One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center, also called One WTC and the Freedom Tower, is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed it. It is the tallest building in the United States, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the seventh-tallest in the world. The supertall structure has the same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. For other uses of the names, see Freedom Tower (disambiguation) and One World Trade Center (disambiguation).

The skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre (6.5 ha) World Trade Center site. The original 6 World Trade Center once stood in this place. The building is bordered by West Street to the west, Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, and Washington Street to the east. Construction began on April 27, 2006, starting with work underground. On April 30, 2012, One World Trade Center became the tallest structure in New York City when it passed the height of the Empire State Building. On May 10, 2013, the last part of its spire was added, and the building reached 1,776 feet (541 m). That height was chosen to match the year the United States Declaration of Independence was signed, 1776. The building opened on November 3, 2014. The One World Observatory opened on May 29, 2015.

On March 26, 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) confirmed that the building would officially use its legal name, One World Trade Center, instead of the nickname Freedom Tower. The building has 94 stories, and its top floor is numbered 104.

The new World Trade Center complex is part of an effort to remember the people who were lost and to rebuild after the original complex was destroyed. Besides One World Trade Center, the complex includes three finished office buildings along Greenwich Street: 3 WTC, 4 WTC, and 7 WTC. It also has the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, located just south of One World Trade Center where the original Twin Towers stood. The World Trade Center Transportation Hub is to its east.

Two more buildings are planned for the area. An additional office building, 2 World Trade Center, is under construction along Greenwich Street. A mixed-use tower, 5 World Trade Center, is still being planned for Liberty Street.

History

Main article: 1 World Trade Center (1971–2001)

The original World Trade Center was an urban renewal project that was meant to help rebuild parts of Lower Manhattan. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey planned it and hired architect Minoru Yamasaki. The North Tower, which is now called One World Trade Center, first had people working in it in October 1971. At that time, it was the tallest building in the world. On September 11, 2001, a plane crashed into the North Tower. The tower burned and later collapsed. After this, people talked about what should be built on the site. In 2003, Daniel Libeskind was chosen to design a new tower. Later, the company Skidmore, Owings and Merrill became the main designer, and David Childs became the main architect. The plans changed many times. Some of the changes happened because of disagreements with the developer Larry Silverstein. Construction started in 2006.

Main article: Construction of One World Trade Center

In 2009, the building was officially renamed from "Freedom Tower" to "One World Trade Center." The tower reached its full height of 1,776 feet (541 m) in May 2013. In November of that year, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat announced that it was the tallest building in the United States. The building opened on November 3, 2014. Its first major tenant was Condé Nast, a media company that moved in around that time.

Architecture

Many of Daniel Libeskind's original ideas from the 2002 competition were left out of the final design. The final design uses simple symmetry and a more traditional shape that fits with parts of the New York skyline. The central spire is inspired by the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It looks like the original Twin Towers, not an off-center spire like the Statue of Liberty. The tower is considered the first major building built using a three-dimensional Building Information Model. Just south of it is the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, where the Twin Towers once stood. To the east are the World Trade Center Transportation Hub and the new Two World Trade Center site. To the north is 7 World Trade Center, and to the west is Brookfield Place.

The building sits on a 185-foot (56 m) tall base made of concrete with no windows. It was built to help protect the tower from truck bombs and other attacks at ground level. Above the 20th floor, the corners are chamfered back, giving the tower eight tall isosceles triangles, or an elongated square antiprism. It ends in a glass parapet. The spire's antenna mast was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), artist Kenneth Snelson, lighting designers, and engineers. The architect, David Childs of SOM, said the design had to be practical as well as beautiful. The base was first planned with prismatic glass, but those plans were dropped in 2011 because the glass was too expensive and could break. The base now has angled glass fins, similar to those on 7 World Trade Center, and LED lights that glow at night. Schlaich Bergermann Partner designed the glass panels, which were made in Portland, Oregon using glass from Minnesota. WSP Group was the lead structural engineer, Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JBB) provided MEP engineering, and Tishman Construction was the main contractor. The Skyscraper Center counts 94 actual stories. The public lobby has a mural, ONE: Union of the Senses, by José Parlá, along with paintings by Donald Martiny and Fritz Bultman. The 64th-floor sky lobby, designed by Gensler, has a sculpture by Bryan Hunt named Prana, a Sanskrit word meaning "life force." Restaurants and observation spaces are on floors 100–103, above several mechanical floors.

Below ground, the tower connects to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, which has a PATH station, New York City Subway connections, and the Westfield World Trade Center shopping complex. The observation deck is run by Legends Hospitality, which is partly owned by the New York Yankees. The Manhattan District Attorney's office later looked into records about the observatory contract. A planned restaurant like Windows on the World was dropped. A Curbed commentary criticized the food prices and ticket rules.

The building also uses sustainable architecture features, such as gypsum boards made from recycled materials, PureCell phosphoric acid fuel cells that make power, and steam heating. The New York Power Authority chose UTC Power for the fuel cell system. The tower also uses hydroelectric and wind power from off-site. It earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. Its safety features include thick reinforced concrete walls, pressurized stairwells, and walls farther from West Street than the Twin Towers were. Security measures include screening vehicles for radioactive materials, 400 closed-circuit surveillance cameras, and video-analytic computer software.

The Durst Organization joined as co-developer in 2010 and suggested removing the radome around the spire to save money. Douglas Durst said this would save $20 million, but Christopher O. Ward rejected the idea. After Patrick Foye replaced Ward in 2011, the radome was removed from the plans. The tower's top floor is 1,368 feet (417 m) high. With the spire, it reaches 1,776 feet (541 m), a height meant to honor the year the United States Declaration of Independence was signed. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) counts the spire, so the tower is taller than Taipei 101. It is the world's tallest all-office building. As of August 2026, it is the seventh-tallest skyscraper, behind the Burj Khalifa, Merdeka 118, Shanghai Tower, Abraj Al Bait, Ping An Finance Centre, and Lotte World Tower. It is the second-tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere, behind the CN Tower. The planned Chicago Spire was canceled in 2009. Without the spire, the building would be the seventh-tallest building in the United States, behind the Trump International Hotel & Tower. In 2015, 432 Park Avenue passed its roof height. But in November 2013, the CTBUH confirmed the spire counts toward its height, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Reception

When the building was finished, The New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman wrote that its mirrored outside was "opaque, shellacked, monomaniacal" and looked the same from every side. He felt it suggested "a metropolis bereft of fresh ideas" and called its height of 1,368 feet (417 m) "abrupt". Another critic, Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune, called it "a bold but flawed giant." He said its antenna was weaker than the spires of the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building. Architect magazine described it as bland even while it was being built. In 2021, Architectural Digest called it "a symbol of strength, resilience, and hope." In 2024, the same magazine wrote that "when viewing One World Trade Center from a relatively close distance, it becomes an event."

Some observers, including Deroy Murdock of the National Review, have said the building feels cold and dull. They think it reflects fear rather than freedom, so they nicknamed it "the Fear Tower." Nicolai Ouroussoff, an architecture critic for The New York Times, said the base of the tower was a "grotesque attempt to disguise its underlying paranoia." People also argued about whether to rebuild Windows on the World, a restaurant that was at the top of the original World Trade Center and was destroyed during 9/11. Officials had often promised that these attractions would be rebuilt. However, the PANYNJ dropped those plans, which has disappointed some observers.

Owners and tenants

Main article: List of tenants in One World Trade Center

Most of the building is owned by the PANYNJ. The Durst Organization, a private real estate company, bought about 5 percent of the building for at least $100 million. Durst helped oversee construction and manages the building for the PANYNJ. This includes finding tenants. By September 2012, about 55 percent of the floor space was rented. However, no new leases were signed until May 2014. By November 2014, 62.8 percent was rented.

Many organizations have rented space in the building. In 2006, the State of New York agreed to a 15-year lease. The General Services Administration first agreed to rent about 645,000 square feet. In the end, it rented 270,000 square feet. In 2013, Legends Hospitality Management agreed to run the observation deck under a 15-year contract. In 2010 and 2011, Condé Nast Publications agreed to move its magazine offices into the building on a 25-year lease. Later, Condé Nast subleased some of its space to companies such as Ambac Financial Group, Ennead Architects, and Reddit. In 2014, Servcorp signed a 15-year lease on the 85th floor. It rented out the space as offices and co-working space to businesses such as D100 Radio.

Key figures

Larry Silverstein of Silverstein Properties is the leaseholder and developer of the complex. He signed a 99-year lease in July 2001 and stays involved in most parts of the rebuilding. The Port Authority controls the tower itself. After the September 11 attacks, Silverstein had many disagreements with insurance companies about the insurance policies for the original towers. These disagreements slowed the building of One World Trade Center. In 2007, he said that insurers Allianz and Royal & Sun Alliance had not paid $800 million in claims related to the attacks.

David Childs is one of Silverstein's favorite architects. Silverstein asked him to join the project. Childs first worked on the design with Daniel Libeskind, who won a competition in 2002 with a plan he called "Memory Foundations." Libeskind's plan included gardens high in the air, windmills, and a spire that was not in the center. He placed the tower so that it lined up with the Statue of Liberty. Most of his ideas were later dropped, but the tower's height of 1,776 feet (541 m) was kept, because it had a special meaning. In May 2005, Childs changed the design to address security concerns.