In New York City, doors to the new Moynihan Train Hall opened on January 1, 2021. Restoring the grandeur that was lost with the demolition of the original Penn Station that once stood nearby, the new station features a new skylit concourse area and adds much-needed circulation capacity, improved facilities for commuters, and expanded state rail connections.
The original Pennsylvania Station was designed in 1910 by McKim, Mead & White. A Beaux-Arts masterpiece that celebrated the arrival of travellers to New York City, only its underground concourses and platforms remained following its demolition in 1965. Dark and cramped, the downgraded station was only able to accommodate 200,000 people per day after 1965, despite the number of people passing through the station estimated to swell as high at 600,000. By the 1990s it was clear that expansion was needed.
The landmark James A. Farley Post Office Building, an adjacent former postal building also designed by McKim, Mead & White, sat 95% vacant. With its grand staircase and details echoing the firm’s original design for Penn Station, the Farley Building presented the perfect opportunity for a station expansion.
Designed by SOM over a 20 year + period, the new train hall is situated within a 31,000-square-foot former mail sorting area of the Farley Building and features a dramatic skylight spanning the entire space, much like the skylight in the original Penn Station. Designed in collaboration with structural engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann Partner, the skylight is arranged into four catenary vaults. To support the structure, SOM uncovered three massive steel trusses which had previously been concealed, revealing them for the first time as focal points of a new design.
With their weblike structure, the trusses have a light and modern look that at the same time showcases the workmanship of a neoclassical design.
Each of the four catenary vaults is made from more than 500 glass and steel panels. At the edges of each vault, panels thicken to sustain greater structural loads. At the apexes, which span 92 feet above the concourse, the depth of the panels lightens, amplifying the light feel of the space. Each truss is equipped with new lighting fixtures to illuminate the train hall at night. On the middle truss, a new clock designed by Pennoyer Architects is inspired by the analogue clocks once prevalent at the original Penn Station. Further brightening the train hall at night, four large LED screens on the eastern wall display New York State imagery designed by the Moment Factory.
The commuter experience is amplified by a food hall designed by Elkus Manfredi, an Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge by FXCollaborative and information and ticketing kiosks throughout, which were also designed by SOM. Signage and wayfinding were carefully considered to enable intuitive circulation through the new station, something that was largely missing in the original Penn Station.
With nine platforms and 17 tracks, the station services the Long Island Railroad and Amtrack with a direct connection to the Eights Avenue Subway. Plans are to ultimately connect the entire complex to Metro North and Air Train JFK.
By re-establishing a New York City civic icon, the original spirit of train travel to Penn Station has been recaptured in a way that celebrates a historic gateway connection to one of the world’s great cities.
