Taking advantage of changes to zoning laws, the new JP Morgan Chase Headquarters, also known as 270 Park, is the first of several projects aiming to change the skyline north of Grand Central Station. Located at 270 Park Avenue, the building encompasses a full city block bordered by 47th and 48th Streets and Madison and Park Avenues. Now under construction, the building will, when completed, stand 1,388 ft. tall, replacing the now demolished Union Carbide building.
Due to the constraints of the train terminal below, the tower itself lands on only fourteen points. The columns ‘fan’ and ‘v’ to forgings that weigh more than 75 tons each and sit on 16,000 psi concrete walls cast between MNRR tracks and platforms below. These walls continue down another level to the new Long Island Rail Road East Side Access concourse, almost 100 ft. below street level. Because of the location above a railroad, a concrete core was not possible. In addition, the architectural design dictated that the lobby be completely open, so every single column transfers. At the core, this is accomplished with two 25- ft.-deep transfer girders with 60 in. x 8 in. flanges approximately 300 ft. long. When complete, the steel fabricator will have erected more than 90,000 tons of steel.
Finally, the design had to consider how the steel, some pieces almost 60 tons each, could be erected, knowing that there were active railroad tracks and platforms below and that all of the roadways to the north, south and east of the site are viaducts above the occupied spaces below.
Ed DePaola, PE is President and CEO of Severud Associates Consulting Engineers PC, New York. He is licensed in 21 states and a member of numerous professional organizations including the American Concrete Institute (ACI), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). He is a past President and Founding Member of the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY), an ex-member of the Board of Governors of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), a director on the now sunset Board of Directors of the Structural Engineering Certification Board (SECB), the past chair of the Structural Engineering Institute Futures Fund (SEIFF), a member of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Advisory Committee, and a Life Member of ASCE.
He received a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and his Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall School of Law. In March of 2012, he was made a Fellow of The Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE. Over the past 42 years at Severud, he has designed numerous projects including high-rise buildings, long-span facilities and special structures requiring innovative structural solutions. His structural designs include the Jeppesen Terminal Roof and Glass Enclosure Structures of the Denver International Airport and the American Airlines Terminal at JFK International Airport. He was the principal-in-charge of the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, formerly the second tallest building in NYC and the first high-rise office structure in the world to receive a LEED Platinum rating. His current projects include the recently completed One Vanderbilt Avenue and the new headquarters building for JP Morgan Chase at 270 Park Avenue.