June 30, 2004

Rendering © dbox

Cook + Fox Architects Tuesday unveiled designs for the Bank of America Tower, which will be the second tallest building in New York City, and, the firm hopes, one of the most environmentally friendly tall structures in the U.S.

The 2.1 million square-foot, 945-foot skyscraper, located on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Street, will be made largely of glass, steel, and aluminum. Its form will be marked with large folds and vertical lines, helping change viewers’ perception as they walk around the building. The form, firm members point out, is also meant to reduce wind drag against building, particularly its upper portions.

The building’s green features build on principal Robert Fox’s (formerly of Fox & Fowle) experience with 4 Times Square, aka the Conde Nast Building, next door, which was at the time one of the “greenest” skyscrapers ever built. For instance daylight at Bank of America is increased with taller ceilings (up to a foot taller than most office buildings, which explains why the mammoth tower will only be 54 stories) and floor-to-ceiling windows, while an onsite co-generation plant will provide much of the building’s energy. Other green elements include LED lights, recyclable building materials, waterless urinals, a gray-water system to capture wastewater and rainwater, and under-floor displacement air ventilation that allows for air filtering and individual heat and air control.

An urban garden room will greet visitors on the lower levels, while the building will also incorporate a restored and reconstructed theater, the 1,000-seat Henry Miller Theater.

The building will house Bank of America’s offices on its lower half, and a number of future tenants on its upper floors. It is scheduled to break ground in August and open in 2008.

Sam Lubell

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