Goldman Sachs World Headquarters, New York, United States

Goldman Sachs World Headquarters nears completion
As the notoriously private Goldman Sachs continues to keep the details of its New Headquarters Building near Ground Zero under wraps, permitting no one to speak on the record about the project, there is no denying what the eyes can see. The 43-storey glass and steel tower located on West Street between Vesey and Murray Streets is expected to open later this year. When it does, it will house more than 9,000 employees in 2.1 million sq ft of space.

Designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the LEED Gold building will have six high tech trading floors, thirty floors of office space and three floors of meeting and amenity space on the lower floors. In 2008 in one of the only interviews granted for the project, Cobb told the New York Times that "the heart of the building would be a kind of living room for Goldman on the 10th and 12th floors, where exercise, dining and meeting areas will be linked by a sky lobby and a sweeping three-storey stairway." On the exterior, a 5,000 sq ft retail arcade will surround the tower and reconnect walkways to surrounding buildings, shopping areas and the Hudson River Park.

Pei Cobb Freed are no strangers to the iconic being responsible for a selection of Manhattan's most familiar structures including the Four Seasons Hotel, the Guggenheim Pavilion at The Mount Sinai Medical Center and Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Plaza. I.M.Pei also designed the Paris landmark of the pyramid at the Louvre.

The $2.4 billion Goldman Sachs tower is financed with $1.65 billion tax-exempt Liberty Bonds given to Goldman as a post-911 incentive to stay in the Downtown in the hope that other large firms would follow. In exchange, Goldman is to give $4.5 million to Lower Manhattan residents for a library and community recreation center.

Sharon McHugh
US Correspondent

source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
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