Almost 25 years after the September 11 attacks devastated Lower Manhattan, the World Trade Center site’s rebuild is nearing completion. The new 2 World Trade Center skyscraper is due to begin construction soon and will serve as the headquarters for American Express.
The design for the 2 World Trade Center skyscraper has undergone some twists and turns over the years. First, Foster + Partners was hired to design it, before being dropped for BIG and its radical stepped vision. This was ultimately also nixed and Foster + Partners has been re-hired to come up with the current design. Judging from the renders, it will feature a chunky rectangular form with a glazed exterior broken up by three terraces and six corner gardens filled with greenery.
Foster + Partners
It will rise to a height of 1,226 ft (373.7 m), making it a bona fide supertall and around the 11th-tallest in the United States. The nearby One World Trade Center is the country’s tallest and reaches 1,776 ft (541 m). The interior, meanwhile, will span nearly two million square feet (almost 186,000 sq m) across 55 floors, most of which will be taken up by office space. It will have the capacity to host up to 10,000 office staff.
Although further details are still slim at this early stage, Amex also says that it will feature smart building tech, energy efficient systems, and will pursue the LEED green building standard.
“Moving forward with the final commercial office building at the World Trade Center marks an important milestone for this campus and for the region,” says Kevin O’Toole, Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “2 World Trade Center strengthens one of the country’s most significant centers of commerce and transportation and reflects the sustained focus required to advance projects of this scale.”
Foster + Partners
Construction is due to begin in the spring of 2026, and is expected to be fully completed in 2031. The skyscraper is being developed by Silverstein Properties.
Source: American Express
