One Penn Plaza
(2.4 million ft2)
New York, New York (1972)
57 stories, 774 feet, 236 meters
Kahn & Jacobs, Architect. The Office of James Ruderman, Engineer. Morse Diesel Construction Co., Contractor. Mid City Associates (Harry Helmsley), Developer. The Mendik Company, Owner.

One Penn Plaza, which features a 57-story office tower rising from a complex of low-rise shops and restaurants, covers an entire city block, between 7th and 8th Avenues and West 33rd and 34th Streets, bisected by a pedestrian roadway. The tower, which has setbacks at the 7th, 12th and 55th floors, boasts floor areas ranging from 15,000 ft2 to over 104,000 ft2, averaging 30,000 ft2 above the 14th floor. Built of structural steel and concrete, its facade is a curtain wall of steel and gray solar glass punctuated by columns of anodized aluminum. The massive building is served by 14 entrances , 44 elevators grouped in seven banks, and 695 subterranean parking spots, as well as direct access to Pennsylvania Station, located one block south.

Photo courtesy of Vornado Realty Trust