New images released by the UK’s largest architecture practice, for developer Silverstein Properties, show a 373m-tall, 55-storey glass tower. The building will be the new home of American Express, the building’s sole occupant.
Fosters was originally hired to design a skyscraper – nicknamed the diamond tower due to its rooftop shape – for a plot on the site of the original World Trade Center buildings back in 2005.
Although excavation began on site in 2008, the tower failed to attract a tenant and the project was handed to BIG in 2015. The practice redesigned the tower for potential media occupants, including News Corp and 21st Century Fox.
However, after these clients pulled out of the deal, Silverstein announced in 2020 that it had brought Fosters back onboard, asking it to update the earlier designs to accommodate future tenants and respond to contemporary tastes.
The new look features landscaped open-air terraces indented at intervals along the façade, which will offer more than an acre of outdoor space for occupants.
The building differs significantly from the diamond-like aesthetic of the original design. It now steps down towards the neighbouring 1 World Trade Center tower, designed by SOM and completed in 2014.
The Fosters tower will provide around 186,000m2 of office space and house 10,000 employees. It is also intended to be ‘fully electric’ and is targeting LEED certification in sustainability and energy efficiency.
Construction is expected to begin laterthis spring, while completion is scheduled for 2031.
Practice founder and executive chairman Norman Foster said: ‘The design of the American Express building is rooted in sustainability and wellbeing, to create a state-of-the-art environment that supports the company’s vision for the future.
‘A network of landscaped terraces and gardens provides generous outdoor spaces and contact with nature in the pursuit of a healthier and more desirable working lifestyle.’
The tower is being developed on land at 200 Greenwich Street, owned by the New York City Port Authority under a long-term lease.
It will become the final part of the World Trade Center development, which already includes the 1, 3, and 4 World Trade Center buildings, the Oculus and the Perelman Arts Center, and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.