34th Street – Hudson Yards is the first new subway station that the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority has opened in 25 years. The station is part of the 7 Line extension and located in Manhattan’s West Side at 34th Street and 11th Avenue, within the Hudson Park and Boulevard development.
A main aim of the design was to provide a structure for the canopies of the two exits that touched down in the parkland on as few points as possible. Thus, the double curved grid shells with a free form edge beams are supported on just three pinned supports at ground level. Constructed of stainless steel type 2205, the canopies provide a high strength and strong corrosion resistance. The lightweight grid was strengthened with deeper elements in specific axes to account for the requirement to hang signage and lighting. In order to reduce the occurrence of birds resting on the diagonal cables within the grid surface, the cables were positioned in the upper half of the grid beams, directly below the glass surface, by providing an offset node arrangement.
The two entrance canopies are among the largest subway entrances the NYC MTA has in the system.
