With more supertall skyscrapers currently under construction than were built in the
entirety of the previous century,
New York City’s skyline is changing like never before.
While the iconic Empire State and Chrysler Buildings have dominated Midtown since the
1930s, one of the largest buildings New York has ever known is about to join them on the skyline.
First conceived as far back as the early 2000s, the developers of One Vanderbilt began purchasing
buildings adjacent to Grand Central Station with plans to construct a major new office
tower on the block bound by Vanderbilt and Madison Avenues and by 42nd and 43rd Streets.
Having been postponed by the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, plans for
a commercial skyscraper, 1,300 square metres of redeveloped pedestrian space along Vanderbilt
Avenue and substantial improvements to the Grand Central Terminal transit network were
first unveiled in 2014.
Designed as a modern take on New York’s famous tapering skyscrapers, One Vanderbilt
carefully responds to its surrounding context while respectfully paying homage to the skyline that it joins.
While many of New York City’s historic skyscrapers tapered through set-backs that allowed natural
light to reach street level, One Vanderbilt streamlines this concept with tapering sheer
walls that rise as four uninterrupted forms, these elements culminate in a breath-taking summit.
Rising 427 metres above street level, the tower will stand taller than both the nearby
Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, and upon its completion will contain one of
the city’s highest outdoor observation decks.
One Vanderbilt achieves its height by purchasing air rights from a number of surrounding properties
and effectively stacking them onto its site.
Despite the building's height, the tower will contain just 58 habitable floors - far fewer
than other skyscrapers that are comparable in size.
This is due to substantially high storey heights throughout the structure, which range from
4.5 to 6.1 metres - considerably above average.
Rising directly alongside one of the city’s most historic and well-known landmarks, the
base of One Vanderbilt has been carefully designed to improve pedestrian access around
Grand Central Station while nodding to the terminal’s heritage.
The new skyscraper’s base is formed from a series of angled cuts that create a visual
procession from the tower to the station’s grand facade, while a striking sloping ceiling
rises 32 metres above street level, opening sight lines to the terminal.
In addition, the glass and terracotta materials employed across the tower’s facade hark
back to those used during the early 1900s when the station was first constructed.
Significantly, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority required developers to undertake
major improvements around Grand Central Terminal, as part of their project.
From pedestrianising Vanderbilt Avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets to improving links between
the subway and rail networks and allowing for the construction of the Long Island Rail
Road’s East Side Access project, One Vanderbilt’s construction will ultimately enable a further
65,000 commuters to use the station each day.
At a cost of USD $220 million, these improvements are by far the largest private contribution
to New York’s transit system to date.
With the demolition of the existing structures on the site commencing in 2015, works to excavate
down by 15 metres and remove some 46,000 cubic metres of material began in February 2017.
Constructing a major new skyscraper on a relatively small site in the middle of one of the world’s
most densely occupied cities, is far from easy - and the challenges of logistics played
a key role in how the tower was built.
Conventionally, the multiple concrete pours needed to construct One Vanderbilt’s foundation
mat would have taken place over a number of days, causing congestion and disruption in
the surrounding area over an extended period of time.
To avoid this, the project team coordinated a single continuous pour using four concrete
pumps and 420 concrete trucks over a condensed and highly intensive 18 hour period - an activity
that the building’s developer claims was the largest concrete pour in New York’s history.
With foundations in place, the tower’s steel frame began to rise, reaching ground level
in October 2017 and moving ahead of schedule reached to reach the ninth storey level by
February 2018.
Unlike the construction of most skyscrapers, where the concrete core rises ahead of the
building’s perimeter structure, One Vanderbilt’s steel frame and floor plates in fact progress
first - a common building technique in New York City that has its roots in how different
trades used to interact on sites.
However, forming the tower’s core after the steel frame had been erected created further
logistical challenges - with the core’s formwork needing to be small enough to navigate
through the steel structure to the core’s location.
After careful planning, and with approvals in place from city authorities, formwork systems
manufacturer PERI delivered One Vanderbilt’s core forming system under the cover of darkness
to avoid disruption.
With the initial core walls poured, PERI’s ACS Core 400 formwork system was maneuverered
through One Vanderbilt’s steel frame and installed.
PERI’s system creates a safe environment for those working on the core and has the
ability to self-climb the structure as it rises, avoiding the need to schedule time
with the project’s cranes which are always in high demand on skyscraper sites.
As each storey of the core is completed, PERI’s innovative climbing sequence transfers the
load of the formwork system from the upper working brackets, shown here in red, to the
lower climbing brackets, shown in yellow.
Hydraulic jacks - shown in green - then push the entire system up to the next level.
The red working brackets are secured to embedded anchors in the next pour and the load of the
core system is transferred back to the red brackets.
Then, the yellow climbing brackets are released,
and the hydraulic jacks bring the lower deck up to join the rest of the core system.
This sequence is repeated to the very top of the tower.
Once completed, the core system is dismantled and lowered down the structure by cranes,
either externally or through empty lift shafts.
The cranes themselves are eventually removed
by other cranes or self-disassemble.
One Vanderbilt’s taper means that several elevator and service shafts within the core
do not extend the full height of the building.
PERI’s system is designed to be easily reconfigured
as it rises, reflecting this element of the core design.
Mindful of the environmental impact that urban development can have, developers and engineers
have gone to considerable lengths to ensure that One Vanderbilt is at the forefront of
sustainability - both in terms of design and construction delivery.
Despite the scheme requiring an extensive amount of demolition works prior to construction,
the project team sought to recycle 75% of demolition waste and used an extensive tracking
system to identify locally sourced materials, minimising transport emissions.
Additionally, the steel rebar used in the tower consists of 90% recycled content - a
significant step up from the standard 60% - and the use of industrial by-products such
as recycled slag and fly ash in One Vanderbilt’s concrete mix helps to further reduce the structure’s impact.
Internally, the tower features a 1.2-megawatt co-gen system that contributes to heating
and cooling requirements, while floor to ceiling windows and column-free floor plates maximise
natural light, reducing the extent of artificial lighting needed during the day.
The development also features a 22,000-litre rainwater recycling system and ultra-high-efficiency
fixtures, reducing the tower’s water consumption by a remarkable 40%.
Together, these systems put the skyscraper on track to achieve both a LEED Gold and WELL
certification when it completes in 2020.
At a cost of USD $3 billion - and nearly two decades after it was first conceived -
One Vanderbilt is now beginning to make its mark on the world’s most famous skyline - a highly
impressive scheme that blends heritage with sustainable design and engineering ingenuity
to prove this city’s continuing expertise in skyscraper construction.
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