heintges - building envelope and curtain wall consultants

The permanent World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by Santiago Calatrava, will create a new landmark for New York, a focal point for downtown, and a grand welcoming gate for people arriving in Manhattan by subway and PATH commuter train. The terminal will serve as a regional transportation hub as well as a significant cultural and retail destination.

The entrance and roof enclosure of the terminal is a soaring sculptural steel-and-glass shell enclosing a cathedral-like concourse and flooding it with natural light. This freestanding lens-shaped structure within a landscaped plaza appears to have wings formed by steel ribs that extend upward beyond the main enclosure. Where the "wings" meet, along a curved ridge that may be as much as 12 feet wide running the entire length of the concourse, operable skylights will allow for ventilation and passive conditioning of the space below. The sunlight that enters through the ribbed enclosure will also suffuse the train platforms, 60 feet below ground, with natural light.

The complex shifting geometry of the skeletal structure made of steel ribs dictates that nearly every steel rib and lite of glass is a slightly different shape. Atypical construction sequences will be employed during installation. The curtain wall and skylight systems are designed to accommodate a complex set of performance criteria, with special attention paid to security and energy efficiency.

Sculptural structure of glass and steel to serve as the new transportation hub for the World Trade Center site redevelopment.

MATERIALS

• Low-iron Glass
• Insulating Glass Units
• Aluminum Panels

TECHNOLOGIES

• Operable Skylight
• Thermally Broken Enclosure System