What You Need to Know About the Tallest Office Building in New York’s Newest Neighborhood

For a building that started reshaping Manhattan’s vaunted skyline even as it was rising, 30 Hudson Yards—at 1,270 feet the second-highest office building in the city—knows how to keep drawing attention and plaudits. Case in point: Edge, the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. When the angular, glass-and-steel marvel deck opens next month, visitors will have more than a one-of-a-kind panoramic view of the metropolitan area. They’ll also enjoy a unique bird’s-eye perspective—through a glass floor—down 100 stories to Hudson Yards itself. But along with the breathtaking views, there’s more than meets the eye in the design of the building itself.

It’s part of a “dancing” duo

Renowned architect Bill Pedersen and his firm, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), imagined both 30 Hudson Yards and its “sister” to the south, 10 Hudson Yards as a graceful glass-and-steel duo that, Pedersen says, “is almost geological, the towers ascend in crystalline form, gesturing to each other in a type of spatial, urban dance.” The two towers, which are designed to “have the strength of a force of nature,” are angled the two in opposing directions—10 Hudson Yards “faces” the Hudson River; 30 Hudson Yards, the city.

Yes, there’s a fully operational train yard below

Hudson Yards is built on a 28 acre site over 30 active Long Island Railroad train tracks, so the columns and other support structures for all 2.6 million square feet of 30 Hudson Yards land between the rail lines—and are placed to avoid underground utilities. Amazingly, the trains remained operational throughout construction. 

Learn more: Understanding the Platform (PDF)

It reaches great heights in sustainability

Officially certified as a LEED Gold building, 30 Hudson Yards minimizes waste and maximizes efficiency. In fact, more than 96% of construction waste materials were diverted from the landfill. 100% of the rainwater that lands on the building is captured, filtered and reused for the building mechanical systems - saving millions of gallons of drinking water each year.  The building was designed to perform 17% better than the energy code requires and is also part of the neighborhood’s shared cogeneration plant, which captures and recycles thermal energy.

The building’s art, like its inhabitants, makes an impression

The roster of tenants at 30 Hudson Yards includes the social media giant Facebook, financial powerhouse Wells Fargo, the legendary investment firm KKR, DNB Norway's largest financial services group, the Related Companies—which developed Hudson Yards—and Warner Media, with studio and office space for media giants like CNN (all its top anchors from Anderson Cooper to Chris Cuomo, have been broadcasting from Hudson Yards since last May), HBO and Turner Broadcasting. Meanwhile, visitors to the lobby can’t miss Spanish artist’s Jaume Plensa’s hanging installation, Voices. It consists of 11 suspended spheres, weighing between 400 and 5,000 pounds and configured of letters from eight different alphabets. The piece is emblematic of 30 Hudson Yards’ mission to serve global business and to create a space that houses people of all cultures and backgrounds.

That’s no ordinary observation deck

Edge sits 1,100 feet off terra firma and 80 feet straight out in the air, cantilevered off the building. It opens March 11, offers panoramic views of the city and a champagne bar. The observation deck—made of 15 sections comprised of steel and glass, which were bolted together and anchored to the east and south sides of the building— offers 7,500 square feet of outdoor viewing space with a glass located in the center providing a breathtaking perspective of the neighborhood below.