The iconic Empire State Building, Manhattan’s preeminent architectural wonder from the 1930s, now has a newly renovated entrance, marking the first step of the redevelopment of the iconic building's exhibition hall.

The renovation, which moves the entrance from its former location on Fifth Avenue to a new location on 34th street, was carried out in order to enhance the landmark’s visitor experience and highlight its history as one of the most renowned Art Deco structures to ever grace the New York city skyline.

Following the work, visitors can now wander freely around the lobby and interact with various artworks and LED panels illustrating the Empire State Building’s long-standing significance. Self-service ticket kiosks have also been installed to improve access for visitors and reduce lengthy lines to travel to the top of the tower, which until 1972 was the world's tallest building.

A collection of 13 different architecture and design firms were involved in the project. These included:

• Thinc Design

• Beneville Studios• Ideo

• Squint / Opera• JLL

• Intersection• Diversified.

• Skanska• Kubik Maltbie

• Thornton Tomasetti• The Lighting Practice

• Corgan• Syska Hennessy Group

"This reimagination of our entrance, the first phase of our completely new Observatory experience," said Anthony E. Malkin, chair and CEO of the Empire State Realty Trust.

"We have a high level of confidence that our work will increase customer satisfaction immensely and drive bottom-line performance. We've already transformed the Empire State Building into one of the most modern and energy-efficient buildings in the world. Now we're raising the bar for guest experience to make it best-in-class, bar none."

Spanning more than a decade, the "ReBuilding the Empire State Building" modernisation masterplan is set to be completed in its entirety towards the end of 2019. Additional enhancements to the Observatory experience will be announced with key elements to be revealed in the coming months.