The Spiral, the story of the New York’s green skyscraper in Manhattan

New York never ceases to amaze, especially with infrastructure that radically transforms its skyline. Entire neighborhoods are being completely redesigned, such as Hudson Yards, the area on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan, which in the city’s plans includes the construction of at least 16 skyscrapers, many of which have already been completed.

The latest building to attract millions of people is “The Spiral”, the green skyscraper that has become one of New York’s must-see attractions. Also known as 66 Hudson Boulevard, “The Spiral” is a 66-story tower, standing 314 meters (1,031 feet) tall, with an area of ​​approximately 265,000 square meters (2.85 million square feet), located on 34th Street between Hudson Boulevard and Tenth Avenue. The new skyscraper was inaugurated in 2023, and its name comes from the fact that each floor is equipped with external gardens that spiral around the building’s facade in a continuous green path.

Walking inside the new Manhattan green skyscraper provides a unique experience in architecture and design, as well as an unparalleled immersion in a variety of services. Inside the skyscraper, there is a clubhouse and an outdoor terrace with panoramic city views on the 66th floor, as well as a lounge. However, the building’s distinctive feature, which sets it apart from other tall buildings in the city, is its cascading landscape terraces and green roofs. This is another example of the city evolving, particularly in

terms of office infrastructure, with the commercial market continually seeking new solutions following the pandemic and the subsequent boom in remote work. The project won a CoStar Impact Award 2023 for Best Commercial Development of the Year in New York, according to real estate professionals.

The architects who designed the building were inspired by Manhattan’s so-called “step-back architecture”, where the tower’s footprint narrows as it rises after a certain number of floors, maintaining equidistant from the center. Thus, the terraces spiral up along the facades and create the sensation of being in nature on each office floor, even though it is tens of meters above the ground.

The innovative design allows tenants to have the necessary space for an outdoor break, with some of the most captivating views of the Big Apple. The Spiral is also equipped with high-end building automation levels, including security and energy or water performance management, with significant water savings also realized through particularly innovative automatic plant irrigation systems.

Thanks to this new tower, Hudson Yards further enhances its prestige and reputation in a city that hosts over 102 skyscrapers taller than 650 feet (198 meters). Dominating them all is the One World Trade Center, which at 1,776 feet (541 meters) is also the tallest building in the United States, the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh tallest building in the world.

New York City’s upward trajectory is unstoppable and brings with it a series of infrastructure needs that require constant work on the city’s major projects to withstand the impact of a growing metropolis. This is the case with the reconstruction of the Unionport Bridge, one of the key bridges for transit through the Bronx, crossed by about 60,000 vehicles every day. The bridge is the only connection between the Bruckner Expressway and the Cross Bronx Expressway heading north, making it a strategic infrastructure for city transportation. The project was reconstructed thanks to the intervention of Lane Construction, a subsidiary of the Webuild Group, which operates worldwide but generates 12% of its revenue in North America. Over the past ten years, Lane and its partner companies in the US have successfully delivered infrastructure projects worth $12.8 billion in contracts. Among these is New York City’s Unionport Bridge.