Dezeen Magazine

Madison Square Park Tower by KPF

Skinny Manhattan residential skyscraper by KPF nears completion in Flatiron District

New photos reveal the glassy exterior and thin sculpted form of Madison Square Park Tower, a 65-storey apartment building by US firm Kohn Pedersen Fox that is slated to open this year.

Reaching a height of 777 feet (237 metres), the skyscraper – formerly known as 45 East 22nd Street – will be the tallest building in the Flatiron District, a neighbourhood in midtown Manhattan that includes Madison Square Park.

Its is one of many skinny skyscrapers rising or recently completed in New York – part of an explosion of "super-slender" towers that includes Rafael Viñoly's 432 Park Avenue, SHoP Architects' 111 West 57th Street and Christian de Portzamparc's One57.

Madison Square Park Tower by KPF

Featuring a concrete skeleton sheathed in glass, Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)'s tower rises high above the masonry buildings surrounding it. A stone base is intended to help the skyscraper blend with the neighbourhood at street level.

"The building features a manor house-inspired, granite-clad base that fits harmoniously within the tree-lined block," the team said.

The tower widens as it climbs toward the sky. On its western side, the tower cantilevers outward 17 feet (five metres) — marking the point in which the shaft begins to swell.

Madison Square Park Tower by KPF

"The tower also features a sculpturally striking glass curtain wall facade," the team added.

Totalling 230,000 square feet (21,400 square metres), the skyscraper will contain 83 units with floor-to-ceiling windows. Residents will be afforded views of prominent city landmarks, from the Empire State and Chrysler buildings to the rivers bordering Manhattan.

Amenities will include a fitness centre, children's playroom and a private dining room.

London-based Martin Brudnizki Design Studio is conceiving the interiors. The tower is being developed by Continuum Company.

Tenants are scheduled to move in later this year. The team has released a series of images to entice buyers, including a 360-degree animation and time-lapse video captured from an apartment on the 56th floor.

It is one of several towers by New York-based KPF currently underway in New York, including One Vanderbilt Tower, slated to be the city's second tallest building, and 111 Murray Street, which is rising in the Financial District. KPF is also one of three firms designing a trio of waterfront towers on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Photography is by Will Femia.