Looking Up in Manhattan: Checking Out the Newest Tallest Skyscrapers

All this tower building business in Williamsburg got us curious about some new peaks that have appeared recently on the skyline across the river. So last Sunday we took a trip into the mysterious world of Midtown to see a couple of tomorrow's tallest buildings up close.

First stop was One Bryant Park, the future world headquarters of Bank of America (or BOA as we somewhat fondly refer to them). Kitty-corner across Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street from Bryant Park, the soon-to-be second-tallest building in New York (if you're measuring to the tip of its antenna tower) is appropriately-scaled for an überbank HQ.

It gobbles about half the midtown block, reaching from 42nd to 43rd, and roughly halfway to 7th Avenue. I counted about 34 floors so far, leaving 19 to go. When finished, the roofline will will be nearly as high as the Chrysler Building, and its main antenna mast will hit 1,200 feet - 150 feet taller than Chrylser's. Its glass curtain walls appear cleaved off from an imaginary block, tapering inward as it rises; similar to the Freedom Tower but slightly more organic. The architect is Cook + Fox, a New York firm with a sharp yet tasteful modernist aesthetic. This is by far their largest project to date.

One Bryant Park / BOA Tower will be one of the greenest office buildings in America, achieving a vaunted "LEED Platinum" rating. According to skyscraperpage.com, it includes "a deep double-walled insulated facade, rooftop rain collection, filtered under-floor displacement air ventilation, a wind turbine, a 4.6-megawatt cogeneration plant, and a garden." The building is allegedly being built primarily of recycled materials.

Once topped-out, BOA Tower should enjoy its 'second-tallest' status while it can. It will be outdone in 2011 by the Freedom Tower (1,776 ft) and again in 2012 by 200 Greenwich Street (1,339 ft) - if that building comes to fruition.

Our next stop is just down 42nd Street, when we'll look at the new New York Times Tower...

One Bryant Park Construction Pics [Flickr]

skyscraperpage.com rendering and details

More renders and details on the LEEDS certification [nyc-architecture.com]