Growing in Manhattan

Traders are already at work at Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, the new headquarters for Bank of America’s New York City operations, which will be completed in 2009. When the steel for the architectural spire topped out at 1,200 ft this past December, it completed the structural work for 2.1 million sq. ft of office space spread vertically over 55 stories. At the lower end of things, the new skyscraper also includes three cellar levels, an underground pedestrian passage, and a restored Broadway theater. To make all of this come together, an equally sizeable effort by the project team was needed, especially for the structural steel design.

Studies in Steel

Many studies were performed early in the design phase to ensure that the structural systems used were economical and would help maintain the project’s aggressive construction schedule. Once the basic floor plan at the base of the building—a rectangle with 15-ft-wide extensions at the northeast and southwest corners— was established, various concrete and steel framing systems were compared. Based on the schedule requirements of the construction manager, structural steel was chosen.