Dagher Engineering PLLC

VIA 57 WEST

The towering courtyard building’s extreme proportions (940,000 GSF, 467 feet tall) are conceptually and physically outside the box. Its 709 rental units and numerous amenity spaces surround a 22,000 SF courtyard and are served by three main mechanical rooms.

VIA’s unique architectural shape and non-rectilinear floor plans challenged the design of building systems. But, creative solutions blended fit and efficiency: vertically stacked hybrid heat pumps underwent CFD case study to ensure occupant comfort; storm water detention tank conserve water through tie-ins to the neighboring building’s black water treatment plant; and with a peak instead of a roof, where mechanical equipment would normally go, we vertically stacked rooftop units and brought exhaust through louvers on lower floors.

At once a high-rise and a courtyard building, the “Courtscraper” challenges conventional precepts of high-rises, presenting a new set of challenges to engineers that were overcome with a flexible approach.