Governor George E. Pataki, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, World Trade Center Developer Larry A. Silverstein and architects Lord Norman Foster, Lord Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki gathered at 7 World Trade Center today to unveil designs for the three World Trade Center towers that will rise along the site’s eastern edge, forming what will be the heart of a revitalized Downtown Manhattan’s retail, transportation and office corridor.
Along with the Santiago Calatrava-designed PATH Transportation Hub, the three towers, bounded by Church Street to the east and a reintroduced Greenwich Street to the west, will occupy the length of the east side of the World Trade Center site. In keeping with the Libeskind master plan for the site, the towers will form a descending spiral toward the Memorial and will include 6.2 million square feet of office space and a half million square feet of interconnected and contiguous first-class retail.
The three towers were designed to seamlessly integrate with what will be newly-created pedestrian thoroughfares along the reconnected grid at Cortlandt and Dey Streets, the WTC Transportation Hub, which sits between the towers at 200 and 175 Greenwich, and the rest of the downtown neighborhood, including the Fulton Street Transit Center.
“As the world stood transfixed on how Americans and New Yorkers would respond to the worst attacks on American soil, we dared to dream big and think bold. We selected the visionary master site plan by Daniel Libeskind that placed the Memorial to our nearly 3,000 lost heroes at its heart and that inspired plan, not only remains intact, but will be nearly fully realized by 2012,” Governor Pataki said.
“Today, three brilliant architects from around the globe have given New York and the nation a great gift in the tremendous buildings they have designed. Like our great city, these tower designs, joined by the Freedom Tower, Calatrava Transportation Hub and grand memorial will fuse different approaches and perspectives and create an entirety that will be even richer in its beauty and more extraordinary in its entirety than the sum of its parts.”
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, “The new towers will be a magnificent addition to the rebirth of Lower Manhattan. Not only will they create vibrant retail stores and superior commercial space, but these spectacular skyscrapers will join the PATH Station, the Freedom Tower, and the World Trade Center Memorial to make Lower Manhattan one of the most exceptional places on earth. The new skyline that will be created will be worthy of our new 21st century downtown, restoring the splendor of our City’s historic birthplace.”
New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “This is an exciting day that my community has been eagerly awaiting for the last 5 years. I commend Larry Silverstein, his team and the world-class architects for finally breathing hope into downtown Manhattan and for heeding my calls for a plan that would recapture the true spirit and original character of this historic community. This plan not only recaptures the spirit of this place, but dramatically improves the environment for retail businesses, including small and family-run businesses, and for that, all of Lower Manhattan is grateful.”
Mr. Silverstein named Lord Foster as the architect for 200 Greenwich (tower 2) in December 2005. In May, Lord Rogers and Mr. Maki were named to design 175 Greenwich (tower 3) and 150 Greenwich (tower 4), respectively. Immediately after the announcement, Mr. Silverstein created an architect’s design studio on the 25th floor of 7 World Trade Center. Teams of architects, engineers and government planners have since been working daily to produce architectural plans and underground programming in an unprecedented spirit of collaboration.
Larry Silverstein said, “I am amazed by what we have been able to accomplish in a few short months. Each design is timeless in its feel and reflects the individual genius of each architect. At the same time, the towers relate perfectly to each other visually and, together, will enliven the surrounding area with a dynamic retail-oriented streetscape.”
Port Authority Vice Chairman Charles A. Gargano said, “Today's announcement represents a critical step in our plans to revitalize New York City and Lower Manhattan. Working cooperatively with Silverstein Properties – which commissioned world-renowned architects to design three of the World Trade Center’s new office towers – the Port Authority is working aggressively to build a new bathtub for the buildings along Church Street. We want to see those beautiful towers built as quickly as possible, and we are doing everything we can to make that happen.”
Deputy Mayor for Economic Development & Rebuilding Daniel L. Doctoroff said, “Today’s announcement is another step forward in our collective efforts to cement Lower Manhattan as one of the greatest comeback stories in New York history. These towers will provide a stunning testament to New Yorkers’ courage, imagination, and determination to rebuild better than before, creating new connections with the surrounding neighborhoods, bringing life to the streets through above ground retail, and forming a striking new commercial corridor.”
In keeping with the model established by 7 World Trade Center and the Freedom Tower, the three Greenwich Street towers will serve as the paradigm of modern skyscrapers in terms of environmental quality, life safety and technology. Silverstein Properties has committed to ensuring that each of the three towers will achieve at least a gold rating, as did the recently completed 7WTC, under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The three towers also will incorporate a wide range of life safety features that go far beyond New York City building code.
Silverstein Properties has committed to commencing construction on each tower as soon as the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which is responsible for excavating and constructing a ‘bathtub’ along the eastern portion of the site, turns over build able sites. According to the new World Trade Center timetable, all three towers will be completed by 2012.
200 Greenwich Street/Tower 2
Foster and Partners has designed a 78-story tower at 200 Greenwich. The tower, which will rise to 1,254 feet, is bounded by Greenwich Street to the west, Church Street to the east, Vesey Street to the north and Fulton Street to the south. It will contain 143,000 square feet of retail (95,000 square feet at or above street level), 60 office floors that total 2.3 million square feet, four trading floors and a 65-foot high office lobby.
Arranged around a central cruciform core, the tower comprises four blocks, containing light-filled, flexible, column-free office floors that rise to the 59th floor, where the glass facades shear off at an angle to address the Memorial Park. Extending the logic of the core, the volume of the tower is punctuated on all four sides by notches – elegantly breaking up the mass of the tower into four interconnected blocks. The upper floor contained within the summit provides an opportunity for spectacular multiple-height function rooms with sweeping views of the Memorial, the river and the city.
Lord Foster said, “We are pleased to unveil our design for Tower Two on the site of the World Trade Center, a building that symbolizes the renaissance of New York on the skyline while also re-establishing and reviving Greenwich Street at ground level. The crystalline top of the tower respects the master plan and bows down to the Memorial Park commemorating the tragic events that unfolded here. But it is also a powerful symbol of hope for the future. The dramatic height of the tower celebrates the spirit that has historically driven Manhattan to build tall, and the diamond-shaped top will be a crowning landmark on the city's skyline.”
175 Greenwich Street/Tower 3
The 71-story 175 Greenwich tower, designed by Richard Rogers Partnership, will rise to 1,155 feet above street level. It is located on the site bounded by Greenwich Street to the west, Church Street to the east, Dey Street to the north and Cortlandt Street to the south. The tower will include 133,000 square feet of retail (73,000 square feet at or above street level); 54 office floors (2.1 million square feet) and five trading floors.
The design uses a structural load-sharing system of diamond-shaped bracing which helps to articulate the building’s east-west configuration. All corners of the tower are column free to ensure that occupants of the office levels enjoy unimpeded 360-degree panoramic views of New York. The upper levels of the tower appear to straddle the lower level–the “podium building”–which emphasize the interlocking nature of the base with the upper part of the building. The three-level high lobby on Greenwich Street offers a “big picture window” onto the World Trade Center Memorial.
Richard Rogers said, “175 Greenwich will occupy a hugely significant site in Lower Manhattan and in New York. We believe we have designed a transparent and legible building which responds both to the architectural and social context of the area, and one which will make a fitting contribution to the New York skyline.”
150 Greenwich/Tower 4
The 61-story 150 Greenwich Street tower, designed by Fumihiko Maki and Maki and Associates, is located on the site bounded by Greenwich Street to the west, Church Street to the east, Cortlandt Street to the north and Liberty Street to the south. The 947-foot tall building will include 53 office floors (1.8 million square feet), as well as five floors of retail, three of which are at or above grade.
The tower has an abstract quality – minimal, light, cool in color and ephemeral, changing with the light of day. Seen from a distance, the building presents a unique angular profile at the crown effectuating the spiral composition formed by the group of four towers and looking back to the Memorial and the Freedom Tower. Facing Church Street is an 85-foot atrium offering a new dynamic urban experience by amalgamating the transit hall and retail into a single, identifiable whole, featuring multiple cascading floors that will enliven the street and become a symbolic feature of a revitalized World Trade Center.
Fumihiko Maki said, “The fundamental approach to the design of the tower at 150 Greenwich is two-fold – a ‘minimalist’ tower that achieves an appropriate presence, quiet but with dignity, becoming a tribute to the Memorial, and a ‘podium’ that becomes a catalyst in activating and enlivening the immediate urban environment as part of the revitalization of Downtown New York.”
Images of the three designs are available for viewing and download at www.wtc.com.
