Dagher Engineering PLLC

VIA 57 WEST

Durst Organization | New York, NY

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.