Construction of the Fulton Center includes the restoration of the 125-year-old Corbin Building. Located in the Lower Manhattan Financial District, the 180,000-sf Fulton Center integrates five stations served by nine subway lines in a light-flooded space that includes retail and offices. The facility’s defining visual features are its 53-foot-diameter glass oculus that streams light into a grand atrium, and the accompanying “Sky Reflector Net” art installation that utilizes aluminum panels to transmit sunlight 110 feet down into the center’s lowest levels. The project’s design team, led by Grimshaw Architects and Arup, situated the retail spaces in a two-level, glass-clad structure that matches the curve of the oculus. To achieve the look of the retail structure, the team worked with glazing contractor Enclos and Technical Glass Products (TGP) to develop custom-captured horizontal steel mullions that fit the distinctive shape, for a flush and plumb surface appearance. The solution also involved a mix of fire-rated curtain wall in the upper level and elevator core and non-fire-rated curtain wall in the lower level. The interior spaces are flooded with light, a crucial part of the design aesthetic was glazed curtain walls with clean sightlines. This new transit hub will go a long way toward enhancing the travel experience of hundreds of thousands of customers. They will finally benefit from a thoughtful design that vastly improves passenger flow throughout the station, minimizes congestion and makes transferring far easier than ever before told New York City Transit President Carmen Bianco. Fulton Center also features advertising, retail and commercial space. MTA Arts & Design will also showcase the work of artists.
Fulton Center represents the future of the MTA, so we looked to technology that also would move Arts & Design into the future. A digital arts program gives us the opportunity to offer temporary art, to work with new digital artists and to produce art that engages our customers in a more immediate way. Large-scale electronic displays like the one in Fulton Center open up a world of possibility for new media artists to connect with our customers, whether it’s through a piece that makes them pause and smile or inspires a thought that stays with them on their journey.The new Fulton Center complex is another example of how we are rebuilding Lower Manhattan which will spur a resurgence throughout the area This new station makes traveling easier for subway riders, and is a beautiful public space for visitors and commuters to enjoy.