Axa Equitable Center Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Axa Equitable Center
View to the northwest (September 2009)
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Commercial building (offices and retail); skyscraper
Address	787 Seventh Avenue (between 51st and 52nd Streets) New York City, New York, United States
Coordinates	40°45′42″N 73°58′54″W / 40.761733°N 73.981802°W / 40.761733; -73.981802
Completed	1986
Height
Roof	229.3 m (752 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	54
Design and construction
Architect	Edward Larrabee Barnes
Structural engineer	Severud Associates

The Axa Equitable Center (originally The Equitable Tower or Equitable Center West) is a 752-foot (229.3 m)-tall skyscraper, located at 787 Seventh Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets in Manhattan, New York City.

Construction and tenants
Amenities
Helicopter crash
Other AXA buildings
Images for kids
See also

Construction and tenants

The Axa Equitable Center was designed in the postmodern style by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, and completed in 1985. The building has 54 floors and 1,535,600 square feet (142,660 m²), mostly designated for offices. The underlying structure is a steel frame, clad in granite, applied in a two-tone pattern, with brown running vertically and beige running horizontally. The north and south facades setback three times before reaching the topmost penthouse, which is embellished with large arched windows on its east and west sides (behind which sits the Equitable boardroom).

The building houses the headquarters for Axa Financial, which consists of a number of subsidiaries of French-based insurance and banking company Axa, such as Axa Equitable Life Insurance and Mutual of New York. Other cornerstone tenants include BNP Paribas, Stifel, New Mountain Capital, Sidley Austin LLP, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, UBS, and Citigroup On February 9, 2016, CalPERS announced that it had purchased the building for $1.9 billion.

Amenities

The skylighted entrance atrium features a large (810 by 390 inches (20,600 mm × 9,900 mm)) mural by Roy Lichtenstein called Mural with Blue Brushstroke, which he completed in 1986. The Atrium at 787 Seventh Avenue is used for after-business and weekend events.

Axa Center is connected to the extensive Rockefeller Center underground concourse. Pedestrian traffic moves through this tower (via an arched galleria at 7th Avenue), across the open mall (between West 51st and 52nd Streets), and onto the eastern Equitable Tower.

The Axa complex includes the Axa Equitable auditorium, with 487 seats, and the Axa Equitable Production Group studio. The auditorium is a versatile meeting and event space. It is often used for events including product launches, corporate meetings, live television premiers and broadcasts, award ceremonies. It has full theater capabilities. The auditorium, along with the Axa Equitable Production Group's full production studio, services many corporate clients in the New York City area.

Helicopter crash

At 1:43 p.m. on June 10, 2019, a helicopter crashed on the building's roof. The pilot was killed, and a fire broke out on the roof, resulting in the building's evacuation.

Other AXA buildings

The Tour Axa, the former headquarters of Axa, is in the La Défense business district of Paris, France. The building was renovated in 2011. It is 225 meters tall to the roof.
The Axa Center in Perth, Australia is 75 meters (246 ft) high and has 20 floors. Its construction was finished in 1975.
Tour Axa in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was completed in 1974.
Axa Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia, was completed in 2011. It is part of Kuningan City mixed-used buildings consist of office tower, apartments, and shopping centres.
Axa Tower in Singapore is also known as 8 Shenton Way (Chinese: 八珊顿道; Bā Shān Dùn Dǎo) and formerly The Treasury and Temasek Tower, is the 16th-tallest skyscraper in the city of Singapore, with at 234.7 m (770 ft).