The seventh annual Emporis Skyscraper Award goes to Hearst Tower, New York City's first officially certified "green" office building, whose environmentally friendly innovations and intelligent design set a high standard for skyscrapers of the 21st century. The 42-story building was built using a "diagrid" frame in which vertical steel beams are replaced by interlocking diagonals that use about 20% less steel.
The award was presented in December 2007 in New York City. The Emporis Skyscraper award is presented every year to a building over 100 meters tall which was completed in the previous year. The winner is selected on the basis of its architectural and functional distinction.
The second and third place winners are The Wave in Gold Coast City, Australia, and Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia.
Emporis Skyscraper Award 2006
Hearst Tower wins Emporis Award
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Winning Design
Hearst Tower is located on Eighth Avenue, just south of Columbus Circle, and has become a prominent landmark of the southwest corner of Central Park. The structure rises behind the preserved facade of the old neo-classical Hearst Building, which was originally built with the intention of vertical expansion. The counterpart between old and new stlyles here is especially graceful, and recalls architect Norman Foster's work on the Reichstag Building in Berlin.
The new lobby is one of the most spectacular in Manhattan, with a large atrium enclosed by the old stone facade. Three parallel escalators rise diagonally across a cascading sheet of water called "Icefall".
Among the innovative green features of Hearst Tower are a system for collecting rainwater from the roof and using it to freshen the air inside; automatic sensors which reduce lighting usage when it is not needed; internal configurations to let natural light penetrate all the way through office spaces; and use of recycled steel in the framework. The building was awarded the LEED Gold Rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.