International Gem Tower

New York, NY, United States

Add To Collection

Featured products in this project 1

Other Projects by DeSimone Consulting Engineering

Add To Collection

International Gem Tower

New York, NY, United States

Firm

DeSimone Consulting Engineering

Type

Commercial › Office

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2012

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

Located on West 47th Street, the International Gem Tower is a 34-story office building designed specifically for the diamond, gem, and jewelry trade. The tower features embedded hexagonal shaped panels on a clear glass curtain wall creating an abundance of natural light. The 520 ft tower contains retail space, an auction house, a gemological museum, private club, conference center, and restaurants in its five-story podium structure. The rest of the tower space above consists of commercial offices. In order to maximize floor area, the project extends the office floor plates by cantilevering trusses 13 feet over a six-story building immediately to the west of the tower instead of constructing additional four floors at the top of the building. The use of three dimensional modeling by all of the design team members and the sharing of information in real time between disciplines facilitated prompt detailing, shop drawing approvals, and fabrication of the structural steel. This, combined with the difficult erection of a complicated skyscraper and the close management of the process on crowded midtown Manhattan streets illustrates how the creative and efficient use of structural steel have a flawless gem of a project.

The International Gem Tower is an iconic office building whose form and function was made possible through the innovative and efficient use of structural steel to solve the many challenges the project faced.