After completing One Vanderbilt, the tallest office building in New York, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates has unveiled plans for a new skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan. 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. When completed, the project will also create an important new transit entrance to the Long Island Rail Road and the Grand Central Complex.
Located on the site of the now-vacant former headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the project redevelops a prominent site near Grand Central Terminal. The 343 Madison Avenue 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 design focuses on creating a highly functional office environment, focusing on sustainability, thus incorporating a series of elements that help reduce energy and water consumption, from energy-efficient glazing to automated climate controls, water-efficient landscaping, to Hugh albedo roofs. In addition, considering the pandemic's lessons, the project pays particular attention to design features that promote healthy, sanitary environments, from the inclusion of social distancing spaces to touchless surfaces, fresh air circulation and filtration systems.
Demolition work for the existing structures has begun, and the tower's construction is expected to start in 2022. The project is the latest in KPF's extensive portfolio of skyscrapers, which includes some of the world's tallest buildings like CITIC Tower, Suzhou IFS, Shanghai World Financial Centre, or Lotte World Tower.
