Disney New York City Headquarters – Robert A. Iger Building

Multidisciplinary Engineering for a Broadcast Headquarters in Hudson Square 

The 1.2-million-square-foot Disney NYC - Robert A. Iger Building reimagines a full Hudson Square block as a combined workplace and broadcast campus for The Walt Disney Company. Ground-floor retail, television studios, and two office towers are organized around an open “sky lobby.” Thornton Tomasetti provided structural design, construction engineering, protective design and security consulting, and concrete-placement special inspections for the building, along with structural engineering for the multi-floor fit-out.

Base-Isolation Calms Subway Noise for Below-Grade Studio Space 

One of the project’s most complex challenges arose underground. A 20,000-square-foot television studio sits at the second cellar level, 25 feet below the water table and directly beside an active subway tunnel. To protect the sensitive column-free, double-height space from noise and vibration – and resist hydrostatic pressure – our structural team added a base-isolation system beneath basement walls resting on deep foundations and a deep reinforced-concrete mat foundation.

Long-Span Transfers and Integrated Structure-Services Systems

Above and through the podium, the design needed to support stacked, column-free studios, tight floor-to-floor heights, and shifting tower geometry shaped by zoning requirements and terraces. We used long-span transfer trusses to route heavy studio loads around the large volumes and into rational tower grids. Rotated 50-foot girders and close structure-services coordination created clear paths for major ducts and helped preserve ceiling heights.

Protective Design for a High-Profile Headquarters

We also provided protective design consulting, collaborating with the broader project team to integrate security considerations into a large, complex workplace and production environment. Our scope included façade and structural hardening strategies, as well as anti-ram bollard details integrated into the urban streetscape.

Fast-Tracked Delivery for a Flexible, Future-Ready Workplace

The firm’s combined structural and construction engineering role helped the team keep the fast-track project moving on a constrained site next to sensitive transit infrastructure. Using our Advanced Project Delivery™ approach, we coordinated with the steel contractor and erector on truss geometries and detailing for shop preassembly, sequencing support, and temporary bracing coordination. Early bid packages for both steel and concrete expedited the work, while support for temporary bracing, reshoring and field adjustments helped keep the project stay on schedule. 

The result is a resilient, broadcast-ready workplace with flexible studio, office, and amenity space that can adapt over time without compromising performance.