New York Times Building

The striking exterior of the 52-storey New York Times Building – completed in 2007 – features 175,000 identical white ceramic rods on which the iconic masthead of the newspaper is prominently displayed.

The tower is near Times Square in the city centre and was designed to be used both as a newsroom and offices. The building incorporates signage and sunshade into one custom screen system.

Brand: Benson

Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Fox & Fowle Architects

Client/building owner: Forest City Ratner Companies

Construction manager: AMEC Construction

The project

The concept

The New York Times Building features ‘ceramic’ rod screens that obscure each façade. The rods – actually made from alumina silicate which is used extensively in the HVAC industry for heating elements – are variably spaced to address interior lighting and view considerations. The rod curtain wall extends beyond the roof to finish the building in a lace-like crown of white.

What did we do?

Each rod involved the complex assembly of a continuous internal support and rubber gaskets at each end to protect the brittle nature of the material. The screen hangs 18 inches in front of the glazed curtain wall via stand-off brackets, created by extruding them from extra-large die shapes and milling them to simulate castings.

We incorporated The New York Times masthead into the shade screen on the west elevation, creating a 15-foot sign with black ‘beak-profile’ rod elements. Each length of signage rod was meticulously mapped, sized, fabricated and assembled onto the individual screen units.

Our scope also included a two-storey cafeteria space where the curtain wall is backed up by tall, double-plated perforated steel mullions and horizontals which carry the weight of the wall between concrete floor slabs.