The Orchard

Overview 

A new development in Queens has become the tallest residential building in the borough. The 70-story luxury tower includes more than 800 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Residents have access to amenities like a fitness center, pool, spa, basketball court, and movie-screening room. An adjacent exposed concrete parking structure connects seamlessly to the tower’s ground-floor lobby, and at the top, designed as an outdoor park, is the largest occupiable roof in New York City.

We are providing structural design services to Perkins Eastman for the tower's development.

Highlights

• The structure was built over an active rail tunnel, which required a 10-foot-thick multilevel concrete mat spanning the tunnel and supporting the entire tower.
• We engineered a series of full-story transfer girders – each more than 17 feet tall and ranging from seven to 10 feet in width – to support the building above a six-story podium that houses a basketball court and an adjacent swimming pool.
• Because of the building’s height and slenderness, it required advanced engineering solutions, including a 14 KSI belt wall between the 37th and 38th floors, with embedded steel plates to handle high stresses.
• A sloshing tank damper on the 70th floor helps reduce movement and improve occupant comfort.