NEW YORK | 30 Hudson Yards (North Tower) | 1,296 FT | 92 FLOORS

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Why do US. office building always have enormous amounts of empty space at the top/bigger than necessary mechanical floors? Are people still scared of super high offices? It's like 1WTC... c'mon people, 9/11 is ancient history.

Dunno, but 30 HY has a few floors of observation deck/etc at the top.

The Bing.com provided map/imagery (bird's-eye) below gives you a nice view of what 30 HY will overbuild: namely the LIRR control tower and AC/DC substaion (to the left/west of the "10" in the the 10th Ave label). The truss construction for supporting the tower's south wall might be needed to avoid the Penn RR/Amtrak Hudson River tunnels tat I think are the dashed white line in the Bing.com snip.
The roof of 450 W 33rd is the bottom right corner of the photo. If you look at the SE corner of 33rd & 11th Ave you can see that this western area is where 33rd and 11 are built as viaducts or on top of fill/platforms. The area north of 33rd is far further along on it's path to becoming Hudson Blvd Park and the #7 subway vent buildings/entrance than is shown in the 2012 imagery:


Bing.com 2014 Microsoft Corp

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by vkristof

Dunno, but 30 HY has a few floors of observation deck/etc at the top.

That's true, and a very good thing but still doesn't explain why there's over 100+ feet of mechanical space between the top office floor (950') and the observatory.

It's like that in 1WTC as well, easily 150+ feet of mechanical space near the top of the building above and below the public observatory. I'm no expert but I know that much space is unnecessary, the old WTC had only ~50 feet of mechanical space and Sears has maybe ~80 feet.

[JSsocal]

^^The original WTC had their mechanicals in the shared base of the complex, so they had limited exhausts in the tower components. 30HY has to cope with a limited basement (which would also be in the flood plane), so they'll need to put these mechanicals in the tower.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Why do US. office building always have enormous amounts of empty space at the top/bigger than necessary mechanical floors?

Surely you aren't as dense as that. Look around, and you will see that some of the most beautiful skyscraper designs around the world have "empty" space at the top, and for a variety of reasons.



http://permanentcrisis.blogspot.com/...eculation.html




http://www.evolo.us/architecture/wor...-construction/




http://www.evolo.us/architecture/wor...-construction/



As far as this one goes, it could use a little more "empty" space at the top, maybe we would get a better looking crown out of it.

[Hypothalamus]

New York YIMBY:

New Look: The Plaza at Hudson Yards
BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK ON MARCH 12TH 2014 AT 6:00 AM


The Plaza at Hudson Yards -- image from Nelson Byrd Woltz

While the vertical element of Related’s Hudson Yards may be the site’s most prominent attribute, the creation of a public square at the ground-level will cement the mega-project’s iconic status, and new renderings from landscape architects Nelson Byrd Woltz reveal the latest plans.

The renderings look to be missing the most visually significant aspect of the plaza, which is a sculptural element that Related Chairman Stephen Ross has described as greater than “the Christmas tree [at] Rockefeller Center, but 365 days a year. It will be to this city what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.”
....

Work on the new plaza will begin shortly; the first office towers are already rising, and completion of the park should occur well before 2020.

The Plaza at Hudson Yards — image from Nelson Byrd Woltz


The Plaza at Hudson Yards — image from Nelson Byrd Woltz


The Plaza at Hudson Yards — image from Nelson Byrd Woltz


As of March 7th, 2014...


West Side Yard, NYC (14) by Hardcore Shutterbug, on Flickr

[gramsjdg]

Sorry, but the reduced height of this building just isn't working for me. It's too close in height to the others now and also looks too stocky. Raising the heights of the other towers in the complex just exacerbates the problem.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by gramsjdg

Sorry, but the reduced height of this building just isn't working for me. It's too close in height to the others now and also looks too stocky. Raising the heights of the other towers in the complex just exacerbates the problem.

While I see what you mean I'm pretty happy about the increased height of the other buildings because I think they are equally as cool if not cooler. This complex kind of reminds me of the WTC (When 2 and 3 are finished) because no building really stands out too much. It would be nice to have a signature tower I agree but also having a bunch of 1100-1200 foot buildings next to each other is pretty awesome.

[ILNY]

Originally Posted by tubeworm

New York YIMBY:

New Look: The Plaza at Hudson Yards
BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK ON MARCH 12TH 2014 AT 6:00 AM

The work on the new plaza around subway entrance is almost completed minus the trees. The rest of the plaza will have to wait until platform is build. There is only one tower under construction at this time.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by ILNY

The work on the new plaza around subway entrance is almost completed minus the trees. The rest of the plaza will have to wait until platform is build. There is only one tower under construction at this time.

I assume they will also open the 34th-35th street section of Hudson Park Blvd (not just the 33rd-34th section around the subway entrance) because it contains the underground parking garage. Automobile parking has decreased significantly in this are due to the ongoing construction of Manhattan West/loss of parking garages & parking lots.

IMHO I consider the platform started courtesy of that 3/10 photo by j-biz (below) that shows a caisson drill in operation just south of the Amtrak Gateway tunnel box excavation...
j-biz, March 10th:


I'm also assuming that the yet-undrilled caissons-to-come in the foreground of his photo will be foundations for 15 Hudson Yards (Culture Shed Tower)

PS: Man, is it unpleasantly cold! This is a brutal, long-lasting winter.

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by vkristof

PS: Man, is it unpleasantly cold! This is a brutal, long-lasting winter.

Sarcasm?

[baseball1992]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Sarcasm?

Why would that be sarcasm?

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by baseball1992

Why would that be sarcasm?

Because its been another mild winter. I have been wearing sweaters this whole winter and it is enough to handle the the cool breeze (the arctic chills have been less brutal)

[Hypothalamus]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Because its been another mild winter. I have been wearing sweaters this whole winter and it is enough to handle the the cool breeze (the arctic chills have been less brutal)

Not to get too off topic, but it's actually been a very cold and snowy winter for Central Park, and definitely not "mild"...

- In 2014, New York measured the most snow ever recorded in the January-February period.
- Second snowiest February on record at 29" (behind 2010)
- The 2013-2014 season ranks 7th among the snowiest winters (56.6")(records go back to 1868).
- January was 4 degrees F below average (28.6F) (+/- 1.5F from the average is considered "normal")
- February was 3.7 degrees F below average (31.6F)

The slow down in construction is evident of a cold winter. I'm a weather guy so I'm tuned into this stuff!

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by tubeworm

Not to get too off topic, but it's actually been a very cold and snowy winter for Central Park, and definitely not "mild"...

- In 2014, New York measured the most snow ever recorded in the January-February period.
- Second snowiest February on record at 29" (behind 2010)
- The 2013-2014 season ranks 7th among the snowiest winters (56.6")(records go back to 1868).
- January was 4 degrees F below average (28.6F)
- February was 3.7 degrees F below average (31.6F)

The slow down in construction is evident of a cold winter. I'm a weather guy so I'm tuned into this stuff!

Hmm maybe its just me... anyway back on topic.

[j-biz]

Yea this winter has been pretty harsh in NY terms... but nothing like the Twin Cities where I use to live. Course, they ain't building Hudson Yards in Minneapolis.

I will try to go check in on the drills tomorrow, weather permitting.

[UTEPman]

Originally Posted by gramsjdg

Sorry, but the reduced height of this building just isn't working for me. It's too close in height to the others now and also looks too stocky. Raising the heights of the other towers in the complex just exacerbates the problem.

Agreed. The whole complex is somewhat disjointed, and this particular tower is way too bulky for its height.

I do like the cylindrical tower, but it doesn't really fit well with this complex.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by j-biz

Yea this winter has been pretty harsh in NY terms... but nothing like the Twin Cities where I use to live. Course, they ain't building Hudson Yards in Minneapolis.

I will try to go check in on the drills tomorrow, weather permitting.

Thanks for the effort. Today is forecast to be ~10 degrees warmer than yesterday.

They have a lot of drilling to do to be able to start platform erection in June (if that happens) whilst excavating in the bedrock for the tunnel box.

Spring is one week away...

[ILNY]

Originally Posted by tubeworm

Not to get too off topic, but it's actually been a very cold and snowy winter for Central Park, and definitely not "mild"...

- In 2014, New York measured the most snow ever recorded in the January-February period.
- Second snowiest February on record at 29" (behind 2010)
- The 2013-2014 season ranks 7th among the snowiest winters (56.6")(records go back to 1868).
- January was 4 degrees F below average (28.6F) (+/- 1.5F from the average is considered "normal")
- February was 3.7 degrees F below average (31.6F)

The slow down in construction is evident of a cold winter. I'm a weather guy so I'm tuned into this stuff!

Global warming.

[NYguy]

I think the design has only gotten better...


http://www.kentgould.com/kpf-hudson-yards/

[ILNY]

^ Looks like student's project. Was this design even seriously considered?