Snøhetta and SL Green Realty Corp. have recently unveiled SUMMIT One Vanderbilt, the new four-story observation complex located 1,000 feet above Midtown Manhattan in the KPF-designed One Vanderbilt building. The complex brings together spaces for art and gathering.
The observatory offers panoramic views of all five boroughs from a collection of curated multi-sensory viewing and lounge spaces. Upon arrival in the observation complex, visitors are greeted by the Hall of Light, an illuminated walkway that recreates the sky’s real-time color, hue, and brightness. On cloudy days the hallway is cool and dewy. On sunny days it shines a blueish white.
Beyond the Hall of Light a two-story mirrored gallery installation designed by Kenzo Digital reorients visitors’ perception of the skyline by reflecting the city into infinity. In adjacent areas Snøhetta designed transitional spaces marked by changes in materials, softly rounded corners, and curving soffits that anchor the more hard-edged areas of the observatory in order to balance its immersive installations.
The Summit Lounge, at the top of the observatory, is a welcoming space that contains a sculptural, heavy timbered panorama bench and hanging fireplace. The Summit Lounge has the atmosphere of a ski lodge and creates another zone in the observatory focused on the quieter aspects of experience.
Outside, an L-shaped terrace offers dark granite bar tables carved from monolithic stone and solid wood benches. Mountain shrubs, high meadow perennials and grasses, and rough-hewn materials approximate a traditional alpine mountain summit experience. An outdoor bar completes the social atmosphere.
Related Stories
High-rise Construction | Mar 22, 2017
Porsche Design Tower is, unsurprisingly, a car lover’s dream
The idea behind the residential tower was to provide residents with a full single family home in the sky, complete with a private garage and pool.
High-rise Construction | Mar 20, 2017
The world’s longest skyscraper
As supertall skyscrapers continue to pop up around NYC, an architecture firm based in New York and Athens asks, ‘What if we substituted height with length?’
High-rise Construction | Mar 3, 2017
Detroit's tallest tower to rise at site of former J.L Hudson's Department Store
SHoP Architects and Hamilton Anderson Associates will design the 52-story building.
Mixed-Use | Mar 1, 2017
New hotel and residential tower coming to San Francisco’s Transbay neighborhood
The ground-up development will feature 255 hotel rooms and 69 residential units.
Mixed-Use | Feb 27, 2017
Tallest tower in Miami to begin construction in January 2019
The tower will reach a height of 1,049 feet, the maximum height permitted by the FAA in Miami.
High-rise Construction | Feb 17, 2017
What makes a supertall tower super?
As new technologies fuel the race to build higher, three primal drivers simultaneously enable progress and keep it in check.
High-rise Construction | Feb 17, 2017
Zaha Hadid Architects-designed building to have the world’s tallest atrium
A 190-meter atrium will rise the full height of the building between two twisting sections.
High-rise Construction | Feb 8, 2017
Shanghai Tower nabs three world records for its elevators
The second tallest building in the world is officially home to the world’s fastest elevator, the tallest elevator in a building, and the fastest double-deck elevator.
Office Buildings | Feb 8, 2017
London office building employs transitional forms to mediate between the varied heights of surrounding buildings
Friars Bridge Court will provide a transition between the unvarying height of the buildings to the south and the more varied heights of the northern buildings.
High-rise Construction | Feb 6, 2017
Flexing their vanity muscles: Some of the world’s tallest buildings have hundreds of feet of non-occupiable space
The amount of the Burj Khalifa’s height that is non-occupiable is taller than most skyscrapers.
