Penn Station Reconstruction

The original ‘Beaux Arts’ train hall, designed by McKim, Mead & White, was opened in 1910 before being demolished in 1968 to accommodate the Madison Square Garden multi-purpose indoor arena. Despite its history, the fact it sits underneath two complete city blocks, and its importance as one of the busiest stations in New York City, Penn Station has had little presence at street level since the ‘60’s.

We are part of the competition-winning design team, led by FXCollaborative, WSP, and John McAslan & Partners, the architects responsible for Kings Cross Station in London. The new Station will transform 31st and 33rd Streets, and 7th and 8th Avenues by creating new access to the railway, whose platforms and passenger facilities for the three separate train operators all lie underground. The project aspires to transform Penn Station into a more enjoyable experience for both local and visiting travellers, bringing light and air into the underground interchange. It will be signalled by the new train hall, which will measure nearly 500ft long. We are also designing new entrances from 7th and 8th Avenue, as well as integrating the new structures carefully alongside the base of Madison Square Gardens.

We are providing long spans between the new columns to open public circulation areas. One of our challenges is to integrate the new structures so they do not impact on the underground infrastructure, placing columns either between the tracks or along the centre of the platforms.

The Station’s prime location in the centre of New York demands clear and purposeful aesthetics, carefully interweaving this with practical considerations such as fire safety, and mechanical and electrical plant necessary to ventilate and service the underground spaces. Access to trains and Madison Square Garden must also be safeguarded during construction, helped by the intensive use of off-site fabrication.