One Vanderbilt

The One Vanderbilt is a Contemporary skyscraper designed between 2013 and 2016 by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and built between 2017 and 2020, for a reported $3.30 billion dollars, in New York, NY.

Its precise street address is 1 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY. You can also find it on the map here.

The One Vanderbilt has received multiple architecture awards for its architectural design since 2020. The following is a list of such prizes and awards:

• CTBUH Awards in the Best Tall Building by Height category in 2022
• CTBUH Awards in the Geotechnical Engineering category in 2022
• Best of the Best (Architecture MasterPrize) in 2021

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the One Vanderbilt a reality:

• Severud Associates Consulting Engineers in charge of Structural Engineering
• AECOM Tishman Construction as the Main Contractor
• Vidaris in charge of Facade Consultancy
• Schindler as the company in charge of the elevators system
• Jaros Baum & Bolles in charge of MEP Engineering
• Gensler in charge of Interior Design

The One Vanderbilt can be categorized as a Contemporary building.

The One Vanderbilt uses a trussed-frame structure made of steel columns and poured concrete over metal decking slabs.

A trussed-frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight, and diagonal elements to provide stability against horizontal forces such as wind or seismic activity by triangulating the structure. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade uses a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame, typically by being attached to the edge of the floor slabs. The curtain wall system connects to the slabs using brackets, anchors, and mullions, which transfer the loads imposed by wind and temperature changes, to the building's primary structural elements.

This setup allows the curtain wall to accommodate differential movement between the facade and the structural frame, such as thermal expansion, floor deflection, or sway from wind forces. This system's integration with the slab edges also allows for continuous insulation and weatherproofing layers.

The structure combines steel framing with high-strength concrete shear walls to create a hybrid core system for lateral stability, plus steel outrigger trusses at three intermediate levels, closely coordinated with mechanical systems, augment the core, and manage lateral forces.

A tuned mass damper near the peak ensures occupant comfort by minimizing accelerations.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features two types of panels:

From a volumetric point of view, its architectural form consists of four interwoven and tapered volumes that spiral upward toward the sky.