Hearst Tower in NYC Wins 2008 International Highrise Award

Today the Hearst Tower in New York City won the 2008 International Highrise award. The upper part of the building was completed in May of 2006. Any high rise that was completed between January 2006 and April 2008 is eligible for this award. Their was 26 projects nominated from 11 different countries. The 5 finalist included the Missing Matrix Building in Korea, the Newton Suites in Singapore, New York Times Building in NYC, and the TVCC Building in Beijing.

The Hearst Tower also won the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award.

Hearst Tower is the first high rise to be built in NYC after September 11, 2001. It is also the first green building that has been completed in New York City, with a number of environmental considerations built into the plan. The floor of the atrium is paved with heat conductive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with circulating water for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. The building was constructed using 80% recycled steel. Overall, the building has been designed to use 25% less energy than the minimum requirements for the city of New York, and earned a gold designation from the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification program.

I think that we have become so much smarter in using our resources to live Green. And I am very excited to see what new buildings are going to be built in our area that will utilize these resources.

You can view the full article at Architectural Records http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/081114highrise.asp