New York Citys Fifth Largest Tower 3 World Trade Center Opens This Week

Monday, June 11, marked the much-anticipated completion of 3 WTC, the latest addition to the World Trade Center site and the fifth largest tower in New York City.

As the second tallest building on the World Trade Center site, 3 WTC towers at 1,079 feet above street level and has a total of 2.5 million square feet of office space. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, 3 WTC is now officially the fifth tallest building in New York City and was awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. It’s also the third completed building in the WTC Master Plan at the site where the Twin Towers once stood.

Construction for the site was stalled for many years, due to disputes between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (who own the land) and developer Silverstein Properties, as well as lack of funding. But construction resumed in 2012. “It was like somebody came to us and said, ‘The curtain has gone up, you can now access this pool of financing,’” Larry Silverstein, chairman of Silverstein Properties, told ABC7 News.

3 World Trade Center, 17th-floor terrace, bird’s-eye view

The curtain wall was prefabricated in Thailand, the Netherlands, Canada, and Italy, and includes a “specialized transparent low-E coating on the inside surface” to reflect the surrounding cityscape. The corners of 3 WTC are column-free, which means tenants of the building will get 360-degree panoramic views of the cityscape. Tenants will also breathe easy: the tower features an activated carbon air filtration system to remove pollutants from the outside air.

One of the building’s highlights includes the 60-foot-tall lobby, which contains a 43-foot-high Zimbabwe black granite-clad wall, woven metallic mesh fabric walls in the elevator lobby, and a three-sided cable-net wall facade composed of laminated glass units. Near the main reception desk, an “LED-backed barrisol (stretched material) ceiling illuminates the lobby, giving the sense that the ceiling is floating,” writes Silverstein Properties in their latest release.

New tenants include media company GroupM, which leased nine floors in the tower and is expected to move in next month, stock trading group IEX, and management consulting firm McKinsey. To date, 28 percent of the building has been leased.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

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