New York – the city that hardly sleeps. Hectic, pulsating and fast moving, it holds up only exceptionally. Nothing is allowed to come to a standstill, 24/7 is the bottom line for everything: Business, entertainment, transport and culture. To be successful here, you have to adapt to the rhythm of the 8-million metropolis: for decades HOCHTIEF’s subsidiary Turner has been mastering the most breathtaking New York projects with innovative technologies—often under extreme conditions, under ongoing operations and subject to tight time schedules.
On this page
The New Yankee Stadium
Fans call the New Yankee Stadium “The Cathedral of Baseball.” It was completed in 2009 by Turner after roughly three years’ construction time. Tishman Speyer, who built the trade fair tower in Frankfurt together with HOCHTIEF, commissioned Turner to build the new home stadium of the New York Yankees in the Bronx. Very important with regard to this: the new prefabricated external facade. With its granite veneer and copper frieze, it invokes memories of the previous building, dating from 1923.
The project at a glance:
Client: New York Yankees
Developer: Tishman Speyer
Completion: 2009
It’s all about team play
Turner considers Yankee Stadium one of its first-generation BIM technology (Building Information Modeling) projects of this size. The team configured the 3D model of the steel frame and the external wall long before material production.
With the BIM application, Turner Construction Company’s team identified constructability issues during planning. This includes, for instance, pipeline routes which do not fit with each other. In response to this, the team developed a cooperative approach with architects and engineers: The result involved a joint solution, in order to retain the aesthetics of the new stadium.
In the year the stadium was completed, McGraw Hill Publications designated it as “Project of the Year” in New York’s construction industry.
Joe Byrne, Vice President and Senior Operations Manager at Turner, recalls the dynamics of the work:
“We put so much enthusiasm into this project. This enabled us to motivate the community of subcontractors to also work with BIM. At first they all regarded it as additional costs. But at the end of the work they all said that we save money through using it and are able to work more efficiently. One could say: We have used this exciting project in order to take New York City’s construction community to the BIM world of tomorrow.”
Joe Byrne, Vice President and Senior Operations Manager at Turner
Jazz at Lincoln Center
With Jazz at Lincoln Center, Turner has created a pulsating center for jazz in the heart of New York. The world’s first concert hall specially for jazz performances consists of three different sized event rooms—designed and equipped with sophisticated technology for unspoilt acoustic enjoyment, such as the “Box in the Box” construction. The particular cultural importance for the city is not to be underestimated: Since the 1940s all important styles of jazz have evolved in New York. Director Wynton Marsalis, one of the world’s best jazz trumpeters, is now continuing this history with his House of Swing.
The project at a glance:
Client: Jazz at Lincoln Center
Performers: the world-famous jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest performers from various different genres and generations
Completion: 2004
“Let’s keep that legacy alive.”
The 14,000-square-meter large jazz hall, consisting of three performance spaces: the Frederick P. Rose Theater as primary concert hall; the Allen Room with a view of Central Park; Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, an intimate jazz lounge.
The freely accessible Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Lawn causes a sensation with its breathtaking form.
The Whitney Museum of American Art
Hurricane Sandy Altered Plans
“Hurricane Sandy changes plans for the new Whitney Museum”—these were the headlines in 2012 as the storm Sandy caused huge flooding directly next to the construction site of the Art Museum next to the Hudson River. Quick rethinking was required, and creative work on “Plan B” began: after refurbishment of the site, Turner and HOCHTIEF now planned a fortress-style system, which has set a new standard in flood protection and museum design. Know-how born out of necessity turned the art museum into one of the most flood-proof built structures in New York.
The project at a glance:
Architects: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Cooper Robertson
Completion: 2014
In the exhibition: more than 25,000 works from 3,500 American artists
The eight-story Whitney Museum of American Art has the biggest column-free gallery in New York City.
It provides more than 1,700 square meters of open exhibition space.
Here the whole spectrum of 20th and 21st Century American art is presented and preserved.
After refurbishment of the construction site, Turner—together with support from HOCHTIEF—built a flood protection system with a floodgate weighing more than seven tons, 27 feet wide and 14 feet high.
The Spiral
Hanging gardens for a greener skyline
With its surrounding green garden, which winds up into the sky, The Spiral is currently the most sophisticated and most breathtaking high-rise building under construction in Manhattan. The 65-story-building was designed by the Danish architects’ office Bjarke Ingels Group. The extraordinary architecture of the high-rise will enhance the New York Skyline with a real “green building”.
The project at a glance:
Developer: Tishman Speyer
Architects: Bjarke Ingels Group
Starting date: 2018 (under construction)
Opening planned: 2022
With The Spiral star architect Bjarke Ingels developed sustainable architecture, like there has never been before: With a lot of spirit Ingels presents “his” spiral made of hanging gardens and green terraces projects the famous Highline Park into the sky.
Not only Joe Byrne, Vice President and Senior Operations Manager at Turner Construction, is enthusiastic about building the new landmark:
"All our employees want to work on this project. Everyone knocks on my door. It is a famous building, a great location. When you work for such a project right from the outset, after completion you are light years ahead of your colleagues, because you have worked on such a great, complex, fast-moving and complex project. When you have finished, you are a well-respected tower builder. And in New York that is a really presentable qualification."
Second Avenue Subway 96th Street
By Bus Through New York? For tourists, this is perhaps the first choice, but for residents of Upper East Side it has long been just a time-consuming nuisance: Turner and E.E.Cruz participated in the project which resulted in saving an enormous amount of time for residents and providing a new hot spot for tourists: The stations are fitted with works of art from renowned American artists.
The project at a glance:
Artists: Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz und Jean Shin
Completion: 2017
New York’s Long Awaited Second Avenue Subway
The new line built by Turner and E.E.Cruz now makes daily commuting a modern art experience . The subway passes through stations which display remarkable works of art by Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz and Jean Shin. In 2018, the project won the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Salt storage
If NYC is hit by the infamous snowstorms, then the architecturally impressive salt storage depot is in demand: The deicing salt reserves are stored here, which snowplows use to keep city traffic moving round the clock. The salt storage depot, which is over 21 meters high, was completed by Turner in 2016. Its exterior is a highlight as popular photo motif, even outside the winter season.
The project at a glance:
Architect: Dattner Architekten, WXY
Completion: 2015
An Eye-catcher—Not Just in Winter
The salt storage depot located directly above the Holland Tunnel in NYC can hold up to 5,000 tons of salt. Through using additives, Turner increased the load-bearing capacity of the concrete and achieved the “pure white” surface stipulated by the design team. Thanks to the sufficient supply of salt, New Yorkers do not get stuck in their city even during heavy snowfall.
Madison Square Garden
The show must always go on: To enable the ongoing presentation of events at Madison Square Gardens, Turner renovated the legendary building in 41 months, during four consecutive summers. Because, a place like “The World’s Most Famous Arena” cannot just simply close the doors even when it is being completely renovated—after all the really big events took and take place here: “The Fight of the Century” between Mohamed Ali and Joe Frazier, stage shows from Frank Sinatra to Justin Bieber, home games of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.
The project at a glance:
Events: “Fight of the Century,” New York Rangers, Frank Sinatra, Justin Bieber
Completion: 2013, after 41 months
Madison Square Garden – the „Home of the Heroes“
Turner originally built Madison Square Garden in 1962 and completed the fundamental renovation in 2013. Today the complex consists of a congress center, cinema, theater and sports field.
The Rockefeller University Campus
Shortage of space is the mother of invention: When the Rockefeller University in Manhattan wanted to expand the confined space of its Campus, there was only one possibility—building upwards above the neighboring Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive (FDR Drive). At first glance an impossible plan, but it worked perfectly: Turner built a two-hectare three-story building directly above the roadway. The prefabricated building components were delivered via the neighboring East River, which meant that traffic on the FDR Drive could continue to flow unhindered.
The project at a glance
Opening: 2019
Rockefeller University Campus Expansion keeps science running, and not only.
The built construction resembling a bridge was prefabricated in 19 sections. The service modules were shipped overnight from New Jersey, 32 miles away, transported to the construction site and directly installed there.
The final project also includes refurbishment of the dike and upgrading of the neighboring public esplanade.
The Hearst Tower
The Hearst Tower is one of the most environmentally friendly office towers in New York City. The 46-story high-rise, which was built above the original six-story Hearst building, received the LEED Gold Award from the US Green Building Council. A further confirmation that Turner, together with HOCHTIEF, ranks amongst the innovation leaders in sustainable construction.
First building in New York City to receive a LEED Gold certification for New Construction - Commerical Interiors
Diagrid frame contains roughly 20% less steel than would a conventional perimeter frame, saving approximately 2,000 tons of steel
Over 90% of its structural steel contains recycled material
Daylight sensors control lighting and reduce energy use
7 Bryant Park
When things have to go quickly: To ensure completion of the 30-story office building 7 Bryant Park, Turner/HOCHTIEF built the building’s core by using Tru-lift, a self-climbing system of steel grid supports and hydraulic jacks that enabled the team to pour and set four floors per day.
The project at a glance:
Completion: 2014
For the fit-out of the core directly afterwards, Turner coordinated the subcontractors.
During the construction work, Turner also introduced stringent construction site management–securing, for example, the nearby arterial highway and the surrounding neighborhood—one of the busiest in Midtown Manhattan.
Today the office tower presents itself to New Yorkers with a striking projecting roof and a unique conical shape.
Times Square
Colorful, vibrant and loud—Times Square IS New York. Here you can feel Manhattan’s pulse beating faster than anywhere else in the metropolis—day and night. More than 20 million visitors come every year to this most popular tourist attraction in New York. With the new headquarters of the eponymous New York Times and the Times Square Tower, Turner has performed an operation on the open heart of the Big Apple, and created part of the future.
Overview of projects:
Times Square Tower
New York Times Tower
Times Square Tower:
The 49-story glitzy skyscraper encompasses a full block site on 42nd and Seventh Avenue.
Its own subway station “Times Square” in the building is the busiest station in the city. More than 60 million passengers enter and exit trains here every year.
Turner renewed the entrance to the station and renovated two floors of the railway station—without disturbing access to trains.
The New York Times Tower
The New York Times Tower is the media company’s 52-story headquarters. The powerful interiors done by Turner in collaboration with Gensler as the architect is now helping to fundamentally change the traditional working methods in the media house.
Space, perspective, light, sense for context and the direct relationship with the street: The New York Times Tower appears unusually open and inviting, and provides employees with a feeling for the city around them.
In this way, the tower embodies the mission of the media corporation, namely to provide a clear view of the news situation.
Here the unique interior design not only supports the productivity of a 21st century media corporation, but also the long-term health requirements of all those who work here.
In this space, which is impressive in every respect, the Times Company confirms its commitment to the city and its place in the Times Square district.
