For this project, seele carried out the three free-form roof structures with an aluminium-glass skin above the structural steelwork.
The roof over the train hall is formed by four 16m wide curving barrel vaults that cover a total area of about 3,000sqm. Restaurants and retail surround a hall with an area of 1,044sqm at the midblock entrances, underneath one of the smaller of the project’s glass roofs. The third roof structure, the Farley Skylight, has a surface of approx. 390sqm and a lower inside micrometer.
The roof structures join up with the existing steel structure and consist of a gridshell of welded steel T-sections with tensioned cables. Separate aluminium-and-glass elements are fitted into the gridshell structure. A total of 3,384 insulating glass units and 670t of steel were required for the structures.
seele’s contract also included the design and build of two true to scale mock-ups, which were required for visual and performance tests and were completed in 2018.
Every component and element at Moynihan Train Hall is a one-off. Such diversification required highly precise planning and execution right across design, production, logistics and installation.
Header image: Lucas Blair Simpson © Empire State Development I SOM
