Structural Glazing

STRUCTURES ASSIGNMENT 3A
THE NEW YORK TIMES BUILDIN

RENZO PIANO
RUDRA SAHAI
YASHU NANDAN GUPTA
GENERAL INFORMATION
Located a few blocks away from the Times' original home in Times Square,
the new 52-story building stands 744 ft from the sidewalk to the roof. The
façade extends above the roof in a marriage between form and function,
completing the concept of a transparent building disappearing into the sky,
while also hiding rooftop mechanical equipment.
A 300-ft-high steel mast extends above the roof, topping the overall structure
out at 1,048 ft and making it the third tallest building in New York City at the
time of its completion.
The New York Times Company occupies the lower 27 floors, while business
partner Forest City Ratner Companies developed the upper floors of the
building.
The footprint of the building exhibits an elongated cruciform shape in plan.

The steel braced-frame core of the building is 65 ft in the east-west direction
by 90 ft in the north-south direction. The tight layout of the core allowed for
wide 40-ft spans on the west and east sides of the building. At the mid-level
and upper-level mechanical floors, double story outrigger diagonal braces
extend from the core to the perimeter columns, allowing all columns to
participate in the lateral stiffness of the building.
DOUBLE SKIN CURTAIN WALL
The use of floor-to-ceiling glass maximizes light and views for people inside and
outside the building. The horizontal white ceramic rods on the building facade,
which are spaced to allow occupants to have unobstructed views while both
seated and standing, act as an aesthetic veil and a sun shade. They are made of
aluminium silicate, an extremely dense and high-quality ceramic chosen for its
durability and cost-effectiveness.
Glazed with a finish similar to the material used on terra cotta to reflect light,
self-clean, and resist weather, the rods change colour with the sun and
weather.
Additionally, the automated louver shades move in response to the position of

the sun and inputs from sensors, blocking light to reduce glare or allowing it to
enter at times of less direct sunlight. The moveable shades reduce energy
consumption about 13% by reducing solar heat gain by 30%
Glazing detail in plan
Floor plan
TRANSPARENCY
Piano’s principal objective in the design of the New York Times Building was
to reflect the ideals of journalists in being open and
transparent to the world on which they report. Piano envisioned a
light, transparent building in which the outside world could watch the
newsroom at work and the building’s inhabitants could connect—and
share natural light—with the city.
The building’s curtain wall system is a primary component in achieving this
vision. The system consists of an inner clear glass wall that allows abundant
natural light to imbue the workspace. An outer screen wall of closely spaced
ceramic rods helps diffuse the light efficiently by eliminating excess heat and
glare.
In concert with the transparent curtain wall system, the steel superstructure
is exposed in four corners of the building, giving the impression that the
building is so transparent that its skeleton is visible.
While the New York City Planning Commission allowed some flexibility, the
Times’ sign still needed to be very large and physically attached to the
building. So the design team began exploring ways to piggyback it onto the
curtain wall, which is comprised of 170,000 ceramic rods, each 15-in. in
diameter. (The rods were manufactured by a Leipzig, Germany, company that
makes ceramic sewer pipes and the curtain wall was built by Benson Global,
Portland, Ore.)
In addition to providing critical sun shading, the ceramic rods create a unique diaphanous skin that
defines the character of the building. The white rods reflect external environmental
conditions, altering colour with the changing sky – gray in overcast weather, bright white in midday sun,
orange and pink as the sun rises and sets.
The new building is promoted as a green structure. The design incorporates numerous environmentally
sustainable features for increased energy efficiency. The double skin curtain wall, automated louver
shading system, dimmable lighting system, underfloor air distribution system and cogeneration are the
main sustainable design features.
CURTAIN WALL
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
Before steel and reinforced concrete became common building One of the major disadvantages of curtain walls is the need for
materials, a building's facade typically supported the load of the regular maintenance. In order to keep out moisture and wind, a
whole structure. sealant must be applied to the perimeter, and this sealant must be
replaced every 10 years or so.
One major advantage of today's curtain wall is that it can be
constructed from much lighter materials like glass, which allows for Another major disadvantage of curtain walls is the cost and time
the filtration of natural light into the building. required to install them. Curtain walls utilizing the stick system, for
example, require a great deal of time to assemble, and their
In addition to preventing air and moisture from entering the performance depends on the quality of the installation.
building, curtain walls can also act as a fire stop, slowing or
preventing the spread of fire between floors of the building. Unitized curtain walls consist of factory-assembled frames which
reduces installation time and cost but incurs greater costs for
shipping and storage.

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STRUCTURES ASSIGNMENT 3A

THE NEW YORK TIMES BUILDIN

The footprint of the building exhibits an elongated cruciform shape in plan.

Additionally, the automated louver shades move in response to the position of

Glazing detail in plan

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