Officials have given the thumbs up for a new tallest skyscraper in the United States – and it's not headed for New York City or Chicago as you might expect, but to a tornado-prone area with a population of only around 700,000 people: Oklahoma City.
We first saw this audacious project proposed as the USA's second-tallest skyscraper. Following this, the designers and developers went back to the drawing board and decided to go one better, updating their plans to make it the tallest building in the country. More details have since emerged.
We now know that the Legends Tower will be located on the site of a parking lot near a railroad track and a U-Haul storage facility. It will reach a symbolic height of 1,907 ft (581 m), to commemorate the year Oklahoma became the USA's 46th state. To put that into perspective, it will be a significant 130 ft (39 m) taller than the USA's current tallest skyscraper, NYC's One World Trade Center, and will be placed at sixth-tallest in the world rankings, just behind China's Ping An Finance Center.
Alongside the main skyscraper, there will be three smaller towers, each rising to 345 ft (105 m). Between all four buildings, they will host 1,776 residential units, as well as a luxury hotel.
There are some concerns, however. Building something so tall in a city with a population under 1 million (or around 1.4 million if we include the entire Oklahoma City metropolitan area) doesn't seem to make much financial sense, though developer Scot Matteson recently announced that he has secured funding for the US$1.6 billion project, so presumably someone thinks it does.
Additionally, as the Wall Street Journal reports, in a recent city planning meeting, another more pressing concern was also raised: the weather. Oklahoma City is known to experience a large number of tornadoes, which brings to mind all sorts of nightmarish scenarios when discussing such a tall building. Addressing this, Rob Budetti, managing partner of California studio AO, which is designing the Legends Tower, offered reassurance that engineers will install a chunky concrete core surrounding the elevator shaft for stability, and that the skyscraper's windows will be capable of withstanding the force of a tornado without damage. Indeed, the architect even suggested it will be one of the safer places to be in the event of a tornado.
In the end, the Oklahoma City Planning Commission gave its stamp of approval. According to local newspaper The Oklahoman there are still a few potential hurdles, including a city meeting on June 4 to discuss a zoning change. But all being well, Matteson expects this incredible project to begin construction by July of this year.
Source: AO
