He has heard metal partitions between walls groan as buildings sway, and the ghostly whistle of rushing air in doorways and elevator shafts. The Down Side to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks 432 Park, one of the wealthiest addresses in the world, faces some significant design problems, and other luxury high-rises may share its fate. One of the most common complaints in supertall buildings is noise, said Luke Leung, a director at the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Wind sway can cause the cables in the elevator shaft to slap around and lead to slowdowns or shutdowns, according to an engineer who asked not to be named, because he has worked on other towers in New York with similar issues. A management email explained that “a high-wind condition” stopped an elevator and caused a resident to be “entrapped” on the evening of Oct. How MSCHF built a business out of squeaky chicken bongs. The insurance increase was due in part to a sprinkler. The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks. Eduard Slinin, a resident elected to the apartment late last year, wrote a letter to neighbors in 2020 reporting that the building’s insurance costs had increased 300 percent in two years. Many of the mechanical issues cited at 432 Park are occurring at other supertall residential towers, according to several engineers who have worked on the buildings.Īll buildings sway in the wind, but at exceptional heights, those forces are stronger. The Draw back to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks. “They’re still billing it as God’s gift to the world, and it’s not.” “I was convinced it would be the best building in New York,” said Sarina Abramovich, one of the earliest residents of 432 Park. Since February, when problems at 432 Park exploded into public consciousness in a New York Times story titled, The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks, only two. Engineers privy to some of the disputes say many of the same issues are occurring quietly in other new towers.

Less than a decade after a spate of record-breaking condo towers reached new heights in New York, the first reports of defects and complaints are beginning to emerge, raising concerns that some of the construction methods and materials used have not lived up to the engineering breakthroughs that only recently enabled 1,000-foot-high trophy apartments. The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, BreaksĤ32 Park, one of the wealthiest addresses in the world, faces some significant design problems, and other luxury high-rises may share its fate.

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