Two World Trade Center

New York City
Height 415.1 m / 1,362 ft
Floors 110
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Two World Trade Center

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

World Trade Center South Tower

Name of Complex
A complex is a group of buildings which are designed and built as pieces of a greater development.

World Trade Center

Type
CTBUH collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CTBUH 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Demolished

Country
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

United States

City
The CTBUH follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

New York City

Postal Code

10048

Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CTBUH "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

office

Structural Material
Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered a “steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Reinforced Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars.

Precast Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning system are constructed from steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. steel, concrete, timber), one on top of the other. For example, a steel/concrete indicates a steel structural system located on top of a concrete structural system, with the opposite true of concrete/steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CTBUH database breaks out the materials used in a composite building’s core, columns, and floor spanning separately.

steel

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

415.1 m / 1,362 ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
415.1 m / 1,362 ft
Occupied
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
411.0 m / 1,348 ft
Observatory
415.1 m / 1,362 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CTBUH floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

110

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

99

Top Elevator Speed
Top Elevator Speed refers to the top speed capable of being achieved by an elevator within a particular building, measured in meters per second.

8 m/s

Construction Schedule
1966

Construction Start

1973

Completed

2001

Demolished

Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

Developer
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Minoru Yamasaki Associates; Emery Roth & Sons
Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.

Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.

Tishman Construction
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).

CTBUH Initiatives

World Trade Center: One WTC Office Building Tour

28 October 2015 - Event

World Trade Center: Urban Domain Tour

28 October 2015 - Event

Videos

17 October 2016 | New York City

Structural & Geotechnic Engineering Q&A

Monday, October 17, 2016. Shenzhen, China. William O'Donnell, DeSimone Consulting Engineers; Dennis Poon, Thornton Tomasetti; SawTeen Seen, Leslie E. Robertson Associates, answer questions at the...

Research

24 August 2015

World’s Highest Observation Decks

CTBUH Research

Perhaps no element of a tall building is more closely related to the pure pleasure of standing high in the sky and taking in the...

17 October 2016 | New York City

Structural & Geotechnic Engineering Q&A

Monday, October 17, 2016. Shenzhen, China. William O'Donnell, DeSimone Consulting Engineers; Dennis Poon, Thornton Tomasetti; SawTeen Seen, Leslie E. Robertson Associates, answer questions at the...

27 October 2015 | New York City

From New York to Busan: Reflecting Culture in Urban Design

Overpopulation, climate change, aging infrastructure: the threats facing tomorrow’s cities are, in many ways, design problems. The challenges of today’s world have to be solved...

26 October 2015 | New York City

Interview: Rafael Viñoly

Rafael Viñoly of Rafael Viñoly Architects is interviewed by Chris Bentley during the 2015 CTBUH New York Conference at the Grand Hyatt New York. Rafael...

24 August 2015

World’s Highest Observation Decks

CTBUH Research

Perhaps no element of a tall building is more closely related to the pure pleasure of standing high in the sky and taking in the...

16 October 2005

Tall Building Emergency Evacuation: “Time To Think Differently”

Dr. Jonathan (Yoni) Shimshoni, Escape Rescue Systems

This paper presents developments in the area of high-rise building emergency evacuation solutions, especially in three categories: Platform Devices; Chute Devices; and Controlled Descent Devices,...

10 October 2004

A Study on the Collapse Control Design Method for High-rise Steel Buildings

Akira Wada, Tokyo Institute of Tech.; Kenichi Ohi, Kobe University; Hiroaki Suzuki, University of Tsukuba et al.

This paper presents a new collapse control design method for high-rise steel building structures. The method presented here to prevent progressive collapse until the completion...

10 October 2004

Building and Fire Safety: Responding to the World Trade Center Disaster

S. Shyam Sunder, National Insitute of Standards and Technology

In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) initiated a formal federal building and fire...

10 October 2004

What Could be the Correct Design Focus for the Supertall Buildings?

Stephan S. Huh, Parker Durrant International

This paper is about the correct design focus/design approach for future tall buildings. Our quick answer to this question is “safety, safety, safety” because of...

10 October 2004

WTC Towers: Innovative Design Features and Structural Modeling

H. S. Lew & Fahim Sadek, National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is undertaking the federal building and fire safety investigation of the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster.

20 October 2003

A Study on the Redundancy of High-Rise Steel Buildings Due to the Effect of Induced Heat and Loss of Vertical Structural Members

A. Wada, Tokyo Insitute of Technology; K. Ohi, University of Tokyo; H. Suzuki, Tsukuba University; et al.

This paper presents a theoretical investigation of the redundancy capacity of steel frames due to heat induced by fire and loss of column due to...

28 October 2015

World Trade Center: One WTC Office Building Tour

CTBUH 2015 delegates toured One World Trade Center Office Building which is the current tallest building in the Americas.

28 October 2015

World Trade Center: Urban Domain Tour

CTBUH 2015 delegates toured 30 Park Place which will house the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Downtown New York.

6 September 2011

9/11 – Ten Years on: CTBUH Reflections

In the week that we mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 events and the collapse of the World Trade Center towers CTBUH reflected on the impact on tall buildings.