New technologies are being deployed in the 52-story #7 WTC scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The first high-rise building to be rebuilt at the site of the 9/11 tragedy, it is constructed of steel and concrete with a glass façade and a unique ‘interactive’ stainless steel wall cladding the lower stories that will ‘follow’ passer-bys with shimmering lights.
New safety features include a fireproofing material twice as durable as currently required, reinforced concrete walls protecting the building’s core, and wider stairs for quicker evacuation.

Meanwhile Freedom Tower is in for re-design (again) - this time to deal with new security concerns. The new design will reportedly include greater setbacks and perhaps the ‘untwisting’ of the tower.

A major problem remains for the new WTC buildings – finding tenants! Nobody wants to work in a building with a bulls eye on its back. Interestingly the new 7 WTC is quietly dropping the WTC from its nomenclature and will be marketed under a newly created street address, 250 Greenwich.

 

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