NEW YORK | One World Trade Center | 1,776' Pinnacle / 1,373' Roof | 108 FLOORS

[Bucktown718]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4899861131_407e8dbd66_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4900185978_672d054a68_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4893618401_43e2e6b22f_b.jpg
newhannibal112 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanbudhu/)

[pattali]

First post...

I live opposite WTC on the Jersey side, and travel through the site daily. I'm loving this site, it really is interesting to see such a vibrant group of interested people contribute to the story of this magnificent building.


Thanks and Welcome to the forum Pbellamy !

[colemonkee]

Looks like they're finally filling in the south side windows of 123 Washington where the skip was.

[NYguy]

spacecadetsf (http://www.flickr.com/photos/68563927@N00/4901382255/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4901382255_4f1c74c8af_b.jpg

[brenGT2]

Incredible! It looks like they have got the steel installation process down to a science now.

[Gleb]

What's with that red truck? Explosives?

[uakoops]

What's with that red truck? Explosives?

Rock blasting for T2 footings.

[BStyles]

Gives the wrong impression, huh?

That's for blasting bedrock for the other towers. Bedrock is solid, stubborn material, so the only way to get through it is with some serious TNT

[xnyr]

What's with that red truck? Explosives?

We all jumped on THAT one ;-)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4904760052_4f3758c4ec.jpg

[JohnFlint1985]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4904648482_6b3a2a6857_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4904058557_62e114ddf1_b.jpg

the rest is here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeloo2003leeloo/

[Bucktown718]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4904810705_5785e232a2_b.jpg
newhannibal112 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanbudhu/)

[Zensteeldude]

:previous: They should re-name it the West Side Parkway.:yes:

The construction hoists in the pics that JohnFlint1985 posted (east side) will extend all the way to the roof, eventually. They are also the high speed, high cap hoists.

The ones on the west side should only extend to the 44th floor, above that internal hoists take over.

[CalibratedZeus]

From this afternoon, originals re-sized down to 1024x768.

2, 3, 4, and 5 are from the World Center Hotel's top floor eatery. May I say well worth bribing the bellman to let you up the elevator :haha:

1.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft1.jpg

2.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft2.jpg

3.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft3.jpg

4.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft4.jpg

5.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft5.jpg

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http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft6.jpg

7.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft7.jpg

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http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft8.jpg

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http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft9.jpg

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http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft10.jpg

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http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft11.jpg

12.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft12.jpg

[NYC4Life]

What's with that red truck? Explosives?

Other than for rock blasting, I'm sure we won't see another truck like that anywhere near the site.

[NYguy]

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft3.jpg

5.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft5.jpg



Nice shots. The WTC has been opened up to the media more lately, I've been seeing tours on different news outlets. That being said, I do believe that the Port Authority should finally release updated renderings of what the top of the building will look like, whether a deal is finalized with the broadcasters or not. It's the crown of the city, we should know what it's supposed to look like. Those outdated renderings don't give the tower proper justice.

[Domamania]

I must say that once they put the veritical beams for floors 35 and 36 the tower will be 406 feet tall. 94 feet left before it will surpass the varcey aka verizon building.

[CalibratedZeus]

While at MOMA yesterday I came across these photos in an NYC development section. Found them pretty interesting compared to every other render I have seen..

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/rend1.jpg


http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/rend2.jpg


As well as a model with no spire..

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/rend3.jpg

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

:previous:
i had no idea MoMa had stuff like that!!!! Im going today without a doubt!!!



the tower looks great though im still not able to grasp the gargantuan size of these towers.
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/72105228/original.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/72105228/original.jpg

[wanderer34]

Nice shots. The WTC has been opened up to the media more lately, I've been seeing tours on different news outlets. That being said, I do believe that the Port Authority should finally release updated renderings of what the top of the building will look like, whether a deal is finalized with the broadcasters or not. It's the crown of the city, we should know what it's supposed to look like. Those outdated renderings don't give the tower proper justice.

How tall is that tower going to be??? 1776 ft???

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

How tall is that tower going to be??? 1776 ft???

yup 1776 ft.

[BStyles]

6.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft6.jpg

Woohoo! Fireproofing!

[Draegen]

Woohoo! Fireproofing!
Where? i don't see anything

[BStyles]

On the bottom of 2M. The beams are gray. Spray-on fireproofing.

[Onn]

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft4.jpg

Breathtaking Photages! :cheers:

[NYguy]

^ Just think of the few more years of breathtaking photos we have left to see as the tower climbs and nears its completion...:tup:


revillusion (http://www.flickr.com/photos/revillusion/4909864576/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4909864576_1dd4368b32_b.jpg

[CHAPINM1]

By looking at that last photo, once 1WTC surpasses 7WTC, it will really be a sight to see for those looking south from 7WTC over the sight to finally realize that it is no longer ground zero, but once again the WTC sight. Even though 1WTC will alone will add a lot of density fro 7WTC, all the views from 7WTC will be pretty much surrounded by density when all is said and done!

[NYguy]

Update from morrongiello (http://www.flickr.com/photos/morrongiello/4910402073/sizes/l/in/photostream/) (August 20, 2010)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4910402073_bb023ff2f2_b.jpg

[JayPro]

Breathtakingly huge. It actually looks a good deal larger than the renders I saw on wtc.com.

[Domamania]

I must say looking at Morangelos photo of tower 1 v2 got me thinking what a difference a year could make. just a year ago from now the tower was barely above street level and now its above 400 feet with the new inner core steel for floors 35,36. probly by this time in 2011 it will be atleast double this height and it will be atleast 900 feet tall and being a true sky scrapper by then.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

saw 2 new floors in the works when i passed by earlier

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

I must say looking at Morangelos photo of tower 1 v2 got me thinking what a difference a year could make. just a year ago from now the tower was barely above street level and now its above 400 feet with the new inner core steel for floors 35,36. probly by this time in 2011 it will be atleast double this height and it will be atleast 900 feet tall and being a true sky scrapper by then.

i expect it to top out by then quite honestly ;)

[NYguy]

probly by this time in 2011 it will be atleast double this height and it will be atleast 900 feet tall and being a true sky scrapper by then.

By this time next year it should be nearly topped out, not topped out. We are now in the construction of the regular office floors, the pace being quicker than what we saw with the lower levels of the tower.

[Domamania]

By this time next year it should be nearly topped out, not topped out. We are now in the construction of the regular office floors, the pace being quicker than what we saw with the lower levels of the tower.

oors and feet are you predicting the tower will by august 2011. and compare it to the renderings how tall will it be compared to a toppled tower 1 v2

[NYguy]

oors and feet are you predicting the tower will by august 2011. and compare it to the renderings how tall will it be compared to a toppled tower 1 v2

Exactly what I stated in the previous post. The exact feet the tower would be doesn't matter, as it there is very little difference in height among the top floors.

[Domamania]

Ny Guy, do you know what percentage of the height of the tower currently compared to what its going to be( not including the spear )

[CoolCzech]

Breathtakingly huge. It actually looks a good deal larger than the renders I saw on wtc.com.

Now picture TWO of them... the bases of the original WTC towers were about the same size as the FT's.

[NYguy]

Now picture TWO of them... the bases of the original WTC towers were about the same size as the FT's.

Just wait until the bases of towers 2 and 3 rise. This one is huge, those will appear more massive. Meanwhile, this one is sneaking up on the skyline...

Chris Hamby (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrishamby/4910542807/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4910542807_ac860072ca_b.jpg

[philvia]

Ny Guy, do you know what percentage of the height of the tower currently compared to what its going to be( not including the spear )

i threw this together, maybe we can keep it updated

http://i34.tinypic.com/29m0r4x.jpg

[evanmack]

i threw this together, maybe we can keep it updated

http://i34.tinypic.com/29m0r4x.jpg

Keep doing that. It is very helpful.:tup:

[Acer1]

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/6852/capturehq.jpg

*munches on some chips*

Well wait a sec... what do we have here? I think our third crane just arrived.

[NOPA]

Wow! Haven't been here (or in The City) for a few weeks. This thing is cruising on up!

[hunser]

Wow! Haven't been here (or in The City) for a few weeks. This thing is cruising on up!

yeah me too. 400ft and rising! :cheers:

[Dac150]

The pace of construction as of late has just been outstanding. The whole site has wonderful momentum.

[NYguy]

AUGUST 21, 2010

Activity has really picked up over the last few weekends...


1.
http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752928-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752929-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752930-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752931-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752932-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752945-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752946-T800600.jpg


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752946.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752947-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752948-T800600.jpg


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752948.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752949-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752950-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752951-T800600.jpg

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http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752952-T800600.jpg


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752952.jpg

26.
http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/752953-T800600.jpg


_______________________

Couple of clips...


85-JH_f5AxQ


U-mxEu4twjM

[Draegen]

This thing has alot of elevators and stairs on the side :P

[Loslocos]

What on earth is that? Can't be part of the core steel as it's covered.

NYGuy
http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/loslocos198t1/752952copy.jpg

Anyone?

[winlinmac001]

Hey, can you please reupload the pictures. The links appear to be dead.
BTW- The progress is awesome! :banana:

:whip: I :whip: Can't :whip: Wait!!! :notacrook:


From this afternoon, originals re-sized down to 1024x768.

2, 3, 4, and 5 are from the World Center Hotel's top floor eatery. May I say well worth bribing the bellman to let you up the elevator :haha:

1.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft1.jpg

2.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft2.jpg

3.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft3.jpg

4.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft4.jpg

5.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft5.jpg

6.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft6.jpg

7.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft7.jpg

8.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft8.jpg

9.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft9.jpg

10.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft10.jpg

11.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft11.jpg

12.
http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/nyc817/ft12.jpg

[Draegen]

What on earth is that? Can't be part of the core steel as it's covered.

NYGuy


Anyone?Looks like one of the Turrets

[winlinmac001]

Can someone please post a rendering of how the WTC site will look from a Brooklyn Perspective once completed.

When 2 WTC is complete, wouldn't this tower obstruct the view of 1 WTC from across the Brooklyn Bridge?

[sterlippo1]

Can someone please post a rendering of how the WTC site will look from a Brooklyn Perspective once completed.

When 2 WTC is complete, wouldn't this tower obstruct the view of 1 WTC from across the Brooklyn Bridge?

isn't that a good thing?:tup: to me that means some welcome density;)

[NYC4Life]

Wow, did not visit the forum in 3 days and already missed the amount of progress. Being absent just one day and you already fall behind on the updates coming from the WTC site.

[nycdagreatest]

Can someone please post a rendering of how the WTC site will look from a Brooklyn Perspective once completed.

When 2 WTC is complete, wouldn't this tower obstruct the view of 1 WTC from across the Brooklyn Bridge? well theirs always Google Earth
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4920751528_e298073836_b.jpg thanks to Sebastian S. (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=3cd868ebec1233898e8e1a7b347e3e1b) for the great model of the world trade center.

[muppet]

wow its a beast in its unfinished state. Looks like a behemoth already, in a good way.

[NYguy]

wow its a beast in its unfinished state. Looks like a behemoth already, in a good way.


It's a beast that will only get bigger until it's taller than everything in the city...

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18573/756560.jpg

[CalibratedZeus]

Can someone please post a rendering of how the WTC site will look from a Brooklyn Perspective once completed.

When 2 WTC is complete, wouldn't this tower obstruct the view of 1 WTC from across the Brooklyn Bridge?

I was pretty curious too so I plotted out the planned layout of all the towers on a Google sat image and laid out some lines to see where views would be obstructed and where they would be best...

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/freedomview.jpg

Red is pretty much totally blocked by one of the three other towers, and yellow is a partial obstruction. The green areas are all free and clear, and from the looks of it the green area in the southeast corner (Bottom-right of the photo) will turn out to have the best views of all the towers together.

None of this takes into account any tower currently there, like WTC 7 is sure to have an effect from viewers in the north-east, as well as the Goldman-Sachs building and World-Financial building to the west, north-west (although due to their height they have nowhere near the impact on the view that the other three planned towers would have).


Oh yeah, and I re-did my progress image, fixed the base and everything (the first time I did it I thought all the steel was squared and equidistant, turned out to not be the case when I looked again after) for up to the 16th office floor, which is where we currently have steel going in for.

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/freedom.jpg

[evanmack]

So it's like a quarter of the way up now?

[CalibratedZeus]

So it's like a quarter of the way up now?

With the new steel for the 16th office floor the height will be almost exactly 400 feet. So yep, it is around the quarter height mark.

[Zensteeldude]

What on earth is that? Can't be part of the core steel as it's covered.

NYGuy
http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac44/loslocos198t1/752952copy.jpg

Anyone?

Looks to me like the framing for the "bump out" in the core on the north east corner. That bump out runs from the sub-grade levels all the way up to the 72nd floor, can't tell ya what's in it. (I know, just can't say)

I wish y'all could see the pics on this page through my eyes, but then I'd have to kill ya.:D

[Traynor]

Please forgive a question that I am sure has been asked and answered already a hundred times, but scanning through nearly 500 pages of this thread to find my answer seemed impossible.

Why is so much of WTC 1v2 unable to be occupied?

Originally Posted by Zensteeldude
* 1-6 – tower base (including 60ft tall lobby and 5 mechanical floors)
* 20-63 – offices
* 64 – sky lobby
* 65-88 – offices
* 89-90 - Broadcast
* 91-93 - mechanical
* 100-101 – Restaurant
* 102 Observation Deck
* 103-104 – mechanical floors
* 105 - Roof
* 106 - Cooling tower catwalks
* 107-109 Communications Rings

Note: there are no floors 7-19 or 94-99.

By my count there are only 70 floors you can have an office, restaurant or observation deck on, out of a listed 108.

No building needs that much mechanical floorspace or broadcast floors. (Unless you are housing a secret CIA bunker)

So what is really going to occupy floors 7-19? Please don't answer mechanical. The only way that much floor space could be all mechanical, is if it's a General Motors assembly plant. LOL :D

:shrug:

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Please forgive a question that I am sure has been asked and answered already a hundred times, but scanning through nearly 500 pages of this thread to find my answer seemed impossible.

Why is so much of WTC 1v2 unable to be occupied?



By my count there are only 70 floors you can have an office, restaurant or observation deck on, out of a listed 108.

No building needs that much mechanical floorspace or broadcast floors. (Unless you are housing a secret CIA bunker)

So what is really going to occupy floors 7-19? Please don't answer mechanical. The only way that much floor space could be all mechanical, is if it's a General Motors assembly plant. LOL :D

:shrug:

ya know the PA's head Chris Ward has always said that this building will have undetectable security systems that will never be seen by the public.maybe that has something to do with it.

[Zensteeldude]

:previous: Nope, nothing to do with it.

There are NO floors in the tower numbered 7 through 19, the floor count goes from 6 to 20. There are also no floors numbered 94 through 99, the floor count goes from 93 to 100. (I Thought my post made that clear)

Let's see, 20 through 88 are office floors the sky lobby only takes up one side of the 64th floor.

There are only 94 actual floors in the tower, and the 105th floor is not actually a floor, it's the roof.

Add to that the fact that Tower One is self contained, all the mechanical equipment the tower needs is in the tower, the original towers had a central chiller plant that freed up alot of floor space.

Also, Tower One is a "Green Building" virtually every drop of rain that falls on it is collected and stored, for the cooling system and "Grey water" use. Those storage tanks take up room. Not to mention the 8 emergancy genorators etc. The electrical swith gear alone takes up 2 mechanical floors.

This is old, the tower has progressed well beyond this but note the floor count, 2,3,4,5 then 6 then 20 ! I think I still have a pic on my flicker stream of a print that shows the exact same thing.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2534/4150759497_d9fca217d5_z.jpg?zz=1

In the future, save time, just search my posts for an answer, if it ain't there just ask me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35124796@N04/

PS: Though the full scale set of prints was shreaded I still have a half scale set of prints for the entire Tower in my safe at home.

[Traynor]

^ That seems like a non-answer to me.

Either the floors exist and there is something on them or they don't and the numbering of floors is exaggerated. If the latter is the case then I could say that the top floor of my four floor walk-up is the 75th floor. I have a first and second floor but floors 3-73 are not numbered and then there is 74 and 75.

You see how that explanation makes no sense.

If there are spaces that roughly equate to a floor and take up vertical space, then they must have something on them, even if they are mostly empty. For example: Saying there are no numbered floors 7-19 or 94-99, is not an explanation. Do they exist but are not accessible to the public or is the 20th floor actually the 7th floor and the 100th then actually the 81st floor?

Furthermore a cross section of WTC 2 has no such waste of floors. Does that building not require all that space for chillers and such as well?

[robk1982]

^ That seems like a non-answer to me.

Either the floors exist and there is something on them or they don't and the numbering of floors is exaggerated. If the latter is the case then I could say that the top floor of my four floor walk-up is the 75th floor. I have a first and second floor but floors 3-73 are not numbered and then there is 74 and 75.

You see how that explanation makes no sense.



It would make some sense if the first two stories of your house were as tall as an "average" 73 story building. Now, compare the heights for the "20th floor" (as labeled) of the 1WTC with the 20th floor (as labeled) of any other skyscraper and tell us what you find.

[JACKinBeantown]

By my count there are currently 29 floors above ground. But I've learned not to question it because people get too defensive for some reason. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. Some buildings in Asia skip floor numbers with "8" in them, so a 100 story building would have 81 actual floors. It's a similar story. Just count the floors you see when the building is topped out and go with what makes you happy.

[Tadd]

^
they don't and the numbering of floors is exaggerated. If the latter is the case then I could say that the top floor of my four floor walk-up is the 75th floor. I have a first and second floor but floors 3-73 are not numbered and then there is 74 and 75.

From what I've read, I think you have it. There a many buildings without a 13th floor. They just decided to delete a few extra around 13, just to be safe?

Seriously, I would make a guess that they are trying to represent the height above ground using the floor number, perhaps as an aid to secure proper value in real-estate offerings. The bottom hundred+ feet are not filled with floor space like one would think. Calling the 7th actual floor "7" would, perhaps, only bring 7th floor value, instead of what one would expect for office space at the 200' level.

[QuarterMileSidewalk]

^That's an excellent point. It's the equivalent height of the 20th floor on any other office tower, so just call it the 20th. Likewise, you couldn't get away with calling an office floor only, say, 50 ft above grade the 20th, because it's just not comparable to the 20th floor of any other building. The mechanicals, however, are not for rent/sale/lease, so it doesn't matter how they are numbered. It's always about money! :D

[uaarkson]

We've been through all this before; several times in fact. The bottom line is that they can and will number the floors however the hell they want. The tower is currently at ~400 ft., is that not simple enough? I really can't understand why people get so obsessive over floor counts when it's a well known fact that floor count is bullshit.

[patriotizzy]

We've been through all this before; several times in fact. The bottom line is that they can and will number the floors however the hell they want. The tower is currently at ~400 ft., is that not simple enough? I really can't understand why people get so obsessive over floor counts when it's a well known fact that floor count is bullshit.

It's a nice conversation in my opinion, even though I don't actually participate in it.

[Traynor]

We've been through all this before; several times in fact. The bottom line is that they can and will number the floors however the hell they want. The tower is currently at ~400 ft., is that not simple enough? I really can't understand why people get so obsessive over floor counts when it's a well known fact that floor count is bullshit.

I don't care about floor count.

I want to know what is in all that empty space. I am fine with floors not being accessible to the public, but they are still floors if an air conditioning mechanic can walk in them. Some service guy doesn't just appear on one of those mechanical mezzanines without pressing a button on a service elevator somewhere in the building. And he has to know what level he's going to, so there must be a button marked "Level 12 - Water Pump Room" or something.

Because if what you guys are telling me is that the 20th floor is called that because it is equal to any other building's 20th floor AND there are no floors between 6 an 20 THEN logic dictates the ceiling height for the 6th floor space is 200 feet. Do you understand how you guys are explaining this?

I think you mean to be saying that there are floors in between but they are only accessible to service people.

So, all I was asking in the first place is what could possible occupy nearly 30 floors of a commercial building that isn't rentable? I don't buy the rainwater/air conditioning answer.

[winlinmac001]

Now that's more like it. Very interesting indeed. Thanks a lot. :tup:
It appears Tower 2 will show a little bit of Tower 1 from behind as Tower 2 is slightly facing the memorial (if I'm not mistaken)
The progress is exciting. 5-6 years as Larry Silverstein stated better be definite. =p


well theirs always Google Earth
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4920751528_e298073836_b.jpg thanks to Sebastian S. (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=3cd868ebec1233898e8e1a7b347e3e1b) for the great model of the world trade center.


Do you have any visuals / renderings of this? I can't seem to view the pictures you posted on this thread earlier.

I was pretty curious too so I plotted out the planned layout of all the towers on a Google sat image and laid out some lines to see where views would be obstructed and where they would be best...

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/freedomview.jpg

Red is pretty much totally blocked by one of the three other towers, and yellow is a partial obstruction. The green areas are all free and clear, and from the looks of it the green area in the southeast corner (Bottom-right of the photo) will turn out to have the best views of all the towers together.

None of this takes into account any tower currently there, like WTC 7 is sure to have an effect from viewers in the north-east, as well as the Goldman-Sachs building and World-Financial building to the west, north-west (although due to their height they have nowhere near the impact on the view that the other three planned towers would have).


Oh yeah, and I re-did my progress image, fixed the base and everything (the first time I did it I thought all the steel was squared and equidistant, turned out to not be the case when I looked again after) for up to the 16th office floor, which is where we currently have steel going in for.

http://distinctdisadvantage.comuv.com/freedom.jpg

[You Need A Thneed]

I don't care about floor count.

I want to know what is in all that empty space. I am fine with floors not being accessible to the public, but they are still floors if an air conditioning mechanic can walk in them. Some service guy doesn't just appear on one of those mechanical mezzanines without pressing a button on a service elevator somewhere in the building. And he has to know what level he's going to, so there must be a button marked "Level 12 - Water Pump Room" or something.

Because if what you guys are telling me is that the 20th floor is called that because it is equal to any other building's 20th floor AND there are no floors between 6 an 20 THEN logic dictates the ceiling height for the 6th floor space is 200 feet. Do you understand how you guys are explaining this?

I think you mean to be saying that there are floors in between but they are only accessible to service people.

So, all I was asking in the first place is what could possible occupy nearly 30 floors of a commercial building that isn't rentable? I don't buy the rainwater/air conditioning answer.

There isn't 30 floors of space though. There is the tall lobby, then 5 mechanical floors (each taller than regular office floors, then the first office floor is called the 20th floor.

Mechanical, Electrical, Water Storage, Power Generation (backup), elevator mechanicals, Phone Systems, Alarm Systems, Broadcast equipment etc. - together take up a whole lot of space, easily 10 floors in a building like this, which is about what is allotted for it. In many buildings, they put quite a bit of that equipment in the basement, but for various reasons, at the WTC site, they don't have room for it & otherwise can't put it there.

[Rizzo]

By my count there are currently 29 floors above ground. But I've learned not to question it because people get too defensive for some reason. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. Some buildings in Asia skip floor numbers with "8" in them, so a 100 story building would have 81 actual floors. It's a similar story. Just count the floors you see when the building is topped out and go with what makes you happy.

Lol, sounds like my apartment building with floors 10, 11, 12a, 12b, 14

[NYguy]

I want to know what is in all that empty space. I am fine with floors not being accessible to the public, but they are still floors if an air conditioning mechanic can walk in them. Some service guy doesn't just appear on one of those mechanical mezzanines without pressing a button on a service elevator somewhere in the building. And he has to know what level he's going to, so there must be a button marked "Level 12 - Water Pump Room" or something.

Because if what you guys are telling me is that the 20th floor is called that because it is equal to any other building's 20th floor .

See 7 WTC. Beyond that, the building was designed as it is for security purposes as well as practical. Had the tower been moved to the opposite side of Greenwich (like the other towers) and away from the highway, there would have been no podium "bunker". There's really not much more you need to know about it. Contact someone at the Port Authority for info if its that much of an issue.

[NYguy]

Seems there's only good news for the tower these days.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/commercial/bofa_eyes_space_at_wtc_mgxhdVIkdfYdUGCBsaj3mM
BofA eyes space at 1 WTC

By STEVE CUOZZO
August 24, 2010

Believe it or not, Bank of America — having comfortably settled into its grand new tower at 1 Bryant Park — is on the prowl for up to 1 million square feet more of office space in Manhattan.

And that could spell more good news for 1 World Trade Center, the supertall, and suddenly superhot, Ground Zero tower now under construction by the Port Authority.

Condé Nast recently signed a letter of intent with the PA for about 1 million square feet in the 2.6 million square-foot skyscraper, and this column last month broke the news that Bank of NY Mellon is at least taking a good look at it.

Now, we’ve learned, BofA has requests for proposals out with landlords both in Midtown and downtown to replace roughly 1 million square feet it has in some older buildings including 1185 Sixth Ave. and 114 West 47th St., where leases expire in a few years.

Sources said the bank prefers at least half of its relocation space to be at a newly minted address with features similar to those at 1 Bryant Park, which it co-owns with Douglas Durst — i.e., LEED-certified environmental design, advanced electronic technology and relatively column-free floor plates.

In Midtown, the only suitable location would seem to be 11 Times Square, where 500,000 feet remain up for grabs.

Downtown, only 1 WTC (in which Durst now holds a minority stake) is in fullbore construction for completion in 2013. Larry Silverstein’s 4 WTC could offer comparably modern space, but construction above a six-story base awaits completion of a financing agreement between him and the PA.

In other words, after years of being derided in certain quarters, 1 WTC is the hottest game in town.

The tower’s Cushman & Wakefield leasing team led by vice-chairman Tara Stacom — 1 WTC’s agent since 2007, whom we ridiculously managed to chop out of last week’s item about the project — would seem to be sitting pretty with the Condé Nast term-sheet in hand.

BofA has tapped a Stacomled Cushman & Wakefield team including John Cushman, Mitch Konsker and Melissa Bazar to handle its Midtown search, and Jones Lang LaSalle’s John Ryan and Mike Shenot to explore downtown.

Stacom declined to comment and Ryan did not return a call.

Meanwhile, BoNY, repped by JLL’s Peter Riguardi, is known to crave a new headquarters that would bring the venerable bank’s image into the modern age — which its longtime home at beautiful but obsolescent 1 Wall Street can’t do. Again, 1 WTC would seem to fit the bill. Riguardi declined to comment other than to note that BoNY is looking at other locations as well.

But, what about two widely reported government “leases” at 1 WTC that have yet to be signed—the US General Services Administration and the New York State Offices of General Services for a total 1 million square feet?

With Condé Nast apparently headed for a deal and two great banks kicking the tires, you can’t help ask why the world’s most important new office building should devote 40 percent of its space to government agencies.

A GSA lease might make sense. But the OGS, which handles such crucial missions as providing parking for employees of a nearbroke Albany?

[OneWorldTradeCenter]

Webcam update:

http://oxblue.com/archive/487d07189e5fd2b7edce94fc0bcf4b68/800x600.jpg

A few weeks later, it's going to be too tall for the cam if they don't jump it up.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Seems there's only good news for the tower these days.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/commercial/bofa_eyes_space_at_wtc_mgxhdVIkdfYdUGCBsaj3mM
BofA eyes space at 1 WTC

By STEVE CUOZZO
August 24, 2010

they just built a tower and now they need more space....AWESOME!!! lets build BofA tower 2!

[Innsertnamehere]

or get them into wtc 2 0r 3....

[uakoops]

There isn't 30 floors of space though. There is the tall lobby, then 5 mechanical floors (each taller than regular office floors, then the first office floor is called the 20th floor.

Mechanical, Electrical, Water Storage, Power Generation (backup), elevator mechanicals, Phone Systems, Alarm Systems, Broadcast equipment etc. - together take up a whole lot of space, easily 10 floors in a building like this, which is about what is allotted for it. In many buildings, they put quite a bit of that equipment in the basement, but for various reasons, at the WTC site, they don't have room for it & otherwise can't put it there.

There are actually 9 mech floors if you count the mezzanines. Each "full" floor is twice the height of a standard floor, and the mezzanines are only partial floorplates (to leave room for larger equipment). So you have the lobby, which itself is over 60 feet high, then 2M, 3, 3M, 4, 4M, 5, 5M, 6, 6M, then 20 which is the first office floor. Zen has a diagram further up this page that should make it clear.

[brian.odonnell20]

or get them into wtc 2 0r 3....

yea .

[winlinmac001]

I bet JP Morgan Chase is still interested. :tup:

[Dac150]

they just built a tower and now they need more space!

I think many people undervalue what the Merrill Lynch acquisition brought in terms of expansion to BofA’s capital markets business. BofA is still hungry for new space.

[Dac150]

I bet JP Morgan Chase is still interested. :tup:

I wouldn’t exactly hold your breath on that one; they’re pretty cozy in their Midtown campus.

BofA, Merrill, Morgan Stanley, Oppenheimer, BNY Mellon are all major financials in play for new space. Keep your eye on them.

[Pbellamy]

Just came past the site with my iphone and noticed more steel going up today...

http://gallery.me.com/petebellamy/101442/photo_3/web.jpg?ver=12826784700001

Also this contraption is getting huge...

http://gallery.me.com/petebellamy/101442/photo_2.jpg?derivative=medium&source=web.jpg&type=medium&ver=12826784730001

[Plokoon11]

I remember when it took 4 weeks just to see it rise just a floor now look at it, its 1/4 the official hieght!

[winlinmac001]

Are there any such "load-bearing" columns on this tower? The base of the Towers only seems to support the weight of the structure as a whole. In a event where the load would have to be redistributed, how would that work with this engineering marvel?

[colemonkee]

^ The super columns at the bottom of the building are all load-bearing. The vertical beams rising above them transfer weight straight down from the floors above, and the diagonal beams rising up from them transfer weight from the vertical columns in between. So there are plenty of load-bearing columns outside of the core. This is an exceptionally well-engineered building, and should be, given the circumstances that led to its need in the first place.

[RobertWalpole]

It's amazing to see the amount of greenery that has been added to NY. Who would have thought that tree and flower-lined bike and walking paths would spring up everywhere.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4868907106_71a04a65cb_b.jpg
Jay Fine

[Aleks]

it will look even better when the trees around the memorial are planted!

[Kamatzu]

It's amazing to see the amount of greenery that has been added to NY. Who would have thought that tree and flower-lined bike and walking paths would spring up everywhere.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/4868907106_71a04a65cb_b.jpg
Jay Fine
That's going to be a really touching picture to see some years from now. Captures the essence of a behemoth renewal project in harmony with the city life. Already looks futuristic.

[MadGnome]

Are there any such "load-bearing" columns on this tower? The base of the Towers only seems to support the weight of the structure as a whole. In a event where the load would have to be redistributed, how would that work with this engineering marvel?

The lower level doesn't need to worry about crossbracing to redistribute the load if the tower moves because of the sheer size of the columns. There's very little chance those monsters are ever going to flex.

[NYguy]

teaboneski (http://www.flickr.com/photos/teaboneski/4921930889/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4921930889_cc86444849_b.jpg


cmduffin (http://www.flickr.com/photos/41733041@N07/4918112877/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4918112877_5829391ae5_b.jpg

[uaarkson]

What's with all the backseat engineers on this forum?

[Traynor]

What's with all the backseat engineers on this forum?

Said by someone who is most assuredly an armchair quarterback, or amateur movie critic or art critic, etc...

Just like we all are. That's what humans do. We observe, question and comment. Without that, you have complacency and eventual stagnation. Civilization would never have evolved out of the stone age, if every bystander just accepted what was going on without question.

Speaking of armchair engineering...

Tower 1 is designed with a bunker base for blast protection, but towers 2,3 and 4 are not. Ostensibly because Tower 1 would be a potential primary target for an attack. Wouldn't it stand to reason that the onus has now shifted to the other 3 towers? Are their occupants more expendable? Or for that matter the occupants of World Financial Center across the street.

[wong21fr]

Tower 1 also fronts West St and I believe that it's the only street in lower Manhattan open to heavy vehicle traffic. The streets that Towers 2,3, and 4 front are access restricted.

That could be a partial explanation.

[Traynor]

Tower 1 also fronts West St and I believe that it's the only street in lower Manhattan open to heavy vehicle traffic. The streets that Towers 2,3, and 4 front are access restricted.

That could be a partial explanation.

As I asked in my post... Don't the occupants of World Financial Center have any value? They are also on West Street. I don't buy that response.

[wong21fr]

As I asked in my post... Don't the occupants of World Financial Center have any value? They are also on West Street. I don't buy that response.

Obviously not, so you probably don't want to visit the World Financial Center, you may get knocked around by a car bomb or two.

Or maybe Brookfield Properties doesn't see a positive trade-off in heavily retrofitting existing buildings that have never been a target of terrorist attacks and having to do so with their own funding and not a huge pile of public money.

But 1WTC, I do recall a couple of things happening there.

[Zensteeldude]

^ That seems like a non-answer to me.

Either the floors exist and there is something on them or they don't and the numbering of floors is exaggerated. If the latter is the case then I could say that the top floor of my four floor walk-up is the 75th floor. I have a first and second floor but floors 3-73 are not numbered and then there is 74 and 75.

You see how that explanation makes no sense.

If there are spaces that roughly equate to a floor and take up vertical space, then they must have something on them, even if they are mostly empty. For example: Saying there are no numbered floors 7-19 or 94-99, is not an explanation. Do they exist but are not accessible to the public or is the 20th floor actually the 7th floor and the 100th then actually the 81st floor?

Furthermore a cross section of WTC 2 has no such waste of floors. Does that building not require all that space for chillers and such as well?

You are making this far more complex than it is.

In the end they are just numbers on elevator buttons. Say 5 years from now you were to step onto a service elevator, there would be no buttons numbered 7 thru 19. Not because the elevator doesn't go to those floors but because there are no floors numbered as such.

Believe me, there are no empty spaces in this tower, except office floors not yet leased out.

If you were to sit down with the prints and count the floors, the Lobby being 1 and you stopped at the roof you would come up with 92 floors. What those floors are called is really of no consequence.

[Zensteeldude]

Are there any such "load-bearing" columns on this tower? The base of the Towers only seems to support the weight of the structure as a whole. In a event where the load would have to be redistributed, how would that work with this engineering marvel?

There is redundancy factored into all of the columns in the unlikely event that columns are destroyed. Also, weight re-distribution is taken care of by moment connections at every beam/ column connection.

Exactly how many columns can be lost before structural failure (the tower falls down) is a secret.

PS: I doubt the entire tower could ever collapse, due to the massive core.

[JSsocal]

As I asked in my post... Don't the occupants of World Financial Center have any value? They are also on West Street. I don't buy that response.

Remember that 1 WTC is far closer to the street then WFC is, and also the WFC isn't a target. You can't bomb-proof every fairly large building in New York. As for towers 2, 3, and 4, they seem to have this covered. You'll notice that the actual 4 WTC is set back from Church Street a ways. The only thing on the street is the retail hub. As for Liberty Street, you can see there is a concrete wall facing the street in the recent pictures, (part of the reason for the hold up in construction). You can't make a building invincible, you just have to make sure it stands in a traumatic event.

[JACKinBeantown]

Please forgive a question that I am sure has been asked and answered already a hundred times, but scanning through nearly 500 pages of this thread to find my answer seemed impossible.

Why is so much of WTC 1v2 unable to be occupied?



By my count there are only 70 floors you can have an office, restaurant or observation deck on, out of a listed 108.

No building needs that much mechanical floorspace or broadcast floors. (Unless you are housing a secret CIA bunker)

So what is really going to occupy floors 7-19? Please don't answer mechanical. The only way that much floor space could be all mechanical, is if it's a General Motors assembly plant. LOL :D

:shrug:


The best answer I can give is that in my lifetime the truth has become less and less valued all the time. In the media, in politics, in the business world, in everyday life, and yes, in skyscraper floor count. :(


edit: The following comment isn't about me, it's about the argument that took place between two other forumers and just happened to occur after my answer. Just an FYI.