Structure studio SOM has transformed the Beaux-Arts James A Farley Submit Workplace in New York into the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prepare Corridor as a part of the renovation of Penn Station.
Standing reverse Madison Sq. Backyard on eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prepare Corridor opened to passengers on January 1.
The 486,000-square-foot growth will increase the whole concourse house on the largely underground Pennsylvania Station, which is New York’s primary inter-city interchange and the busiest station within the Western Hemisphere, by 50 per cent.
The enlargement of the station occupies the James A Farley Submit Workplace, which was in-built 1913 by McKim, Mead & White – the studio that additionally designed the unique Pennsylvania Station.
With its rejuvenation SOM aimed to seize the grandeur of the unique above-ground station constructing that was identified for its beneficiant public areas. The constructing’s demolition in 1963 brought on a world outcry and prompted the event of New York’s architectural preservation motion.
“That is an extremely necessary second within the historical past of New York Metropolis,” stated SOM accomplice Colin Koop.
“We have designed a spot that evokes the majesty of the unique Penn Station, all whereas serving as a sensible resolution to the problems that commuters in, to and from New York have endured for too lengthy,” he continued.
“By connecting to our architectural previous by way of the adaptive reuse of the Farley Submit Workplace constructing, we’re respiratory new life into New York, and recreating an expertise nobody has had right here in many years.”
Constructed alongside the unique station, the submit workplace constructing stands instantly above the railroad tracks. The Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prepare Corridor now supplies entry to 9 platforms which can be utilized by the Lengthy Island Railroad and Amtrak.
It’s organized round a light-filled atrium, which was the submit workplace’s authentic sorting room and had been enclosed for the reason that second world struggle.
“One of the vital outstanding issues about this challenge is the best way that it transforms an under-utilized and under-appreciated constructing into a brand new, inviting entrance door for this metropolis,” stated Roger Duffy, the retired SOM design accomplice who led the design of the challenge.
“The practice corridor is on the core of this transformation. It’s designed with lightness and heat, which mix to reestablish the essence of what it means to come back to New York.”
The atrium is topped with a vaulted glass construction that was designed by SOM in collaboration with structural engineering agency Schlaich Bergermann Companion.
4 vaults which can be every produced from 500 glass and metal panels are supported on three large metal trusses that supported the unique roof within the inner courtyard.
Surrounding the principle corridor are services for Amtrak together with ticketing and baggage areas, a ready room and convention areas in addition to outlets.
As a part of the challenge, SOM designed a sequence of latest entrances to the station together with one on both aspect of the unique grand stairs on eighth Avenue and extra entrances on thirty first and thirty third Streets.
General SOM hopes that the challenge will present a celebratory entrance to New York that captures the spirit of the unique station.
“On a broader stage, it’s a new image of hope for the longer term,” stated the studio.
“Moynihan Prepare Corridor re-establishes a civic icon for New York, recaptures the unique spirit of practice journey to Penn Station, creates a brand new gateway to the town, and celebrates one of many biggest cities on the planet.”
SOM, also called Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is without doubt one of the largest structure studios within the USA. Latest tasks by the studio embrace the Nationwide Museum of the USA Military in Virginia, FBI expertise constructing in West Virginia and a courthouse in Los Angeles with pleated glass partitions.
Pictures is by Lucas Blair Simpson until said. All photographs courtesy of SOM.