Lots of very interesting stuff about the building of the new One World Trade Center building. With the tower, the building comes to 1776 feet tall. It's a remarkable story about how huge projects come together and all the issues they had to face building super-tall skyscrapers.
The elevators rise at 1800 fpm, making a trip to the top possible in under a minute. The shape of the building was designed to "spoil" wind vortices. One thing that surprised me was the copious use of bolts instead of rivets.
Absolutely remarkable video showing how they assembled the spire. If you didn't get to see it tonight, look for it in reruns. Anyone interested in how things are built will enjoy it.
what a crock...the only reason it gets that height is that the 408 foot "spire" is included even though it is not an architectural element. it's a pure case of politics
After the changes in the design of One World Trade Center's spire were revealed in May 2012, questions were raised as to whether the 408-foot (124m) structure would still qualify as a spire and thus be included in the building's official architectural height.[83][84] As the building's spire is not enclosed in a radome as originally planned, it may instead be classified as a simple antenna which, according to the CTBUH, is not included in a building's official height.[84] Without the inclusion of the antenna mast, One World Trade Center's official height would be its roof height of 1,368 feet (417m), making it the third-tallest building in the United States, behind the Willis Tower and Trump International Hotel & Tower, both located in Chicago.[85][86] Additionally, while the building is the tallest in New York City now either way, without the antenna it would be surpassed in 2015 by the under-construction 432 Park Avenue, which is expected to rise to a height of 1,398 feet (426m).[87][88] One World Trade Center's developers have disputed the claim that the spire should be reclassified as an antenna following the redesign,[89] with Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman reiterating that "One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere."[83] The CTBUH announced in 2012 that it would wait to make its final decision as to whether or not the redesigned spire would count towards the building's official height.[83] On November 12, 2013 the CTBUH announced that the spire on One World Trade Center will count as part of the buildings official height which gives the building a final height of 1,776ft and makes it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.[27]
As far as 432 Park Ave. is concerned, I would NEVER want to live in a building where the windows cannot be opened. I don't care how good the HVAC system is in there!
building where the > windows cannot be opened. I don't care how good the HVAC system is in there!
I hear ya. Sealed windows definitely impact any potential exit strategies.
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IIRC, the aerodynamics of such tall buildings pretty much prohibit open windows. I'll bet there are lots of other reasons, too.
Somehow, looking at the pictures, it seems I.M. Pei was right. Someday many of our tallest buildings will be converted into our longest ones. It just seems so intrinsically vertically unstable. But I guess a lot of ancient columns have survived so there's hope.
The real question is what would you do with an open window at 1,200 feet? I guess you could stow a paraglider or a repelling kit. Plenty of people "base jump" off tall structures and survive. Getting the window open or broken out in these new hi-rises, at least from what I saw last night, won't be an easy task. I'd at least keep a very long-handled sledge hammer around. (-:
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The penthouse goes for $95M - wow!
I worked in a very, very tall building once in NYC and I gotta say - they move a LOT. Some more than others depending on harmonics but on a good, windy day, you can feel the whole damn structure swaying. It's probably not where you want to be if a record earthquake hits NYC. I like being close to the front door which is close to the ground and being able to open a window and jump out without worrying *too* much about splattering when I hit. (-:
I used to wonder why the local FD was on the 3rd floor of the City County Bldg while the cops and mayor and other honchoes were up around
8 or 9. Turns out the way the building was situated even the city's tallest ladder would only go to the 3rd floor. Coincidence? I think not. So, when possible I always head down to the nearest fire station and try to get no higher than where the closest ladder truck reaches.
Hmm. Does sound suspicious. The options for people above ladder rescue reach are not very good.
It's clear that folks living in that ultra-high rise have traded off easy escape for a terrific view. The one thing that the WTC collapse brought home very clearly is that if there's a major event like a plane impacting the side of the building, people above that floor are likely to be in a world of hurt. IIRC, the new WTC should survive the kind of impact that doomed the two WTC towers but I have my doubts. Still, a lot of lessons
*were* learned from 9/11 and the replacement building is demonstrably safer in many ways.
I have retired neighbor who used to be a paramedic for a local FD. He used to drive the "fly car", often being the first one on site when medical assistance was called for. Years ago he told that he never stays above the
5th floor of a hotel because that's the highest a FD ladder will reach. I should ask him if he stills follows that rule.
Just last week I heard an interesting statistic from a gentleman well versed in Real Estate investments (REITs).
He said that the owners of the Empire State Building (Empire State Realty Trust) are putting a lot of money into modernizing the interior of the building. He said that right now it's hard for them to command high rents because the building's amenities are so outdated.
The interesting statistic was that the building currently generates about
85% (eighty five!) of its total revenue from tourists visiting the observation decks. That's 2.7 million square feet of commercial space vs. the two observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors. The O-decks win 85
- 15.
I'd like to see what the projected revenue numbers for the rental space will be once the modernization is complete.
Here's an interesting test: Fill in the ages of the various people associated with the American Revolution as of the year 1776:
Marquis de Lafayette James Monroe Gilbert Stuart Aaron Burr Alexander Hamilton Betsy Ross James Madison Thomas Jefferson John Adams Paul Revere George Washington Samuel Adams
Scroll down for the answers. Source:
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|v |v |v |v |v |v |v |v |v |v |v
Marquis de Lafayette, 18 James Monroe, 18 Gilbert Stuart, 20 Aaron Burr, 20 Alexander Hamilton, 21 Betsy Ross, 24 James Madison, 25 Thomas Jefferson, 33 John Adams, 40 Paul Revere, 41 George Washington, 44 Samuel Adams, 53
I've heard more than one firefighter say something like that.
It's funny that in NYC where my grandparents had to spend what for them was an enormous amount of money adding a fire escape to their three story house, there's very little real concern about how people can escape from these uber-tall buildings. Apartment buildings have external fire escapes, airplanes have those inflatable slides, big ships have lifeboats and yet in disasters like the WTC collapse, occupants end up jumping out of windows to certain death. What's wrong with this picture?
Jeez. Who would have thunk it? Reminds me of how Egypt has fared after its "revolution." Tourism revenue plummeted and only then did they realize what the interruption cost them. You'd think if they hated the West that much, the best revenge would be to rip off all the Western tourists with $5 glasses of lemonade, possibly made with Aswan Dam snail infested water that's chock full of parasites like the schistosomiasis worm:
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I wonder if the revenue will be affected by the new One WTC building? It's got a pretty remarkable view of NYC and the surrounding areas. It's also clearly got a historical sense to it that the ESB lacks in comparison. It would be worth visiting One WTC just to ride in those super-high speed elevator cars. At over 1000 feet per minute, going down's got to induce some serious weightless feelings.
He didn't mention anything about actual profits, but this 2011 NY Times article does...
Stolen without permission from:
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"The decks attract four million visitors a year and generated $60 million in profits in 2010, while the owners made little if any money on the office space..."
So, at least back in 2010 it looks like they profited from the O-Decks and about broke even on the rest of the building.
I'll need to check my tax returns but I'm pretty sure I didn't make $60 million in 2010.
I wouldn't want to be near an open window at 1,200 ft, Or 50 ft.
Some buildings have a real heavy weight near the top that is controlled to move in the same direction the building is (pushes the building in the other direction).
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