Freedom tower nyc full#
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But fundamentally, it came down to a judgement call, says Yoram Eilon, senior vice president of building structures at WSP in New York. To do this, the team reviewed best practice from around the world and consulted the emergency services and the designers of emergency systems.

Freedom tower nyc code#

We knew that current building codes would not be sufficient, so we had to design a building for a future code that had not been written yet.вЂќ

вЂњThe entire engineering and construction community was trying to understand what had happened and see what lessons we could learn to make future buildings better. вЂњAfter 9/11, construction just stopped,вЂќ says Ahmad Rahimian, director of building structures at WSP in New York, who led the structural design of One WTC. As the project team worked to make One WTC the safest ever built as well as to restore confidence in tall buildings, they have developed new technologies and techniques that have since been adopted into the cityвЂ™s building codes and in buildings worldwide. The project has had a revolutionary impact on structural engineering, redefining the way towers are constructed in New York. вЂњWe tried to make it look as clean, strong, monumental as possible and that meant making it look as simple as possible вЂ“ although this is far from a simple building.вЂќ Revolutionizing Structural Engineering and Restoring Confidence in Tall Buildings вЂњWe always thought this building should be about simplicity and geometry,вЂќ says architect TJ Gottesdiener, managing partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), who led the design team. From base to parapet, the building is also the same height as the twin towers вЂ“ 1,368ft вЂ“ before its crowning mast takes it up to the symbolic height of 1,776ft, reflecting the year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and making it the tallest tower in the western hemisphere. At its midpoint, it is a perfect octagon. By the time it reaches the uppermost 104th storey, the floor plan is again a square, but slightly smaller and twisted through 45 degrees. From a height of 20ft, it begins to gently taper at the corners.

Thirty-four percent of construction materials were extracted, harvested, or recovered as well as manufactured within 500 miles of the project site, further reducing the projectвЂ™s carbon footprint.One WTC begins from a 200ft square footprint вЂ“ exactly the same dimensions as the original twin towers. The structural steel was produced from 95 percent recycled materials, and the building features вЂњgreen concrete,вЂќ made from waste fly ash collected from coal plants. In addition, over 40 percent of the materials used in the construction of the tower were made from post-industrial recycled content, including gypsum boards, ceiling tiles, and glass. Under certain conditions, the elevator motors turn into small generators supplementing power in the buildingвЂ™s power distribution grid, thus reducing demand for electrical utility power. The building also generates some of its own power through elevators with variable voltage/variable frequency drives and hoist motors that produce energy through regenerative braking. The tower features a high-tech building management system that optimizes energy use and indoor air quality based on data collected by thousands of sensors. The buildingвЂ™s sustainable design strategies, including water and energy efficiencies, go beyond the criteria established for LEED CS Gold certification. One World Trade Center also led the way in utilizing new technologies to maximize efficiency, minimize waste and pollution, and reduce environmental impact.

Freedom tower nyc windows#

Windows have twice-laminated outer lites and were treated with a low-E coating for maximum energy efficiency. These glass units, the largest ever mass-produced for a building of this scale, help give the massive tower its crystalline elegance.

Freedom tower nyc full#

The 5-foot by 13-foot-4-inch insulated glass panels span the full floor-to-floor height, with no intermediate structure - a first in skyscraper construction. Communication platform rings rise above the parapet, and a 441-foot, cable-stayed spire and innovative LED beacon crown the tower.ДЇor the curtain wall, SOM worked with industry experts to develop glass of a new monumental scale that is capable of withstanding the wind loads of a supertall building as well as stringent security requirements. Seventy-one glass-clad office stories rise above the base to an elevation well over 1,000 feet, above which sits a three-level observatory at elevations that culminate in a parapet marking the heights of the original Twin Towers. Rising from the plaza level, the buildingвЂ™s 50-foot-tall public lobby and mechanical floors form a monumental podium, clad in shimmering glass fins and embossed steel slats.