One World Trade Center Story by One World Trade Center One World Trade Center One World Trade Center Story by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM as Architects

As the first office tower to rise on the World Trade Center site, One World Trade Center recaptures the New York skyline, reasserts downtown Manhattan’s preeminence as a business center and establishes a new civic icon for the country. It is a memorable architectural landmark for the city and the nation – a building whose simplicity and clarity of form will remain fresh and timeless. Extending the long tradition of American ingenuity in high-rise construction, the design solution is an innovative mix of architecture, structure, urban design, safety and sustainability.


One WTC is a bold icon in the sky that acknowledges the adjacent memorial. While the memorial, carved out of the earth, speaks of the past and of remembrance, One WTC speaks about the future and hope as it rises into the sky in a faceted, crystalline form filled with, and reflecting, light. This tower evokes the slender, tapering triangular forms of great New York City icons such as the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building and replaces almost one quarter of the office space lost on September 11, 2001. (Overall, downtown lost approximately 11 million square feet of office space on September 11th, with ten million square feet lost at the World Trade Center proper.)


As the tower rises from this cubic base, its square edges are chamfered back, transforming the square into eight tall isosceles triangles in elevation. At its middle, the tower forms a perfect octagon in plan and then culminates in a glass parapet whose plan is a square, rotated 45 degrees from the base. Its overall effect is that of a crystalline form that captures an ever-evolving display of refracted light: as the sun moves through the sky or we move around the tower, the surfaces appear like a kaleidoscope, and will change throughout the day as light and weather conditions change.


One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center as Other

One World Trade Center features 3,500,000 square feet of space, composed of offices, an observation deck, parking, and broadcast and antennae facilities‐all supported by above and below‐grade mechanical infrastructure for the building and its adjacent public spaces. Below grade tenant parking and storage, shopping and dining options, along with access to the PATH and subway trains and the World Financial Center are also provided. One World Trade Center was designed by architect David Childs.


MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS


Ironwokers erected the perimeter columns past the Empire State Building’s 1250’ roofline to make One World Trade Center the tallest building in Manhattan. The 100th floor is framed and the metal decking is in progress. This is now the derrick floor for staging the erection of columns to 1271' above grade, just above the 102nd floor.


CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS


Superstructure Steel Framing of the 100th floor and the 93rd floor Mezzanine is in progress. The next tier of perimeter columns extends beyond the 102nd floor. Ironworkers continue to complete temporary walkways in the plenum spaces outboard of the inboard perimeter of the 91st, 92nd, and 93rd floors, and prepare the 91st floor metal deck for turnover to the concrete contractor.


Superstructure Concrete


Shear walls at both north and south cores were cast to one lift above the 89th floor. The 89th floor is a double height floor. Two lifts are required to extend the shear walls from the 89th to the 90th floor. Core infill slabs, stairs, and related structural elements were cast through the 84th floor. Floor slabs are complete to the 90th floor.


Building Enclosure


Ironworkers are setting panels between floors 70 and 71. Installation of slab edge anchors is underway at the 91st floor.


Interiors


Two of three stair sections for the Grand Stair at the B2 Observation Deck lobby are on site. Installation of the Grand Stair is expected to begin during the first week of May.


Also at the B2 level, stone setters and derrickmen continue installing curved marble veneer panels and flat panels for the interior walls at the west elevation of the core. At the ground floor, marble is complete at the lobbies of elevator banks A and B. Ornamental metal entry portals arrive on site for elevator banks E and F on Friday.


SPECIAL SECURITY FEATURES


• Structural redundancy, enhanced fireproofing, and extra‐wide pressurized stairs • Concrete‐protected sprinklers, emergency risers and communication systems • Interconnected redundant Exits • Enhanced emergency communication cabling • Dedicated stairs for use by Firefighters • Elevators are housed in a protected central building core and a protected tenant collection point


Products used in this project
Product Spec Sheet

ElementBrandProduct name
ManufacturersPOHL
ManufacturersINTERPANE
ManufacturersSevasa
Insulating GlassViracon
Product Spec Sheet
Manufacturers
Manufacturers
Manufacturers
by Sevasa
Insulating Glass
by Viracon
Products Behind Projects
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