The KPF-designed 30 Hudson Yards is deemed the tallest building of the Hudson Yards development, and opens today the observation deck Edge, with 360-degree views, on skyscraper overlooking the Hudson River, which, floating right at 345 meter high, will be the tallest observation deck in the Western Hemisphere.
Located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards, it will take visitors a 52 second elevator ride to reach the platform's over 2,300 square meter viewing area.
Nine-foot (over 3 meter) tall glass walls of angled glass allow viewers to "lean out over Manhattan." The sky deck also includes a glass floor to further exaggerate the intensity of the observation experience as the deck extends almost 25 meter (80 feet) from the face of the tower.
Initially, developers thought the observation deck could be a terrace, or perhaps an offshoot of one of the other floors. But the Edge is a design element unto itself—made up of 15 individual sections, linked and anchored to the building’s east and south exterior walls—creating an angular silhouette off of the preexisting tower. It’s as if 30 Hudson Yards is a tree that has sprouted a 7,500-square-foot branch.
Located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards, it will take visitors a 52 second elevator ride to reach the platform's over 2,300 square meter viewing area.
Nine-foot (over 3 meter) tall glass walls of angled glass allow viewers to "lean out over Manhattan." The sky deck also includes a glass floor to further exaggerate the intensity of the observation experience as the deck extends almost 25 meter (80 feet) from the face of the tower.
Initially, developers thought the observation deck could be a terrace, or perhaps an offshoot of one of the other floors. But the Edge is a design element unto itself—made up of 15 individual sections, linked and anchored to the building’s east and south exterior walls—creating an angular silhouette off of the preexisting tower. It’s as if 30 Hudson Yards is a tree that has sprouted a 7,500-square-foot branch.
“All of those glass pieces are slightly held apart so there’s enough space for a mobile phone camera to take a clear view... just enough so someone could put a camera through those cracks of glass.” The photo-friendly glass walls are 9 feet tall, and angled slightly for the daredevil who’d like to lean against them. Adds Marianne Kwok, director at KPF, the firm that designed 30 Hudson Yards: “We also wanted the glass to be as clear as possible so in the skyline at a distance, there’s this idea that you would see people floating on this platform because you don’t really see the glass at all.”
The Edge is open every day, year-round, from 8 a.m. to midnight. Tickets are now on sale through the Edge deck’s website. They are $36 for adults, $31 for kids, and $34 for seniors and New York residents.
