1000 construction workers celebrate Topping Out of 3 World Trade Center

The final concrete bucket, adorned with the same American flag as was used at the Topping Out of towers 4 and 7 World Trade Center, was raised 1,079 feet in the air and placed at the top of the 80-storey tower.

Larry Silverstein said: “Today we celebrate New York’s construction workers whose dedication and determination have helped us reach a great milestone – 3 WTC has reached its top height and the concrete core is now complete. It also reminds us of how far we have come. 3 WTC will be the newest addition to a neighborhood that has been amazingly transformed and revitalized. Downtown Manhattan – with its new train stations, shops, restaurants, parks and residents – has become New York’s most dynamic live-work community”

Janno Lieber, President of World Trade Center Properties, an affiliate of Silverstein Properties said: “like 4 and 7 World Trade Center before it 3 WTC will be home to some of the City’s most creative and innovative businesses. When the tower opens in 2018, GroupM will join Conde Nast, MediaMath, IEX and other leaders in the worlds of media technology and creative services that are making the new World Trade Center the most exciting and successful place to work.”

Richard Paul, Partner in charge of the project at architect’s Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners said “It is wonderful and uplifting to see the life and vitality which so typifies the energy of New York in such abundance at the World Trade Center. It is like a city in microcosm, rich in the diversity of its environment, just like the people of its city.

It goes without saying that Larry’s resilience and fortitude in his vision to rebuild Ground Zero have never wavered and been a lesson to us all. The Topping Out ceremony at 3 WTC marks a significant milestone in that journey.

The unique sense of pride in both the concept and delivery of this skyscraper has been a truly inspiring and captivating experience for all involved at RSHP. Indeed, it has been an honour to be at forefront of this project.

3 WTC’s exceptional contribution on a metropolitan scale to the down town skyline is reinforced by its overt structural expression, communicating the strength of its form. At a civic level, its grand diaphanous and transparent lobby façade provides a seamless transition from the public realm of the Memorial through to the building’s lobby. Here, access is provided to both the retail and the transportation hub, forming a dynamic and integrated environment for all building users.”

Transparent and sustainable design

A model of transparency and sustainability, the building will feature floor to ceiling glass and all eith corners on each floor will be column free, creating an open and highly-collaborative workspace environment, which is key for cutting-edge companies in brainpower driven businesses like technology, advertising and branding, as well as law and financial service firms.

The tower consists of a reinforced concrete core with steel structure outside the core, and is clad in an external structural steel frame. A defining feature of the building is its load-sharing system of K-shaped bracing, which helps articulate the building’s east-west configuration.

3 WTC architect Richard Rogers said, “Larry Silverstein has been a powerful and visionary client determined to bring back both commerce and vitality to this key neighborhood. 3 World Trade Center stands next to the new train station making commuting easier and more environmentally sustainable. The tower stretches up to the sky. Its form celebrates and expresses the language of construction and technology which gives it scale, light, shadow and verticality.”

Ivan Harbour, Senior Partner, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners said, “It has been a huge privilege to have had the opportunity to build tall in the world’s most iconic modern city. Our responsibility to Manhattan and the new World Trade Center is, we hope, reflected in the optimism of 3 World Trade Center. This is a skyscraper that celebrates holistic design and construction in its scale and grain whilst engaging with the public realm around it in a positive and uplifting way.”

3 WTC has been designed to a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold level of sustainability.

Public retail and transportation

3 WTC was designed to enliven and seamlessly integrate into Downtown’s streetscape thanks to a major concentration of retail on five floors above, below and at street level. The tower will also connect to underground pedestrian concourses that lead directly to 11 subway lines and the PATH trains.

The conceptual design for 3 World Trade Center was unveiled by Silverstein Properties in September 2006. In July 2010 foundation work began and in Mark 2012 the ground floor slab was completed. Steel erection began in June 2012 and will conclude this autumn. Glass curtain wall installation began in May 2013 and the building will be fully enclosed in October 2017. 3 World Trade Center is scheduled to open in 2018.