American banking giant JPMorgan Chase has unveiled plans for its new global headquarters: a 60-story skyscraper powered entirely by renewable energy.
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Set to complete in 2025, the 1,388-foot-tall tower will become New York’s largest “all-electric” building, according to Foster + Partners, the architects behind the design.
A series of digital renderings, released last week, shows the tower’s stepped form soaring over Midtown Manhattan.
In a joint press release, JPMorgan Chase and Foster + Partners said the skyscraper will achieve “net-zero operational emissions” — in part, by using power from a state hydroelectric plant.
Other energy-efficient design features include triple-glazed windows and systems for storing and reusing water that can reduce usage by 40%. The tower will also make use of “intelligent building technology” by employing sensors to monitor and reduce energy consumption.
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Construction work has already commenced at the site, which was once home to the 708-foot Union Carbide Building. The architects say that 97% of the building materials from the tower’s predecessor will be “recycled, reused or upcycled.”
The new design also promises more than double the amount of ground-level outdoor space at the address, complete with a public plaza and widened sidewalks.
Foster + Partners’ founder, the celebrated British architect Norman Foster, said in a statement that the tower was a “new landmark that responds to its historic location.”
“The unique design rises to the challenge of respecting the rhythm and distinctive streetscape of Park Avenue, while accommodating the vital transport infrastructure of the city below,” he is quoted as saying.
“The result is an elegant solution where the architecture is the structure, and the structure is the architecture, embracing a new vision that will serve JPMorgan Chase now and well into the future.”
The unveiling comes just months after former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio passed a law restricting the use of fossil fuels in all new residential and commercial buildings from next year.
The legislation requires that all new buildings in the city are constructed to be fully electric by 2027.
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