Yesterday at noon the long-awaited Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) opened to the general public on the 16-acre World Trade Center site at 251 Fulton Street in the Financial District. Designed by REX with Davis Brody Bond Architects as the executive architect and developed by The Perelman, the 138-foot tall, 129,000-square-foot cubic structure features three flexible performance spaces: the 450-seat John E. Zuccotti Theater, the 250-seat Mike Nichols Theater, and the 99-seat Doris Duke Foundation Theater, all enclosed in a translucent book-matched marble façade. The $500 million property is bound by Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, Greenwich Street to the east, and Skidmore Owings & Merrill‘s One World Trade Center to the west.
The remaining ground level and sidewalk construction has wrapped up since our last update in the beginning of summer, when some of the stone pavers, bollards, kiosk displays, and light fixtures were still being installed.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The main staircase leads visitors up to the Clare and Vartan Gregorian Lobby Stage.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Metropolis by Chef Marcus Samuelsson is an on-site restaurant designed by Rockwell Group that is slated to open this fall with dining and lounge space, a public bar, and an outdoor terrace space on the lobby level.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Hallways line the edges of the first floor, along with soaring walls of the half-inch marble paneling set behind thin sheets of glass. They produce a soft lantern-like glow and diffused lighting.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The below images highlight the Dalio Terrace, filled with lounge seating, tables and shrubbery along the edges.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Directly to the east of the building are two sets of staircases and ADA-accessible elevator access to the local 1 train at the Cortlandt Street subway station that bisects the World Trade Center complex. Santiago Calatrava’s Oculus structure across Greenwich Street also provides convenient access to the PATH trains to New Jersey and host of local and express subway lines as far east as the Fulton Street station and up north toward Chambers Street.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Work has also concluded northern rear side facing Vesey Street.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The theaters have 60 different possible configurations, with moveable walls, stages, and audience seating. The halls can also be combined into a single 950-seat auditorium. The first performances for the 2023-2024 Inaugural Season at the Perelman Performing Arts Center are scheduled to commence on September 19, 2023. See the full list of events at pacnyc.org.
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What a stunning set of photos of a stunningly beautiful building. The symmetry of the marble exterior is especially mesmerizing. All in all, I think PAC NYC is a great addition to the World Trade Center.
Love the photos of the marble from the inside!
Amazing. Every new building in NYC should be as thoughtfully designed. What a gift to the public and a meaningful addition to the World Trade Center. This glowing cube with the St Nicholas Church glowing on the southern part of the plaza on the other side of the memorial.
The glowing marble behind glass is mesmerizing! A beautiful object.
Stunning achievement. Absolutely successful building on every level. I can’t wait to see it in person.
Excellent photography of a beautiful buiding.
The half-inch marble paneling can be shown on its stunning lighting, so must see with your own eyes even looking through photos. It’s still very beautiful architecture as the whole building is completed. A cubic shape and space how nice to be seen! Thanks to Michael Young.
I work around there and in the daytime, it looks bland, but I’ve been leaving work around dusk and at nighttime it looks beautiful. I’m waiting to see their event calendar fill up more so I can enjoy the indoor experience. Long time coming and happy to see it finally arrive.
Impressive photos from the outside and the inside! Those curved lights on the ceiling look cool too
What a journey to follow the construction of this and reading about it here! Now all that’s left if 2 and 5 World Trade Center!
I think the WTC project has been completed, with the opening of this theatre. Buildings 2 and 5 will never be built. IMO it was a mistake for Silverstein to build WTC 4 (the shortest of the WTC towers), while he was also building the tallest – WTC 1. He should have built WTC 2 instead of 4, to re-create that soft-of “twin” look of towers 1 & 2. Now we’re stuck with that big empty gap between 1 and 3 that will likely never be filled with anything close to the planned height of 2.
If anything, they should have as part of this re-built the “not quite twin” towers of 30 and 50 Church Street that were the old Hudson Terminal towers that ran from Hudson to Greenwich Street (I believe there is a 1970 of 2 WTC being built while 30 Church was still standing). Maybe build them to be around 45 stories each.
Just to clarify, I meant there was a photo from 1970 of Tower 2 being built and what I believe was 30 Church Street still standing.
Buildings 2 and 5 will be built. I bet they are both open by 2030.
Love the optimism—SteveO for the fingers-crossed win!
BRAVO! 🤗
Beautiful building, that proves it’s all the in the quality of construction and the details.
Wish add to my “lengthy” list of must sees on next trip to NYC! 😊
Absolutely beautiful.
In itself, a work of art!
Stunning. Would love to see a post about the plans / construction of WTC 5 which were recently approved.
Hopefully, beginning in 2024 or ’25 the Heisman Trophy ceremony can be there. That was a lower Manhattan event at the Downtown Athletic Club before that went under following a year of being in the “frozen zone” after 9/11 and should return to being in lower Manhattan like it was before 9/11 (the last time it was there was in 2000).
Can’t wait for Yimby to cover 5 WTC in the future. Onto the the next site! 😍
The first time I encountered the use of translucent stone was at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México where onyx was used. Then I saw the rare book library at Yale which used marble to reduce light levels to a safe level. Now we have a major example in NYC.
HellRaiser’s cube cost half a billion dollar$?! Somebody’s pockets got fatter.
Think they even cheapened the design of the roof which was ‘value engineered’. More state money laundering at your expense.
Why does the world trade center complex have a concert hall?
Beautiful architecture. REX design Architects, where are they from? not from here obviously.
The style reminds me of that Filipino Architect Leandro V Locsin. lines and texture massing emphasized. Fantastic, Love it as a fellow Architect. Thumbs up
In response to Ramo Delrosario, REX is a NYC based architeture firm.
The panes are made of Marble from Portugal, the lamination glass/marble/glass in France, double glazing assembly in Germany.