New York, New York, USA
American Prize for Architecture laureates Kohn Pedersen Fox have designed the latest Manhattan tower at 343 Madison Avenue alongside the Chrysler Building and One Vanderbilt to the right.
The supertall is planned to rise in place of the former Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters and join many other supertall skyscrapers on the Manhattan skyline, including the nearly completed Central Park Tower by Adrian Smith + Gordan Gill.
Boston Properties is developing the 1,050-foot-tall project, which will yield 832,613 square feet of Class A office space above 5,357 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Mechanicals will occupy 84,593 square feet.
The new tower will generate improvements to local public infrastructure through the transit entrance, which will provide commuters with an alternative to Grand Central, but also through a new subway platform.
At the street level, the design creates widened sidewalks to improve pedestrian flow.
The 320-metre high office tower at 343 Madison Avenue makes the most out of its relatively small plot and the silhouette mandated by the New York City zoning laws, featuring a series of receding volumes that leave a way to gardens and terraces at different levels.
The development site has frontage along Madison Avenue and both East 44th and 45th Streets.
The office tower will fit in with the surrounding commercial high-rises consisting of hotels and office space near Grand Central Terminal; and when completed, the project will also create an important new transit entrance to the Long Island Rail Road and the Grand Central Complex.
The majority of 343 Madison Avenue will be clad in floor-to-ceiling glass with strips of indented spandrels covering the edges of each floor plate.
A double-height lobby space and a corner entrance to the Long Island Railroad are to be enclosed behind clear tall glass panels.
The massing features interspersed setbacks that are highlighted by a series of large multi-story trusses.
The setbacks are clearly visible with a background of bronze-colored walls, outdoor terraces and seating above, and a bright lighting scheme that divides the tower into three large chunks of office floors at nighttime.
The building will be capped by what looks to be an encased green space with trees.
The elevator core will be positioned on the backside facing the East River, defined by a rectilinear volume covered with a mix of mostly blank metal panels that run the height of the structure, as well as strips of glass that expose parts of the egress staircases.
Project: 343 Madison Avenue
Architects: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)
Client: Boston Properties, Inc.
