An ambitious new supertall skyscraper is planned for New York City – and this one's a real head-turner. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the building will be defined by an external steel lattice that forms part of its structural system.
The 175 Park Avenue skyscraper (aka Project Commodore) is slated for East Midtown, Manhattan, near New York City's famous Grand Central Station. It'll rise to a height of 1,545 ft (470 m), making it a bona fide supertall and placing it as third-tallest building in the USA, merely a few feet behind Central Park Tower.
The building's striking form will taper as it rises, with a series of setbacks, and feature a glass curtain wall enclosed by a latticed steel exterior. This elegant design was partly shaped by the constraints of the challenging site, which currently holds a hotel that will be demolished.
"The structural lattice represents SOM's signature synthesis of architecture and engineering," explains the studio, which also designed the USA's tallest tower and the world's tallest building. "The metal columns intertwine into two bundles on 42nd Street; below ground, they navigate a multistory tangle of underground rail tracks and anchor into the limited available bedrock. At street level, the bundles are set away from the edge of the property line, a configuration that widens the sidewalk to improve circulation outside Grand Central.
"Above the building's base the columns fan out, opening like a curtain to welcome the public inside, before rising in strong verticals that emphasize the tower's height. Three setbacks provide space for landscaped terraces, and at these floors, the structural columns slope inward, becoming tall buttresses that reintegrate into the latticework. At the apex, the columns weave into a delicate tracery of metal and glass."
The skyscraper will consist of 83 floors offering column-free interiors. Most available space will be given over to offices, plus there will be a boutique hotel and private outdoor terraces. Additionally, at the base of the tower, a new transit hall will add more space to the adjacent Grand Central Station, increasing retail space and improving pedestrian connectivity.
Developers RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone have submitted permits for the project with a view to going ahead. It has already cleared the initial planning permission stage and SOM lists the expected completion date as 2032.
Source: SOM
