Architects and developers continue to push the boundaries of height and width for skyscrapers.
Exhibit A is the project at 303-305 E. 44th Street in New York City. This ODA Architecture-designed 600-ft-high, 41-story tower will be only 47 feet wide.
At that width, this building, which expects to break ground next spring, would lay claim to being the skinniest tower built on the planet to date.
This isn’t the only super-skinny skyscraper that’s going up in Manhattan, of course. The SHoP Architects-designed 1,428-foot-high building at 111 W. 57th Street will be 58 feet wide, a smidgeon thinner and taller than the Rafael Viñoly-designed 1,396-ft residential tower at 432 Park Avenue.
SHoP has also designed Brooklyn, N.Y.’s first supertall building, a 1,000-ft skyscraper at 340 Flatbush Avenue whose height-width ratio would be about 12:1. This building is tentatively scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2019.
The East 44th Street tower, located near the United Nations, will feature six 16-foot-high gaps in its façade, each of which will be a full-floor canopied green space that wraps around the core of the tower. Penthouse residents will have their own full-floor roof garden.
This tower will have 2,600-sf floor plates, which would be about one-third the size of the tower at 432 Park Avenue. This building is scheduled for completion in late 2017, according to Triangle Assets, its developer.
The supertall skinny building trend, so far at least, has been a mostly Manhattan phenomenon. And the West 57th Street project may be approaching the height-width ratio threshold in terms of shear load. That’s especially true “for a building that wants a high degree of special views,” Vishaan Chakrabarti, a partner at SHoP Architects and director of the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia University, told The Atlantic’s CityLab.
Adrian Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, which has designed some of the tallest structures in the world, adds that the economics of tall, skinny towers is another mitigating factor. And for areas that are seismic, “slenderer buildings are not advisable,” he said.
The races for tallest and skinniest buildings are matched only by the competition for most expensive apartments and condos. The highest-priced units in the 316,000-sf building at 111 W. 57th, which is developed by JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group, reportedly are going for around $100 million.
Related Stories
| May 29, 2014
Five finalists, including SOM and Zaha Hadid, chosen in competition for Sweden's tallest skyscraper
In Sernecke's competition to design Sweden's tallest skyscraper, five finalists have been selected: Manuelle Gautrand Architects, Ian Simpson Architects, SOM, Wingårdhs Arkitektkontor, and Zaha Hadid Architects.
| May 28, 2014
KPF's dual towers in Turkey will incorporate motifs, symbols of Ottoman Empire
The two-building headquarters for Turkey’s largest and oldest financial institution, Ziraat Bank, is inspired by the country’s cultural heritage.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 2, 2014
Norwegian modular project set to be world's tallest timber-frame apartment building [slideshow]
A 14-story luxury apartment block in central Bergen, Norway, will be the world's tallest timber-framed multifamily project, at 49 meters (160 feet).
| May 1, 2014
Chinese spec 'world's fastest' elevators for supertall project
Hitachi Elevator Co. will build and install 95 elevators—including two that the manufacturer labels as the "world's fastest"—for the Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed Guangzhou CTF Finance Center.
Smart Buildings | Apr 28, 2014
Cities Alive: Arup report examines latest trends in urban green spaces
From vertical farming to glowing trees (yes, glowing trees), Arup engineers imagine the future of green infrastructure in cities across the world.
| Apr 23, 2014
Developers change gears at Atlantic Yards after high-rise modular proves difficult
At 32 stories, the B2 residential tower at Atlantic Yards has been widely lauded as a bellwether for modular construction. But only five floors have been completed in 18 months.
| Apr 9, 2014
5 important trends shaping today’s hotel construction market
AEC firms, developers, and investors worldwide are bullish on hotels. Our hospitality Giants share what’s new in this fast-morphing sector.
| Apr 9, 2014
Steel decks: 11 tips for their proper use | BD+C
Building Teams have been using steel decks with proven success for 75 years. Building Design+Construction consulted with technical experts from the Steel Deck Institute and the deck manufacturing industry for their advice on how best to use steel decking.
| Mar 25, 2014
World's tallest towers: Adrian Smith, Gordon Gill discuss designing Burj Khalifa, Kingdom Tower
The design duo discusses the founding of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architects and the design of the next world's tallest, Kingdom Tower, which will top the Burj Khalifa by as much as a kilometer.