INTERNATIONAL FOCUS 23
THE SPIRAL, NEW YORK BIG
Named the world’s ‘Best Tall Building’ in its category by The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat at the organisation’s annual conference, The Spiral in New York – designed by BIG in collaboration with Adamson Associates and structural engineer WSP Cantor Seinuk – measures 66 stories and 2.8 million ft2, reaching a height of 1,031.5 ft. The building is BIG’s first completed supertall, and first completed commercial high-rise in New York. Developed by Tishman Speyer and built by Turner, The Spiral, which is pursuing LEED Silver certification, has officially opened its doors to major companies including Pfizer and HSBC. Located on West 34th Street between Hudson Boulevard and 10th Avenue, it sits alongside the elevated High Line and Bella Abzug Park on Manhattan’s west side. From street level, the tower draws the eye upwards to greenery that extends the High Line beyond West 34th Street and into the Manhattan skyline. The tower’s glass panel facade looks into the building’s lobby, which can be accessed via entrances on both Hudson Boulevard and 10th Avenue. The lobby incorporates seven different metals to honour the area’s industrial history, with floor panels measured to the exact dimensions of the precast concrete planks spanning the High Line. The Spiral “slowly reduces in volume as it rises, following the zoning envelope of the site,” said Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director, BIG, adding, “its stepping language resonates with the design aesthetics of classic Manhattan skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building, while its slender proportions and use of modern materials and detailing speak to the design features of contemporary high-rise architecture.” Landscaped terraces and hanging gardens climb the tower in a spiralling motion supplying each office floor with accessible terrace space. With approximately 13,000 ft2 of outdoor space, a landscape of The Spiral’s size has never been installed at or above 300 feet elevation in New York City.
Photography © Laurian Ghinițoiu
TOUR & TAXIS LAKE SIDE, BRUSSELS MVRDV
The masterplan for Brussels’ development area Lake Side on the site of Tour & Taxis consists of a collection of 17 buildings varying in height and designed by seven different architects, including MVRDV. Adding 800 diverse apartments, the plan creates a dense and lively Tour & Taxis neighbourhood, located near Brussels North station. The multifunctional live-work development area of about 140,000 m2
offers a
wide range of workspaces and venues for conferences and events, plus a nine-hectare park that creates a car-free and communal neighbourhood forming a bridge to the city. Commissioned by Belgian developer Nextensa, MVRDV is the “chief urbanist and plan supervisor” while also designing one of the masterplan’s 17 buildings. The masterplan is split into three sections. A mixed office and housing campus is on the eastern side of the plot (Zone A), with large-scale buildings “in continuity with the Herman Teirlinck and the Brussels Environment building.” These buildings will incorporate the most “ambitious” sustainable principles in their construction, including designs with cross-laminated timber or lightweight hybrid structures. The middle section of the masterplan is the courtyard, with 14 individual buildings clustered around a public garden for residents, with the ground floor of these buildings offering amenities and shops. All 14 buildings around the courtyard feature either green or “energy-producing” roofs.
The third section of the masterplan “blends the dense neighbourhood into the adjacent Tour & Taxis Park, with a more open space punctuated by a tower known as the Park Building,” said the architects.
© RZGraphics
MVRDV and coordinating architect Bureau Bouwtechniek are working alongside six other teams who will help realise the masterplan within this framework. These include three Danish offices (3XN, Cobe, and Effekt Arkitekter) and three Belgian offices (Binst Architects, Polo, and Hub).
ADF NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
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