One World Trade Center

Skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

(28 mechanical)
| references =
| observatory = 1268 feet (386 m)
| main contractor = Tishman Construction
| image caption = One World Trade Center from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
| topped out date = 2013 05 10
| logo = One WTC logo. svg
| logo size = 200px
| opened = 2014 11 032015 05 29 (One World Observatory)
| developer = Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The building has 94 stories, with the top floor numbered 104. The new World Trade Center complex will eventually include five high rise office buildings built along Greenwich Street, as well as the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, located just south of One World Trade Center where the original Twin Towers stood. The construction of the new building is part of an effort to memorialize and rebuild following the destruction of the original World Trade Center complex.

At 8:46 a. m. (EDT) on September 11, 2001, five hijackers affiliated with al Qaeda crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower between the 93rd and 99th floors. Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03 a. m. (EDT), a second group of five terrorists crashed the hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 into the southern facade of the South Tower, striking between the 77th and 85th floors. By 9:59 a. m. (EDT), the South Tower collapsed after burning for approximately 56 minutes. After burning for 102 minutes, the North Tower collapsed due to structural failure at 10:28 a. m. (EDT). When the North Tower collapsed, debris fell on the nearby 7 World Trade Center, damaging it and starting fires. The fires burned for hours, compromising the building's structural integrity. Seven World Trade Center collapsed at 5:21 p. m. (EDT). Together with a simultaneous attack on the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a failed plane hijacking that resulted in a plane crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people (2,507 civilians, 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel, and the 19 hijackers). More than 90% of the workers and visitors who died in the towers had been at or above the points of impact. In the North Tower, 1,355 people at or above the point of impact were trapped, and died of smoke inhalation, fell, jumped from the tower to escape the smoke and flames, or were killed when the building eventually collapsed. One stairwell in the South Tower, Stairwell A, somehow avoided complete destruction, unlike the rest of the building. When Flight 11 hit, all three staircases in the North Tower above the impact zone were destroyed, making it impossible for anyone above the impact zone to escape. 107 people below the point of impact also died. The proposals were part of a larger plan to memorialize the September 11 attacks and rebuild the complex. Already the site was becoming a tourist attraction; in the year following the attacks the Ground Zero site became the most visited place in the United States. On September 10, 2002, the Viewing Wall, a temporary display containing information about the attacks and listing the names of the dead, opened to the public. When the public rejected the first round of designs, a second, more open competition took place in December 2002, in which a design by Daniel Libeskind was selected as the winner in February 2003. Other designs were submitted by Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey, and Steven Holl; William Pedersen; and Foster and Partners. Peter Walker and Michael Arad's "Reflecting Absence" proposal was selected as the site's 9/11 Memorial in January 2004. In 2002, former New York Governor George Pataki faced accusations of cronyism for supposedly using his influence to get the winning architect's design picked as a personal favor for his friend and campaign contributor, Ronald Lauder. A final design for the "Freedom Tower" was formally unveiled on June 28, 2005. To address security issues raised by the New York City Police Department, a 187 feet (57 m) concrete base was added to the design in April of that year. The design originally included plans to clad the base in glass prisms in order to address criticism that the building might have looked uninviting and resembled a "concrete bunker". However, the prisms were later found to be unworkable, as preliminary testing revealed that the prismatic glass easily shattered into large and dangerous shards. As a result, it was replaced by a simpler facade consisting of stainless steel panels and blast resistant glass. Contrasting with Libeskind's original plan, the tower's final design tapers octagonally as it rises. Its designers stated that the tower would be a "monolithic glass structure reflecting the sky and topped by a sculpted antenna." In 2006, Larry Silverstein commented on a planned completion date: "By 2012 we should have a completely rebuilt World Trade Center, more magnificent, more spectacular than it ever was." On April 26, 2006, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved a conceptual framework that allowed foundation construction to begin. A formal agreement was drafted the following day, the 75th anniversary of the 1931 opening of the Empire State Building. Construction began in May; a formal groundbreaking ceremony took place when the first construction team arrived.

The symbolic cornerstone of One World Trade Center was laid in a ceremony on July 4, 2004. The stone had an inscription supposedly written by Arthur J. Finkelstein. Construction was delayed until 2006 due to disputes over money, security, and design. Soon after, explosives were detonated at the construction site for two months to clear bedrock for the building's foundation, onto which of concrete was poured by November 2007. In a December 18, 2006, ceremony held in nearby Battery Park City, members of the public were invited to sign the first 30 feet (9 m) steel beam installed onto the building's base. It was welded onto the building's base on December 19, 2006. Foundation and steel installation began shortly afterward, so the tower's footings and foundation were nearly complete within a year. An estimate in February 2007 placed the initial construction cost of One World Trade Center at about $3 billion, or
In January 2008, two cranes were moved onto the site. Construction of the tower's concrete core, which began after the cranes arrived, An advanced "cocoon" scaffolding system was installed to protect workers from falling, and was the first such safety system installed on a steel structure in the city. The tower reached 52 floors and was over 600 feet (183 m) tall by December 2010. The tower's steel frame was halfway complete by then, but grew to 80 floors by the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, at which time its concrete flooring had reached 68 floors and the glass cladding had reached 54 floors. In 2009, the Port Authority changed the official name of the building from "Freedom Tower" to "One World Trade Center", stating that this name was the "easiest for people to identify with." The "Freedom Tower" name had also been subject to ridicule on programs like Saturday Night Live. The name change also served a practical purpose: real estate agents believed that it would be easier to lease space in a building with a traditional street address. Mass media company Condé Nast became One WTC's anchor tenant in May 2011, leasing and relocating from 4 Times Square. While under construction, the tower was specially illuminated on several occasions. For example, it was lit in red, white, and blue for Independence Day and the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and it was illuminated in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The tower's loading dock could not be finished in time to move equipment into the completed building, so five temporary loading bays were added at a cost of millions of dollars. The temporary PATH station was not to be removed until its official replacement, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, was completed, blocking access to the planned loading area. Chadbourne & Parke, a Midtown Manhattan based law firm, was supposed to lease in January 2012, but the deal was abruptly canceled that March.

By March 2012, One WTC's steel structure had reached 93 stories, growing to the 94th story (labeled as floor 100) and 1240 feet (378 m) by the end of the month. The Port Authority raised prices for bridge and tunnel tolls to raise funds, with a 56 percent toll increase scheduled between 2011 and 2015; however, the proceeds of these increases were not used to pay for the tower's construction. The still incomplete tower became New York City's tallest building by roof height in April 2012, passing the 1250 feet (381 m) roof height of the Empire State Building. President Barack Obama visited the construction site two months later and wrote, on a steel beam that would be hoisted to the top of the tower, the sentence "We remember, we rebuild, we come back stronger!" That same month, with the tower's structure nearing completion, the owners of the building began a public marketing campaign for the building, seeking to attract visitors and tenants. One World Trade Center's steel structure topped out at the 94th physical story (numbered as floor 104), with a total height of the roof top at 1368 feet (417 m), in August 2012. The tower's spire was then shipped from Quebec to New York in November 2012, following a series of delays. and was installed on January 15, 2013. By March 2013, two sections of the spire had been installed. Bad weather delayed the delivery of the final pieces. On May 10, 2013, the final piece of the spire was lifted to the top of One WTC, bringing the tower to its full height of 1776 feet (541 m), and making it the fourth tallest building in the world at the time. In subsequent months, the exterior elevator shaft was removed; the podium glass, interior decorations, and other finishes were being installed; and installation of concrete flooring and steel fittings was completed. announcement that One World Trade Center was the tallest building in the United States, declaring that the mast on top of the building is a spire since it is a permanent part of the building's architecture. The building was also the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.

On November 1, 2014, moving trucks started moving items for Condé Nast. The New York Times noted that the area around the World Trade Center had transitioned from a financial area to one with technology firms, residences, and luxury shops, coincident with the building of the new tower. The building opened on November 3, 2014, and Condé Nast employees moved into 24 floors. Condé Nast occupied floors 20 to 44, having completed its move in early 2015. and GQ. On November 12, 2014, shortly after the building opened supporting wire rope cables of a suspended working platform slacked, trapping a two man window washing team. During the late 2010s, the Durst Organization leased most of the remaining vacant space. The tower reached 92 percent occupancy just before the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic in New York City in 2020. This led Advance Publications, parent company of Conde Nast, to start withholding rent payments in January 2021. By March 2021, Condé Nast had filed plans to reduce the amount of office space that it leased. After a prolonged impasse, Condé Nast agreed in late 2021 to pay almost $10 million in back rent. In December 2021, the New York Liberty Development Corporation announced that it would refinance 1 WTC with a $700 million bond issue. The money from this bond issue would be used to retire the debt from the building's last refinancing in 2012. By March 2022, the building was 95 percent leased, a higher percentage than before the COVID 19 pandemic. One WTC's vacancy rate was half that of the city as a whole; its high occupancy rate contrasted with that of the original Twin Towers, which had never reached full occupancy until just before the September 11 attacks.

Many of Daniel Libeskind's original concepts from the 2002 competition were discarded from the tower's final design. One World Trade Center's final design consisted of simple symmetries and a more traditional profile, intended to compare with selected elements of the contemporary New York skyline. The tower's central spire draws from previous buildings, such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It also visually resembles the original Twin Towers, rather than being an off center spire similar to the Statue of Liberty. Just south of the new One World Trade Center is the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which is located where the original Twin Towers stood. Immediately to the east is World Trade Center Transportation Hub and the new Two World Trade Center site. To the north is 7 World Trade Center, and to the west is Brookfield Place.

Like other buildings in the new World Trade Center complex, One World Trade Center includes sustainable architecture features. Much of the building's structure and interior is built from recycled materials, including gypsum boards and ceiling tiles; around 80 percent of the tower's waste products are recycled. Although the roof area of any tower is limited, the building implements a rainwater collection and recycling scheme for its cooling systems. The building's PureCell phosphoric acid fuel cells generate 4.8 megawatts (MW) of power, and its waste steam generates electricity. The New York Power Authority selected UTC Power to provide the tower's fuel cell system, which was one of the largest fuel cell installations in the world once completed. The tower also makes use of off site hydroelectric and wind power. The windows are made of an ultra clear glass, which allows maximum sunlight to pass through; the interior lighting is equipped with dimmers that automatically dim the lights on sunny days, reducing energy costs. One World Trade Center received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification, making it one of the most environmentally sustainable skyscrapers in the world.

Along with the protection provided by the reinforced concrete base, a number of other safety features were included in the building's design, so that it would be prepared for a major accident or terrorist attack. Like 7 World Trade Center, the building has 3 feet (1 m) thick reinforced concrete walls in all stairwells, elevator shafts, risers, and sprinkler systems. There are also extra wide, pressurized stairwells, along with a dedicated set of stairwells exclusively for the use of firefighters, and biological and chemical filters throughout the ventilation system. In comparison, the original Twin Towers used a purely steel central core to house utility functions, protected only by lightweight drywall panels. The building is no longer 25 feet (8 m) away from West Street, as the Twin Towers were; at its closest point, West Street is 65 feet (20 m) away. Before the World Trade Center site was fully completed, the plaza was not completely opened to the public, as the original World Trade Center plaza was. The initial stage of the opening process began on Thursday, May 15, 2014, when the "Interim Operating Period" of the National September 11 Memorial ended. During this period, all visitors were required to undergo airport style security screening as part of the "Interim Operating Period", which was expected to end on December 31, 2013. Screening did not fully end until the official dedication and opening of the museum on May 21, 2014, after which visitors were allowed to use the plaza without needing passes. The 185 feet (56 m) tall base corners were originally designed to gently slope upward and have prismatic glass. Each fin measures 13 feet (4 m) tall and is placed upon a grid of horizontal stainless steel strips measuring wide. SOM strongly criticized the change, and Childs said: "Eliminating this integral part of the building's design and leaving an exposed antenna and equipment is unfortunate We stand ready to work with the Port on an alternate design." Foye changed the Port Authority's position, and the radome was removed from the plans. In 2012, Douglas Durst gave a statement regarding the final decision: "(the antenna) is going to be mounted on the building over the summer. There's no way to do anything at this point." The tower's spire brings it to a pinnacle height of 1776 feet (541 m), a figure intended to symbolize the year 1776, when the United States Declaration of Independence was signed. When the spire is included in the building's height, as stated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), One World Trade Center surpasses the height of Taipei 101 (1671 feet (509 m)), is the world's tallest all office building, and the seventh tallest skyscraper in the world as of 2023, behind the Burj Khalifa, Merdeka 118, Shanghai Tower, Abraj Al Bait, Ping An Finance Centre and Lotte World Tower. One World Trade Center is the second tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere, as the CN Tower in Toronto exceeds One World Trade Center's pinnacle height by approximately 40 feet (12 m). The Chicago Spire, with a planned height of 2000 feet (610 m), was expected to exceed the height of One World Trade Center, but its construction was canceled due to financial difficulties in 2009. After design changes for One World Trade Center's spire were revealed in May 2012, there were questions as to whether the 407.9 feet (124 m) tall structure would still qualify as a spire, and thus be included in the building's height. Since the tower's spire is not enclosed in a radome as originally planned, it could be classified as a simple antenna, which is not included in a building's height, according to the CTBUH. Upon completion, the building became the tallest in New York City with the antenna, but its roof was surpassed in 2015 by 432 Park Avenue, which topped out at 1396 feet (426 m) high. One World Trade Center's developers had disputed the claim that the spire should be reclassified as an antenna following the redesign, with Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman reiterating that "One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere." They were convicted of several misdemeanors in June 2015 and sentenced to community service and a fine. In March 2014, tower security was breached by 16 year old Weehawken, New Jersey resident Justin Casquejo, who entered the site through a hole in a fence. He was arrested on trespassing charges. After the incident, a guard was fired and an elevator operator was reassigned. It was then revealed that officials had failed to install security cameras in the tower, which facilitated Casquejo's entry to the site. Casquejo was sentenced to 23 days of community service as a result.

When the building was completed, The New York Times architectural critic Michael Kimmelman wrote that "its mirrored exterior is opaque, shellacked, monomaniacal" and that the building looked the same from each compass direction. Kimmelman felt that the building implied "a metropolis bereft of fresh ideas" and disliked the symbolic height of 1368 feet (417 m), which he saw as "abrupt". Another critic, Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune, called it "a bold but flawed giant" whose antenna was inferior compared with the spires of the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building. Yet another writer, for Architect magazine, viewed the building as bland even when it was being constructed. Architectural Digest called it "a symbol of strength, resilience, and hope" in 2021. The fortified base of the tower has been a source of controversy. Some critics, including Deroy Murdock of the National Review, have said that it is alienating and dull, and reflects a sense of fear rather than freedom, leading them to dub the building "the Fear Tower". Nicolai Ouroussoff, the architecture critic for The New York Times, calls the tower base a "grotesque attempt to disguise its underlying paranoia". There were also controversies over the proposed reconstruction of Windows on the World, Despite numerous assurances that these attractions would be rebuilt, the Port Authority scrapped plans to rebuild them, which has outraged some observers.

One World Trade Center is principally owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Around 5 percent equity of the building was sold to the Durst Organization, a private real estate company, in exchange for an investment of at least $100 million. The Durst Organization assisted in supervising the building's construction, and manages the building for the Port Authority, having responsibility for leasing, property management, and tenant installations. By September 2012, around 55 percent of the building's floor space had been leased, the amount of space leased had gone up to 62.8 percent by November 2014. In 2006, the State of New York agreed to a 15 year lease, with an option to extend the lease's term and occupy up to The General Services Administration (GSA) initially agreed to a lease of around In April 2008, the Port Authority announced that it was seeking a bidder to operate the observation deck on the tower's 102nd floor; in 2013, Legends Hospitality Management agreed to operate the observatory in a 15 year, $875 million contract. The building's first lease, a joint project between the Port Authority and Beijing based Vantone Industrial, was announced on March 28, 2009. A "China Center", combining business and cultural facilities, that would be planned between floors 64 and 69; it is intended to represent Chinese business and cultural links to the United States, and to serve American companies that wish to conduct business in China. Vantone Industrial's lease is for 20 years and 9 months. In April 2011, a new interior design for the China Center was unveiled, featuring a vertical "Folding Garden", based on a proposal by the Chinese artist Zhou Wei. In September 2015, China Center agreed to reduce the leased space to a single floor. On August 3, 2010, Condé Nast Publications signed a tentative agreement to move the headquarters and offices for its magazines into One World Trade Center, occupying up to of floor space. On May 17, 2011, Condé Nast reached a final agreement with the Port Authority, securing a 25 year lease with an estimated value of $2 billion. On May 25, 2011, Condé Nast finalized the lease contract, obtaining of office space between floors 20–41 and of usable space in the podium and below grade floors. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, Condé Nast subleased some of its space to other companies. This included Ambac Financial Group in March 2019; Ennead Architects in April 2019; and Constellation Agency and Reddit in 2021. In August 2014, Servcorp signed a 15 year lease for on the 85th floor. Servcorp subsequently subleased all of its space on the 85th floor as private offices, boardrooms and co working space to numerous medium sized businesses such as ThinkCode, D100 Radio, and Chérie L'Atelier des Fleurs.

Larry Silverstein of Silverstein Properties, the leaseholder and developer of the complex, retains control of the surrounding buildings, while the Port Authority has full control of the tower itself. Silverstein signed a 99 year lease for the World Trade Center site in July 2001, and remains actively involved in most aspects of the site's redevelopment process. Before construction of the new tower began, Silverstein was involved in an insurance dispute regarding the tower. The terms of the lease agreement signed in 2001, a $3.22 billion bid to lease purchase the World Trade Center, of which Silverstein personally put up $14 million, gave Silverstein, as leaseholder, the right and obligation to rebuild the structures if they were destroyed. After the September 11 attacks, there were a series of disputes between Silverstein and insurance companies concerning the insurance policies that covered the original towers; this resulted in the construction of One World Trade Center being delayed. After a trial, a verdict was rendered on April 29, 2004. The verdict was that ten of the insurers involved in the dispute were subject to the "one occurrence" interpretation, so their liability was limited to the face value of those policies. Three insurers were added to the second trial group. At that time, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on one insurer, Swiss Reinsurance, but it did so several days later on May 3, 2004, finding that this company was also subject to the "one occurrence" interpretation. Silverstein appealed the Swiss Reinsurance decision, but the appeal failed on October 19, 2006. The second trial resulted in a verdict on December 6, 2004. The jury determined that nine insurers were subject to the "two occurrences" interpretation, referring to the fact that two different planes had destroyed the towers during the September 11 attacks. They were therefore liable for a maximum of double the face value of those particular policies ($2.2 billion). The highest potential payout was $4.577 billion, for buildings 1, 2, 4, and 5. In March 2007, Silverstein appeared at a rally of construction workers and public officials outside an insurance industry conference. He highlighted what he described as the failures of insurers Allianz and Royal & Sun Alliance to pay $800 million in claims related to the attacks. Insurers state that an agreement to split payments between Silverstein and the Port Authority is a cause for concern.

David Childs, one of Silverstein's favorite architects, joined the project after being urged by him. Childs developed a design for One World Trade Center, initially collaborating with Daniel Libeskind. In May 2005, Childs revised the design to address security concerns. He is the architect of the tower, and is responsible for overseeing its day to day design and development. Architect Daniel Libeskind won the invitational competition to develop a plan for the new tower in 2002. He gave a proposal, which he called "Memory Foundations", for the design of One World Trade Center. His design included aerial gardens, windmills, and off center spire. Libeskind later denied a request to place the tower in a more rentable location next to the PATH station. He instead placed it another block west, as it would then line up with, and resemble, the Statue of Liberty. Most of Libeskind's original designs were later scrapped, and other architects were chosen to design the other WTC buildings. However, one element of Libeskind's initial plan was included in the final design – the tower's symbolic height of 1776 feet (541 m). Daniel R. Tishman – along with his father John Tishman, builder of the original World Trade Center – led the construction team from Tishman Realty & Construction, the selected builder for One World Trade Center. Douglas and Jody Durst, the co presidents of the Durst Organization, a real estate development company, won the right to invest at least $100 million in the project on July 7, 2010. In August 2010, Condé Nast, a long time Durst tenant, confirmed a tentative deal to move into One World Trade Center, and finalized the deal on May 26, 2011. The contract negotiated between the Port Authority and the Durst Organization specifies that the Durst Organization will receive a $15 million fee, and a percentage of "base building changes that result in net economic benefit to the project". The specifics of the signed contract give Durst 75 percent of savings up to $24 million, stepping down to 50, 25, and 15 percent as savings increase. However, further analysis of the work site showed that dozens of construction related injuries had occurred at the site during the construction of One World Trade Center, including 34 not reported to the U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Workers left post 9/11 related graffiti at the site, which are meant to symbolize rebirth and resilience.