Beneath One Vanderbilt

Langan Designs Foundation for Transformative Midtown Tower

It’s nighttime on February 3, 2017, and Art Alzamora stands surrounded by spotlights and tons of concrete – enough to fill 400 trucks. He watches as the concrete begins to pour, slowly covering an entire city block. The clock ticks. One hour passes, two hours, five hours and still no end in sight. Finally, 24 hours later, the Langan team is still on site, but there is one major difference: the core foundation for One Vanderbilt, a 1,401-foot-tall supertall commercial tower located next to Grand Central Terminal, is officially complete.

Langan provided multi-discipline services for the project over an 11-year period, including geotechnical engineering, site/civil engineering, land surveying, 3D laser scanning, and traffic support. During the initial stages of the project, Langan’s geotechnical engineers were tasked with designing a complex excavation and foundation system that mitigated below grade conditions near landmark structures and created future connections to multiple public transit options. Following the 24-hour concrete pour, Langan successfully converted its comprehensive design from drawings to reality and the project team stepped closer to its main goal: develop a space that challenges the way people envision workplace environments.

Expectations for One Vanderbilt may have been as high as its SUMMIT observatory (which stands over 1,000 feet above street level) but the project team set its sights even higher and chose to raise the bar for office development. Through innovative design techniques and creative engineering solutions, the team – including Langan, Hines, SL Green, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Severud Associates, Tishman, and John Civetta & Sons – delivered on its promise.

“The team behind One Vanderbilt redefined Midtown Manhattan and set a new standard for office space,” said Alzamora, Principal. “It was an honor to work on such a revolutionary project and is exciting to see how it is reshaping commercial development in New York City and beyond.”