265 West 45th Street

Located on an extremely constricted site, measuring 98 by 98 feet and rising 1,312 feet in height, this tower provides ergonomic, sustainable offices for multi-floor corporate tenants. A novel structural system eliminates perimeter columns in favor of steel cables, which run and twist along the height of the tower, allowing for an ultralight yet sturdy structural assembly. The cables are anchored in the deep foundation and MEP zones and are tied back to the core at the upper structural ring. Their spiral arrangement—the “twist”—creates the force of surface tension, resulting in a “corset” containing the insides. Architecturally, the building is simply an expression of its structure—a sleek and futuristic tube of reflective glass with a shape that is vastly wind-efficient. Solutions like circulating elevators (multiple cars per shaft—34 total in the building) serve the offices and multi-story lobby with automatic visitors’ dispatch systems to accommodate higher occupancy rates typical for office buildings. Specifically, designed ergonomic workplaces mitigate the limitations of small floorplates, while the high-performance façade features PVs and software-controlled air conditioning/ventilation. A ring-shaped tuned mass damper circles the core at the top of the tower, counteracting sway induced by its 13.4:1 aspect ratio and high-velocity winds.