RSHP Celebrates the Completion of 3 World Trade Center in New York

RSHP yesterday celebrated the historic opening of 3 World Trade Center as part of the redevelopment of Manhattan’s Ground Zero 16-acre site. The ribbon-cutting was attended by Larry Silverstein and RSHP partners Richard Paul and John McElgunn.

At 1079 feet tall, 3 World Trade Centre is a prominent new tower on Manhattan’s skyline and RSHP’s first built project in New York. The tower is located at 175 Greenwich Street, opposite the WTC memorial and Cultural Center at the heart of the Financial District in downtown Manhattan. RSHP’s tower is the third building to complete on the World Trade Center (WTC) masterplan site developed by Silverstein Properties.

3 World Trade Center is an 80-storey commercial building and contains 2.5 million-square-feet rentable space above ground, five floors of retail including at ground level and links direct to the state of the art new World Trade Center transportation hub. The tower connects to underground pedestrian concourses that lead directly to 11 subway lines and the PATH trains.

The design of the exterior bracing not only works to provide the building’s stability but also allows 3 World Trade Center’s tenants the flexibility to create work spaces with column free corners that suit the particular needs of modern businesses.Additionally, the bracing adds scale and grain to the building as well as creates shadow; the interplay of light from the reflection of the stainless steel changes the building’s coloration.

Richard Paul, Project Lead of 3 World Trade Center, remarked that his architecture team made sure that all corners of the tower were column free; to give companies an unobstructed panorama of the city. In particular, he said that the views from tower’s three outdoor terraces promise to’ wow.’ The 17th floor terrace will be open to the entire building and is expected to include a garden and coffee shop. Group M, the principal tenants, will have access to the 60th and 76th floor terraces, the latter of which will be the tallest outdoor terrace in the city, according to Silverstein Properties. Paul said in his speech that he is confident that the tenants will have enough space to come up with great ideas and create their own culture, that “more companies will want to set up shop in the tower and be part of downtown Manhattan’s booming community.”

The lower part of the building – the ‘podium building’ – contains the tower’s retail element and the trading floors. ‘Live’, active façades, at street level, enable the free-flowing movement of shoppers. There are two below ground level retail levels and three retail levels above the ground floor, served by two lifts and four stairwells.

There is a 5,500-square-foot landscaped garden terrace on the 17th floor and another two smaller garden spaces on the 60^th and 76th floor - set to be Manhattan’s highest – which overlook the Memorial park with views of the entire lower Manhattan area. The terrace provides opportunities for tenants to meet and encourages a sense of community and wellbeing within the building.

Green design features such as LED lighting used throughout the lobbies to aid energy saving and perimeter lighting controls which enable 68% of daylight to be used as it reacts to the current daylight and reduces energy output.These are incorporated to reduce costs compared to typical Manhattan office buildings. The building has been awarded ‘Gold’ Certificate for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the U.S. Green Buildings Council.

Richard Rogers, Founding Partner, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners said: “It has been a great privilege to design one of the new buildings on this key site in New York. We are particularly delighted that we have been working in the heart of this vibrant city. This was a complex and challenging project but one which has helped to contribute to the revitalisation of New York City and one which will help to inspire a new hope for the city’s future.

Richard Paul, Partner and Project Lead, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners said: “Tower 3 in the heart of the World Trade Center site is an exceptional location within the revitalised urban fabric of lower Manhattan. It makes a significant step towards a new sense of place in New York’s World Trade Center. The new workplace will bring vitality to the area and with the extensive public realm, a new sense of urban integration.”