BIG Replaces Foster, Unveils Plans for 2 World Trade Center

BIG has revealed plans for the fourth and final skyscraper planned for the World Trade Center site – the 2 World Trade Center (2 WTC) – confirming rumors that the Danish architect has replaced Norman Foster as the project’s architect.

As announced by WIRED, the controversial take over is the result of James Murdoch’s distaste for Foster’s decade-old scheme and preference for a more integrated workplace. Though the foundation of Foster’s building has already been built, the BIG scheme will now be realized and become the new headquarters of Rupert Murdoch’s media companies, 21st Century Fox and News Corp.

Designed as seven unique building stacked on top of each other, the stepped 2 WTC tower will rise 1,340 feet – a height that would make it Manhattan’s third-tallest building if built today.

Watch Bjarke Ingels explain the concept in a video, after the break.

“The completion of the World Trade Center will restore the majestic skyline of Manhattan and unite the streetscapes of TriBeCa with the towers Downtown. To complete this urban reunification we propose a tower that will feel equally at home in TriBeCa and the World Trade Center. From TriBeCa, the home of lofts and roof gardens, it will appear like a vertical village of singular buildings stacked on top of each other to create parks and plazas in the sky. From the World Trade Center, the individual towers will appear unified, completing the colonnade of towers framing the 9/11 Memorial. Horizontal meets vertical. Diversity becomes unity.” Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.

21st Century Fox and News Corp will occupy the 80-plus story building’s lower half. The upper portion of the building will be leased by Silverstein Properties to various tenants. Each tenants’ unique set of needs will be accommodated by the seven custom tailored volumes. At its base will be a 8,000 square-feet (3,530 square-meter) lobby, connected to Santiago Calatrava’s neighboring transit hub, and retail. 38,000 square-feet (3,530 square-meters) of lush outdoor terraces will be integrated throughout the building.

“The new building will provide the physical environment for collaboration and idea sharing through the internal mix of open workplaces, amenities and informal meeting spaces,” adds BIG. “Large stairwells between the floors form cascading double-height communal spaces throughout the headquarters. These continuous spaces enhance connectivity between different departments and amenities, which may include basketball courts, a running track, a cafeteria and screening rooms. The amenity floors are located so they can feed directly out onto the roof top parks.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Architects: BIG
Location: 90 Church Street, New York, NY 10007, USA
Partners In Charge: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen
Project Manager: Ute Rinnebach
Project Designer: Martin Voelkle
Project Director: Douglass Alligood
Contributors: Amina Blacksher, Armen Menendian, Benson Chien, Cadence Bayley, Carolien Schippers, Catherine Pabst, Christopher David White, Daisy Zhong, David Brown, David Zhai, Emily Watts, Eva Maria Mikkelsen, Hsiao Rou Huang, Iva Ulam, Jan Leenknegt, Jennifer Kimura, Ji-Young Yoon, Jonathan Rieke, Julie Kaufmann, Linus Saavedra, Maki Matsubayashi, Manon Otto, Maria Sole Bravo, Otilia Pupezeanu, Paul Manhertz, Rune Hansen, Sabri Farouki, Seoyoung Shin, Tammy Teng, Tiago Sa, Thomas Yaher, Yaziel Juarbe
Client: Silverstein Properties & 21st Century Fox / News Corp
Collaborators : Adamson Associates, Jaros, Baum & Bolles, WSP Cantor Seinuk, Van Deusen & Associates, Vidaris, Acoustic Distinctions, Gensler, Gardiner & Theobald, AMA, DBOX, Squint/Opera, Radii
Area: 260000.0 sqm
Photographs: DBOX, Courtesy of BIG, BIG