The entire site is a monument to the tragedy of 9/11 consisting of an interconnected series of five buildings that creates a cathedral-like enclosure across the entire 16 acre site. A vast public plaza and park is formed around the connected footprints by a protective ring of towers. A living memorial will develop over time becoming both a monument to the past and a vision for the future.

Preserving the footprints of the World Trade Center, the memorial visitor descends seventy-five feet below ground along a spiral walkway to then look up through the footprints to the sky. Rather than looking down, the memorial directs visitors to look upward in remembrance. A Sky Memorial atop the first tower will allow visitors to complete the memorial pilgrimage by looking down over the hallowed ground where so many heroes lost their lives.

In the sacred space of the memorial, immense arches tower over the plaza and expansive public spaces are laid out to optimize the flow of people and create an inviting sense of openness. This integrated strategy of development serves commuters, nearby residents and tourists alike and reflects the rich urban fabric that has evolved in Lower Manhattan over the past 30 years. United Towers encompasses over 10.5 million square feet in a single contiguous building to be built in phases, the highest tower measuring 1620 feet, approximately 112 floors.

The interconnection of the five towers provides for unique commercial and public space. For example, at 800 feet in the air, approximately the 60th floor, a multi-level "City in the Sky" connects the towers with gardens, educational centers, shopping, cafes, a sports center, a broadcast center and a conference center. The possibility of very large connected floors invites not only new public functions at unprecedented heights but also large contiguous floor plates that can attract businesses back from the suburbs into Lower Manhattan. Throughout the complex, vertical sky gardens are arranged every five floors thereby enhancing the working environment and allowing a maximum amount of sunlight, saving energy and improving the views from within.

This single building built in five phases will not only be the tallest building in the world, it will also be one of the safest. Each of the sloping towers contains multiple independent stairways, connected every 30 floors by areas of refuge. From any point in every building there are many ways for people to exit, having the option of going down, and of moving horizontally into an adjacent building.

The site surface is returned to grade where pedestrians can walk across the site freely in all directions. Greenwich Street connects Tribeca with Lower Manhattan through the site. From Liberty, Cortlandt, Dey and Fulton Streets 60 story archways frame views connecting the city to the river. The proposed underground train station is designed to promote the flow of pedestrians, avoid bottlenecks and provide a wide range of intuitive connections to the streets, the plaza and the memorial. A major five-story civic space dedicated to the multi-modal connections of MTA, PATH and Air trains is located at the same subterranean level as the base of the memorial competition site, allowing a connected experience of monumental public infrastructure and the memorial.