Hudson Yards Site C – or 555 West 38th Street – is a 55 story / 570-foot-tall residential skyscraper in Hudson Yards and one of the tallest construction projects in New York. The tower was designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and developed by Rockrose with SLCE as the architect of record. The property is located along Eleventh Avenue between West 38th Street and West 39th Street, directly across from the Jacob K. Javits Center.
CANY has long-standing working relationships with both Rockrose Corporation (8 years) and SLCE (20 years) and brings a wealth of experience in high-rise unitized curtain wall to this project. CANY has completed several large-scale curtain wall projects over the past ten years including the tallest tower in Long Island City.
As building envelope consultant, CANY’s scope included curtain wall design review / design-assist services, constructability review, construction document development including performance specifications, preconstruction performance mock-up, factory QA / QC inspection, CA Services, and Special Inspections. CANY played an integral role in researching viable Manufacturers who could provide a fully unitized curtain wall system for a project of this magnitude and meet the rigorous performance requirements. CANY worked closely with the Manufacturer’s Engineers in a design-assist capacity to develop a custom system that could not only achieve the Architect’s unique design but also accommodate the project-specific constructability challenges and budget.
The most significant challenge with this curtain wall was achieving very high thermal performance levels given the amount of clear vision glass that is incorporated into the system. New energy codes coupled with the recent adoption of LL97 which caps carbon emissions required sourcing ultra-high performance insulated glass as well as curtain wall Manufacturers who utilize very robust thermal breaks within their assemblies.
