Case Study: PPG Profiles Hudson Yards

Owners: 
Related Properties
Oxford Development Group

Architects:
Diller, Scofidio + Renfro
(15 Hudson Yards)
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
(35 Hudson Yards)
Kohn Pederson Fox Associates
(55 Hudson Yards)

PPG Metal Coatings:
PPG DURANAR Liquid Coatings
PPG DURACON Liquid Coatings PPG CORAFLON Powder Coatings

Coatings Applicators:
Keymark Corp.;
Fonda, New York
Spectrum Metal Finishing; Youngstown, Ohio

Project Overview

For more than five decades, architects have trusted PPG metal coatings to beautify and preserve some of New York’s most prominent landmarks, from cherished classics such as the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden and the Jacob K. Javitz Center, to more contemporary structures such as Freedom Tower and VIA 57 West.
Now the city’s next generation of architectural heritage has emerged at Hudson Yards, the largest private real estate development in U.S. history, and PPG metal coatings are again playing an integral role. Six towers measuring more than 50 stories in height have been designed by some of the world’s best-known architectural firms, and at least three of those firms have chosen to specify PPG coatings for exterior or interior components of their projects. They include:

15 Hudson Yards
At 70 stories tall, 15 Hudson Yards was the first residential tower to open in the development. Designed by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, the building also is known as “The Corset Tower” due to series of straps that appear to “buckle up” the fac;ade before it morphs into its signature quadraleaf shape on the upper floors.

As part of the project, PPG and Keymark Corp., a member of the PPG CAP CERTIFIED APPLICATOR PROGRAM (PPG/CAP), worked with the architect and building owner to custom-formulate two colors. PPG DURANAR coating in a medium-gray color was selected for the exterior curtainwall, while PPG DURACRON® coating was chosen for the interior facade.

Based on 70% polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) resin and proprietary PPG resins and pigments, PPG Duranar coatings meet the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) 2605 standard for weathering performance, which is the most rigorous in the industry. Due to their unique chemistry, PPG Duranar coatings also have proven their ability to retain virtually all of their original color and gloss for decades, even in the most challenging building environments.

PPG Duracron coatings have a similar track record of proven film integrity, color control and mar resistance for interior applications.

35 Hudson Yards
Designed by David Childs of Skidmore Owings and Merrill, widely regarded as the most accomplished skyscraper architect in the world, 35 Hudson Yards is a 92-story residential tower that is even more upscale than its counterpart at 15 Hudson Yards.
The building’s elegant exterior, which is characterized by Jura limestone fins sourced from Germany, and thermally broken aluminum framing around large floor-to-ceiling windows, is complemented by equally extravagant touches on the inside.
There, in addition to polished wood walls and richly veined marble floors, visitors to the private lobby are greeted by Flowers, a tapestry commissioned from Swedish artist Helena Hernmarck. The interior of the building’s podium also incorporates more than 25,000 pounds of coated aluminum extusions, which were fashioned into a sleek terrace handrail and balustrade and finished by Keymark Corp. with PPG Duracron coating.

As with many elements inside 35 Hudson Yards, the color the interior designer selected was custom­formulated by PPG to complement the other surface materials used throughout the space.

55 Hudson Yards
Among the three PPG-coated landmarks in this historic development, 55 Hudson Yards may be the most notable because it is one of the first skyscapers in the U.S. ever to be finished with powder coatings.

The 51-story structure was designed by Kohn Pederson Fox Associates to incorporate smooth and textured “Black Flower” PPG CORAFLON coatings on its metal curtainwall and window frames. The firm worked with PPG to formulate the color, which was specifically designed to mimic the classic cast-iron facades of Hudson Yards’ nearby SoHo neighborhood, and to commemorate the industrial heritage of the building’s setting in the historic Meatpacking District setting.

Spectrum Metal Coatings, a member of the PPG/CAP program based in Youngstown, Ohio, factory-applied nearly 20,000 pounds of PPG Coraflon powder coatings to metal components used on the building’s facade.

While PPG Duranar liquid coatings are based on PVDF resins, PPG Coraflon powder coatings are formulated using proprietary fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE) resins to provide satin and high-luster glosses in solid and mica-flecked colors. They can be used in a one-coat paint system, or as part of a two-coat system with a primer, to optimize corrosion resistance while delivering color and gloss retention that equals PPG Duranar liquid coatings.