One World Trade Center, previously known as the Freedom Tower, is the tallest building in the U.S. and in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the sixth tallest in the world.
The building stands at the symbolic height of 1,776 feet, in honor of the year in which the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The height (somewhat controversially) includes its spire, which stands at 408 feet.
The building's architect was David Childs, whose firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill also designed the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, as well as the Willis Tower.
It is one of only seven supertalls in New York, which are taller than the Empire State Building according to the Skyscraper Museum.
One World Trade Center has an area of 40,000 square feet, nearly identical to the footprints of the original Twin Towers.
The tower's central spire draws from previous buildings such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.
A tall concrete base with a glass-and-steel facade was erected to protect the building from ground-level attacks.
Cable-net glass facades line all four sides of the building for higher floors.
Above the 20th floor, the building is shaped into eight tall isosceles triangles.
The tower forms a perfect octagon near its middle, and then it shifts into a glass parapet.
One World Trade Center's top floor is officially designated as 104, although the tower only contains 94 actual stories.
The design of One World Trade Center was by no means the first put out to the public, with a competition for the design long-forgotten.
Bound by West, Fulton, Washington and Vesey Streets
With entrances on all 4 sides of the building, One WTC has been designed to smoothly integrate traffic of visitors & office tenants
The cubic base has a footprint identical to the original Twin Towers
The surface of the base is clad in more than 2,000 pieces of shimmering prismatic glass
The tower ascends 69 stories — its edges chamfered back to form 8 isosceles triangles, a perfect octagon at center
It culminates in a square, glass parapet at the crown, its crystalline form creating a vibrant effect, as light refracts like a kaleidoscope, changing throughout the day
The "One World Observatory" — opening 2015 — is an enclosed observation deck rising 1,250 feet above street level
The crown of One WTC is a 408-foot spire — consisting of a mast and a communication platform ring. At night, a beacon at the top sends out a horizontal light beam, which can be seen from miles away
The observation deck's height is the same as the original height of Twin Towers:
Many New Yorkers know the significance of One World Trade Center's total height of 1,776 feet, but the tower was also designed with the heights of the original Twin Towers in mind as well.
The building's height without the spire is 1,362 feet, the height of the original South Tower, while its height with the observation deck is 1,368 feet, corresponding to the original North Tower's height.
Each of the original Twin Towers independently qualified as the world's largest building — with a floor area of 4.5 million square feet.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, many predicted the end of skyscrapers, since people would be too afraid to work or live in them. Yet these fears were short-lived.
The construction of One World Trade Center began as early as 2006 and it is just the sixth tallest building in the world now.
The observation deck, located on floors 100–102, pays homage to the original structure and offers viewers a scenic look at the rest of the downtown.
Structural Engineering:
One World Trade Center stands unsurpassed.
The building features a hybrid structure comprised of a high-strength concrete core surrounded by a perimeter moment frame of steel.
Paired with the massive concrete shear walls of the core, the steel frame adds rigidity and structural redundancy.
Both bolted and welded together for maximum connection strength, the steel members were hoisted into place by two Manitowoc cranes — the largest ever used in New York City.
The tower's tapered, aerodynamic form reduces exposure to wind loads while simultaneously reducing the amount of structural steel needed.
Rising a quarter mile into the sky, the tower is brute strength veiled in glass.
Rising from the plaza level, the building's 50-foot-tall public lobby and mechanical floors form a monumental podium, clad in shimmering glass fins and embossed steel slats.
Seventy-one glass-clad office stories rise above the base to an elevation well over 1,000 feet, above which sits a three-level observatory at elevations that culminate in a parapet marking the heights of the original Twin Towers.
Communication platform rings rise above the parapet, and a 441-foot, cable-stayed spire and innovative LED beacon crown the tower.
Glass Units:
For the curtain wall, SOM worked with industry experts to develop glass of a new monumental scale that is capable of withstanding the wind loads of a supertall building as well as stringent security requirements.
The 5-foot by 13-foot-4-inch insulated glass panels span the full floor-to-floor height, with no intermediate structure — a first in skyscraper construction.
These glass units, the largest ever mass-produced for a building of this scale, help give the massive tower its crystalline elegance.
Windows have twice-laminated outer lites and were treated with a low-E coating for maximum energy efficiency.
Adjacent to the Memorial:
Entrances are situated on all four sides of the building, each 60 feet tall.
Glass canopies and large cable-net walls framed by metal portals define the entrances, which provide for separate access to the observatory lobby on the concourse level, transportation systems, and commercial office space in different sections of the building.
These transparent entrances encourage building occupants to flow out into the surrounding plazas, which create areas for people to gather, sit, relax, and reflect.
These generous open spaces, filled with trees and places of respite, help connect the tower with the adjacent neighborhoods and allow views and access to the adjacent memorial.
H&M to PATH:
Following passage of legislation by New York and New Jersey, the Port Authority TransHudson Corporation (PATH) was created, as a subsidiary of the Port Authority of NY & NJ. PATH acquired The Hudson and Manhattan railroad, and operations began.
December 1963
The World's Tallest Building:
The Port Authority of NY & NJ unveiled an architectural plan for the World Trade Center featuring the world's tallest buildings.
August 4, 1966
Groundbreaking:
Construction of the World Trade Center began.
September 1970
1,254 Feet High:
The North Tower became the tallest building in the world after the placement of a steel beam on the 103rd floor, bringing it to 1,254 feet—four feet taller than the Empire State Building.
April 3, 1973
Open for Business:
The World Trade Center opened for business, defining the Manhattan skyline.
August 6, 1974
Tightrope Walk :
French performance artist Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the Twin Towers 1,350 feet above the ground.
April 18, 1976
Windows on the World:
Windows on the World opened on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower.
1986
7 World Trade Center:
Seven World Trade Center, a 47-story office building, was completed atop two electrical substations occupied by Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc, connecting to the World Trade Center by a pedestrian bridge over Vesey Street.
February 25, 1993
The 1993 Bombing:
A terrorist truck bomb was set off in the public parking garage underneath the World Trade Center, killing six individuals and an unborn child. It also extensively damaged the sub-grade infrastructure and the hotel at 3 World Trade Center.
1994
The World Trade Center Memorial:
Port Authority of NY & NJ opened a public memorial on the plaza level of the World Trade Center above where the terrorist attack occurred.
1995
World Views Artist-in-Residence:
"World Views," an artists-in-residence program at the World Trade Center, started when artist Carl Scorza submitted a proposal to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council to use vacant office space as temporary artist studios.
July 23, 2001
Silverstein Lease:
Silverstein Properties Inc, along with Westfield America won the bid to lease the World Trade Center.
September 11, 2001
9/11 Terrorist Attacks:
Four commercial jetliners were hijacked by terrorists on the morning of September 11. Two of the hijacked planes struck the Twin Towers, the third struck the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania. 2,977 people were killed.
One World Trade Center (One World Trade, One WTC, Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City
One World Trade Center:
One WTC is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh-tallest in the world
The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
The new skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center.
The building's architect is David Childs, whose firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) also designed the Burj Khalifa and the Willis Tower.
The construction of below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the new building began on April 27, 2006.
One World Trade Center became the tallest structure in New York City on April 30, 2012, when it surpassed the height of the Empire State Building.
The tower's steel structure was topped out on August 30, 2012
On May 10, 2013, the final component of the skyscraper's spire was installed, making the building, including its spire, reach a total height of 1,776 feet.
Its height in feet is a deliberate reference to the year when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed
The building opened on November 3, 2014; the One World Observatory opened on May 29, 2015.
On March 26, 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the building would be officially known by its legal name of "One World Trade Center", rather than its colloquial name of "Freedom Tower".
The building has 94 stories, with the top floor numbered 104.
NYC Building Heights
Height comparison of major skyscrapers in New York City. The North Tower of WTC was 526.3 meters (1,727 feet)
One World Trade Center Previously known as the Freedom Tower, is the tallest building in the U.S. and in the Western Hemisphere, sixth tallest in the world. 1,776 feet high.
NYC Building Heights
