for private offices and the so-called CC1 floors, where veneered oak, wall panels, credenzas and adjustable desks were used to create flexible, multifunctional workplaces. There, custom partition systems combine solid walls, glazed panels, bronze-anodized aluminum profiles and timber doors, striking a balance between privacy, transparency and material richness.
Molteni&C, meanwhile, infused elements of the luxury Italian home throughout the building. In the client center, conference rooms and lounges, the brand installed a mix of signature designs including D.154.2 Heritage armchairs by Italian Gio Ponti, Flemish designer Vincent Van Duysen’s Elain seating, Augusto and Octave sofas, in addition to Van Duysen’s tables such as Aster and Louisa and Pannacotta by Israeli designer Ron Gilad. Nicola Gallizia’s 505 UP system in coffee-stained oak showcases Molteni&C’s flair for architecture wall systems, while a waiting area on level 17 was furnished with an Octave sofa, Elain armchairs and a Fonte table.
In addition to Foster + Partners, interior spaces were designed by Gensler, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Studios. Vishaan Chakrabarti, architect and founder of practice for architecture and urbanism, served as the project’s overall design adviser for the building, which was envisaged to accommodate 10,000 employees in total and 2.5 times the outdoor space as the old building.
“The unparalleled range of venues and leisure activities…spaces with generous natural light and high levels of fresh filtered air (twice that of building codes) combine to set new standards of well-being. It is the workplace of the future designed for today,” said Lord Norman Foster in a statement.
The project highlights how corporate spaces are focused on those that borrow from the worlds of residential design and hospitality. It also underscores Molteni Group’s potential, via UniFor, in vast urban properties. Since it was founded in 1970, UniFor has infused its Italian flair into landmarks like The New York Times building in 2007, AstraZeneca headquarters in London in 2010, and Louis Vuitton International facilities in Paris.
Molteni Group, which is one of Italy’s largest furniture groups by sales, reached 562 million euros in 2025 versus 520 million euros in 2024.
Founded in 1934 as an artisan workshop by Angelo and Giuseppina Molteni, the group continues to be managed by an executive team that includes their descendants. Through its three brands Molteni&C, UniFor and partition walls and office furniture firm Citterio, its presence spans 100 countries, with more than 700 stores, including 100 monobrand flagships.
JPMorgan Chase in New York City. Agnese Bedini
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