50 Hudson Yards, a 78-story office building by Foster + Partners, has officially opened in New York,  in one of Manhattan areas with the most urban renovation and economic investment per square meter of the 21st century, between 34th Street and 33rd Street on the east side of the complex.

Covering an entire block, the tower is a skyscraper with a serene and almost Miesian image, which best dialogues with the urban fabric of Manhattan. It develops almost 270,000 square meters of office space while providing a host of commercial facilities and new public spaces at ground level. The building acts as a gateway to New York's vibrant new neighbourhood, offering a direct underground connection to the adjacent subway station. The LEED Gold-designed tower is an integral part of the Hudson Yards district.
50 Hudson Yards designed by Foster + Partners has a stepped envelope and structural elements with vertical strips that run up the facade clad in Viscount white stone.

Visitors enter the tower through the street edges and traverse the building from north to south, through lively public entrance lobbies with two large-scale artworks by Frank Stella.

Movement through the building is intuitive and efficient, with dedicated lobbies and private elevators for anchor tenants.  The design utilizes conventional, double-decker and twin elevators for the first time in a New York commercial office building. Floor-to-ceiling glazing and generous ceiling heights allow natural light to flood the office spaces.
 
“Our project is a response to the site within Hudson Yards, but its geometry also respects the wider context of the New York street grid. The innovative elevator strategy and unique space planning provide prime users of the tower with their own lobbies, exclusive access and separate identities.

Column-free floor plates and generous ceiling heights provide high-quality workspaces with maximum flexibility for change in the future. A purpose-built tunnel connects the building directly to the subway while the lobby floors are connected by a delicate feature stair from which one can enjoy both views of Hudson Yards and the large-scale work of art by Frank Stella.”
Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners.
 


50 Hudson Yards building by Foster + Partners. Photograph by Nigel Young / Foster + Partners.


50 Hudson Yards building by Foster + Partners. Photograph by Nigel Young / Foster + Partners.
 

Project description by Foster + Partners

50 Hudson Yards is a 78-story office building in New York. Covering an entire block, the tower is a distinctive piece of the city that mindfully sits within New York’s urban grid.  It contains almost 3 million square feet of flexible office space while providing an abundance of retail facilities and new public spaces at ground level. The building acts as a gateway to New York’s vibrant new neighbourhood, offering a direct underground connection to the adjacent subway station. The LEED Gold-designed tower forms an integral part of the Hudson Yards district.  

The office tower gives back to the city with new shops, restaurants, bike parking and transport connections at street level. Its lively public entrance lobbies are animated by two large-scale artworks by Frank Stella, which celebrate the creative heritage of the city and draw people into the building.

Movement through the building is intuitive and efficient, with dedicated lobbies and private elevators for anchor tenants. Visitors enter the tower through the activated street edges and traverse through the building from north to south. The design utilizes conventional, double-decker and twin elevators for the first time in a New York commercial office building. Floor-to-ceiling glazing and generous ceiling heights allow natural light to flood the office spaces, enhancing employee well-being.

The tower offers panoramic views of Manhattan, with the Hudson River to the west and the Empire State Building to the east. A communal amenity on the 32nd floor features a variety of meeting and event spaces. The top of the tower features a domed stainless-steel lighting installation, designed in collaboration with Jamie Carpenter, which catches the light during the day and illuminates the building at night. The expressed structural elements of the building are clad in Viscount White stone which was carefully chosen for the project.

More information

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Architects
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Project team
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Luis Fuentes Arambula.
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Collaborators
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Collaborating Architect.- Adamson Associates Architects.
Structural Engineer.- WSP.
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Client
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Related Companies.
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Area
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269,410m².
Height.-291m.
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Dates
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First design.- 2014.
Appointment.- 2016.
Completion.- 2022.
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Photography
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Norman Robert Foster (Reddish, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, 1 June 1935) is a British architect, founder of Foster + Partners, and one of the leading figures in contemporary architecture. His career is closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, structural innovation, and the integration of environmental considerations into buildings and infrastructure.

He studied architecture and urban planning at the University of Manchester, graduating in 1961. He subsequently received a Henry Fellowship to continue his education at Yale University in the United States, where he earned a master's degree in architecture and met Richard Rogers. In 1963, he co-founded Team 4 with Rogers, Su Rogers, Georgie Wolton, and Wendy Cheesman. Following the group's dissolution, he established Foster Associates in London in 1967 with Wendy Cheesman. The practice was later renamed Foster + Partners and is now headquartered in London, with offices worldwide.

His early work explored technological innovation, prefabrication, and spatial flexibility, influenced in part by his collaboration with Richard Buckminster Fuller. Notable early projects include the Willis Faber & Dumas headquarters in Ipswich (1975) and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich (1978). His international reputation grew with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation headquarters in Hong Kong (1985), Stansted Airport in London (1991), and the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt (1997).

His career encompasses architecture, urban planning, and infrastructure projects across numerous countries. Among his best-known works are the reconstruction of the Reichstag in Berlin (1999), the Great Court of the British Museum (2000), the Millennium Bridge (2000), and London City Hall (2002). Other major projects include the Bilbao Metro, Canary Wharf Underground Station, 30 St Mary Axe in London (2004), the Millau Viaduct in France (2004), the Hearst Tower in New York (2006), Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport (2008), Apple Park in Cupertino (2017), and Bloomberg's European headquarters in London (2017).

Alongside his architectural practice, Foster has pursued research and educational initiatives focused on the future of cities. In 1999, he established the Norman Foster Foundation, whose headquarters opened in Madrid in 2017. The foundation promotes interdisciplinary research in architecture, urbanism, technology, and infrastructure, preserves his professional archive, and develops international educational programmes. In 2024, the Norman Foster Institute began its academic activities, focusing on the study of sustainable cities.

His numerous honours include the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (1983), the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1994), the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1999), the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture (2002), and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts (2009). He was knighted in 1990 and appointed a life peer in 1999, taking the title Lord Foster of Thames Bank.

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Published on: October 22, 2022
Cite:
metalocus, ADELA BONAS
"50 Hudson Yards building, by Foster + Partners, opens in New York " METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/50-hudson-yards-building-foster-partners-opens-new-york> ISSN 1139-6415
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