Description
Summit One Vanderbilt is the observation deck at the top of One Vanderbilt, the skyscraper next to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan: more than a viewpoint, it is a sequence of mirrored rooms, glass balconies and an outdoor glass elevator, about 310 meters above the street.
The visit spreads over the building's top three levels, numbered 91 to 93, and starts underground. From the level of Grand Central, the three Rise elevators climb to the observatory in less than 50 seconds.
The best-known room is Air, an "infinity room" by the artist Kenzo Digital on the two lower levels. Under a ceiling 12 meters high, its mirrored glass surfaces repeat the sky, the skyline and the visitors themselves in every direction.
A glass balcony crosses the room on the intermediate level, and next to it is Levitation, a set of enclosed glass balconies jutting out from the facade, high above the streets of Manhattan. Not one for anyone afraid of heights.
The interiors are by the architects Snøhetta. The top level has a glass parapet and a bar, and there is also a space billed as an urban "alpine meadow".
The last stage is Ascent: two glass elevators running up the outside of the building, from the observatory's highest level to near the very top of the tower. They stop about 370 meters above the ground, with the city all around.
The building itself, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, opened in 2020 and is the city's fourth-tallest building, 427 meters high with its spire. Its design had to fit with Grand Central: the base is cut by a diagonal wedge to keep views of the terminal open, and the pale terracotta between the floors recalls the station's tiled vaults.
Summit opened in October 2021, thirteen months after the building, whose completion had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A tower of this height would normally have been limited to 180 meters on this site: the developer more than doubled it with extra air rights, some of them granted by the city in exchange for improving public transit and adding public space around Grand Central.
The visit spreads over the building's top three levels, numbered 91 to 93, and starts underground. From the level of Grand Central, the three Rise elevators climb to the observatory in less than 50 seconds.
The best-known room is Air, an "infinity room" by the artist Kenzo Digital on the two lower levels. Under a ceiling 12 meters high, its mirrored glass surfaces repeat the sky, the skyline and the visitors themselves in every direction.
A glass balcony crosses the room on the intermediate level, and next to it is Levitation, a set of enclosed glass balconies jutting out from the facade, high above the streets of Manhattan. Not one for anyone afraid of heights.
The interiors are by the architects Snøhetta. The top level has a glass parapet and a bar, and there is also a space billed as an urban "alpine meadow".
The last stage is Ascent: two glass elevators running up the outside of the building, from the observatory's highest level to near the very top of the tower. They stop about 370 meters above the ground, with the city all around.
The building itself, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, opened in 2020 and is the city's fourth-tallest building, 427 meters high with its spire. Its design had to fit with Grand Central: the base is cut by a diagonal wedge to keep views of the terminal open, and the pale terracotta between the floors recalls the station's tiled vaults.
Summit opened in October 2021, thirteen months after the building, whose completion had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A tower of this height would normally have been limited to 180 meters on this site: the developer more than doubled it with extra air rights, some of them granted by the city in exchange for improving public transit and adding public space around Grand Central.