When architects HLW International began a $40 million renovation of the Old Nassau County Courthouse, a neoclassical edifice with a decaying structure and outdated interiors, they turned to structural steel to restore the historic principles of the initial design while adapting to the present-day requirements of the county.

From a distance, One Northside Piers, a new luxury condo tower on the Williamsburg waterfront, might look a lot like other glass-and-aluminum-clad residential towers, but at closer look reveals a complex window wall system designed by FXFowle Architects. The unitized systems, consisting of two aluminum window and slab cover typologies, is a technique to break up the mass of the building, making it appear taller and thinner, as well as more visually intriguing. Location: 47 North 4th Place Brooklyn, NY Owners/Developers: Toll Brothers Horsham, PA; RD Management LLC New York, NY; L+M Development Partners Larchmont, NY Architect: FXFowle Architects New York, NY Structural Engineer: McLaren Engineering Group West Nyack, NY Mechanical Engineer: Cosentini New York, NY Construction Manager: Kreisler Borg Florman Scarsdale, NY Window Wall Consultant: Gilsanz Murray Steficek, LLP New York, NY Architectural Metal Fabricator and Erector: Arista Architectural Metal & Glass Jamaica, NY Window Wall Erector: Phoenix Contracting Group Greenwich, CT

When nonprofit organization Friends of the High Line saved the massive West Side elevated railroad from threatened demolition, it chose Diller Scofidio + Renfro to transform the track into a one-of-a-kind elevated park. Adding structural steel to the existing framework became integral to the firm’s design vision as it sought to play up the greenway’s colossal steel underpinnings as much as possible, revealing steel girders and creating a balance between between the High Line’s newest and oldest elements. Location: Gansevoort Street to 30th Street New York, NY Owner: City of New York New York, NY Developer: Friends of the High Line New York, NY Architect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro New York, NY Structural Engineer: Buro Happold New York, NY; Robert Silman Associates New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: Buro Happold New York, NY General Contractor: KÍSKA Construction Corp. New York, NY Structural Steel Erector: KÍSKA Construction Corp. New York, NY Miscellaneous Iron Erector: KÍSKA Construction Corp. New York, NY Architectural Metal Erector: KÍSKA Construction Corp. New York, NY Metal Deck Erector: KÍSKA Construction Corp. New York, NY

One Bryant Park is not only a symbol of LEED excellence, but also of the highest standards in engineering and technology. With the goal of maintaining a connection to nature while incorporating the latest security systems, Cook + Fox Architects customized blackened stainless steel for the lobby’s interiors, marking a transition from the cooler stainless steel and aluminum used in the building’s more public spaces to the warmer, richer finishes of its inner core. Location: 1 Bryant Park New York, NY Owner/Developer: Bank of America at One Bryant Park, LLC, a joint venture between The Durst Organization and Bank of America New York, NY Architect: Cook + Fox Architects LLP New York, NY Executive Architect: Adamson Associates Architects New York, NY Structural Engineer: Severud Associates New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: Jaros, Baum & Bolles New York, NY Construction Manager: Tishman Construction Corp. New York, NY Exterior Wall Consultant: Israel Berger & Associates, Inc. New York, NY Structural Steel Fabricator: Owen Steel Company, Inc. Columbia, SC Structural Steel Erector: Cornell & Company Woodbury, NJ Miscellaneous Iron Fabricator: A-Val Architectural Metal Corp. Mount Vernon, NY Miscellaneous Iron Erector: Empire City Iron Works Long Island City, NY Architectural Metal Fabricator and Erector: Melto Metal Products Freeport, NY Ornamental Metal Fabricators and Erectors: Allied Bronze New York, NY; Tower Installation, LLC Windsor, CT Curtain Wall Fabricator: Permasteelisa Cladding Technologies, Ltd. Windsor, CT Curtain Wall Erector: Tower Installation, LLC Windsor, CT Metal Deck Erector: Cornell & Company Woodbury, NJ

One of New York City’s first attempts to arrange big-box retail into a vertical format, Rego Park II occupies the equivalent of three to four Manhattan blocks with three floors of retail space, a residential tower, and a five-level car garage. Key to the design’s mixed-use “Main Street” feeling is a structural steel design that allows tenants to customize their spaces while remaining unified by pedestrian platforms and bridges that crisscross an open-air galleria. Location: Junction Blvd. and Queens Blvd. Queens, NY Owner/Developer: Alexander’s of Rego Park II, Inc. Saddle Brook, New Jersey Design Architect: Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects New York, NY Architects of Record: Greenberg Farrow New York, NY; SLCE Architects New York, NY Structural Engineer: Severud Associates Consulting Engineers, P.C. New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: AKF Engineers New York, NY Construction Manager: Bovis Lend Lease New York, NY Structural Steel Fabricator: Owen Steel Company Columbia, SC Structural Steel Erector: A.J. McNulty & Company Maspeth, NY Miscellaneous Iron Fabricator and Erector: Post Road Iron Works Greenwich, CT

When Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture reinvented Edward Durrell Stone’s 2 Columbus Circle, he created a new home for the Museum of Arts and Design that more than doubled the new owner’s gallery space. With more room for rotating exhibits, the museum is also home to a space-making permanent display: a slender new staircase extending from the cellar level to the second floor. Functional and beguiling, it floats on thread-like wires amidst ever-changing shows of celebrated sculpture, earning its place as another example of the museum’s commitment to contemporary handicraft. Location: 2 Columbus Circle New York, NY Owner: Museum of Arts and Design New York, NY Architect: Allied Works Architecture New York, NY Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: Arup New York, NY Construction Manager: F.J. Sciame Construction Co. Inc. New York, NY Curtain Wall Consultant: R.A. Heintges & Associates New York, NY Structural Steel Fabricator and Erector: Cross County Contracting, Inc. Pine Bush, NY Miscellaneous Iron Fabricator and Erector: United Iron, Inc. Mt. Vernon, NY Architectural Metal Fabricator and Erector: United Iron, Inc. Mt. Vernon, NY

One of the final pieces in the Times Square redevelopment project, Eleven Times Square will add 1.1 million square feet of office space to the 24-hour environment in which business and entertainment converge. The building itself is home to another sort of intersection; its cantilevered steel frame takes advantage of an oddly shaped site to offer rare column-free corner views and flexible, LEED Gold-targeted tenant space suitable to a range of uses. Location: Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street New York, NY Owner/Developer: SJP Properties Parsippany, NJ Architect: FXFowle Architects New York, NY Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: Cosentini Associates New York, NY Construction Manager: Plaza Construction New York, NY Curtain Wall Consultant: Heitmann & Associates, Inc. New York, NY Structural Steel Fabricator: Cives Steel Company Gouverneur, NY Structural Steel Erector: Cornell & Company Woodbury, NJ Curtain Wall Fabricator: Permasteelisa Cladding Technologies, Ltd. Windsor, CT Curtain Wall Erector: Tower Erectors Clinton, NJ Metal Deck Erector: Cornell & Company Woodbury, NJ

Cooper Square, the bowtie of streets at the throat of the bowery, is transforming into an intersection of important contemporary architecture that now includes The Cooper Square hotel designed by Carlos Zapata Studio and architect of record Perkins Eastman. As part of the neighborhood’s diverse urban fabric, the hotel captures the spirit of design experimentation in every detail, including a curtain wall that gives the building an outstanding presence among its neighbors. Location: 25 Cooper Square New York, NY Owner: A private group of investors New York, NY Developer: Peck Moss Hotel Group New York, NY Design Architect: Carlos Zapata Studio New York, NY Architect of Record: Perkins Eastman New York, NY Structural Engineer: Leslie E. Robertson Associates New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: Ambrosino Depinto & Schmeider New York, NY Construction Manager: F.J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc. New York, NY Curtain Wall Consultant: Front Inc. New York, NY Structural Steel Fabricator and Erector: Post Road Iron Works Greenwich, CT Miscellaneous Iron Fabricator and Erector: United Iron, Inc. Mt. Vernon, NY Architectural Metal Fabricators: Gartner Stamford, CT; General Glass Secaucus, NJ Architectural Metal Erectors: Tower Installation Windsor, CT; General Glass Secaucus, NJ Ornamental Metal Fabricator and Erector: United Iron, Inc. Mt. Vernon, NY Curtain Wall Erector: Tower Installation, LLC Windsor, CT

The Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Manhattan’s Civic Plaza is home to 20 federal agencies, including the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which receives more than 1,000 visitors each day. To solve the problem of long lines outside the building, the result of the security screening process implemented in 1995, the General Services Administration hired architecture firm Lehman-Smith + McLeish and structural engineering firm Weidlinger to design a new pavilion on the building’s Broadway side. Wanting to maintain the open, glassy aspect of the original 1967 Kahn & Jacobs-designed lobby, the team framed the pavilion in structural steel to create a light-filled, lightweight structure that could be supported by an existing underground garage. Location: 26 Federal Plaza New York, NY Owner: General Services Administration, Public Building Services New York, NY Architect: Lehman-Smith + McLeish PLLC Washington, DC Structural Engineer: Weidlinger Associates New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: WSP Flack + Kurtz New York, NY General Contractor: Volmar Construction, Inc. Brooklyn, NY Curtain Wall Consultant: Advance Structures Inc. New York, NY Structural Steel Erector: Global Iron Works New York, NY Miscellaneous Iron Fabricator and Erector: Global Iron Works The Bronx, NY Architectural Metal Fabricator and Erector: Action Bullet Resistant Inc. West Islip, NY Ornamental Metal Fabricator and Erector: Global Iron Works The Bronx, NY Curtain Wall Fabricator: United States Aluminum Waxahachie, TX Curtain Wall Erector: Action Bullet Resistant Inc. West Islip, NY Metal Deck Erector: Integrated Construction Inc. Hicksville, NY

When Bank of America commissioned Gensler to design a staircase uniting its trading floors at One Bryant Park, the architects knew that the design would represent the bank’s brand in addition to streamlining the flow of traffic between trading rooms. Erected after the building’s steel superstructure was in place, the exposed steel and glass staircase left no room for mistakes. As a result of the well-coordinated design and construction process, the illuminated structure now helps the bank stand out from neighboring corporate office buildings. Location: 1 Bryant Park New York, NY Owner: Bank of America at One Bryant Park, LLC, a joint venture between The Durst Organization and Bank of America, New York, NY Stair Design: Gensler New York, NY Architect: Cook + Fox Architects, LLP New York, NY Executive Architect: Adamson Associates Architects New York, NY Structural Engineer: Severud Associates New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: Jaros, Baum & Bolles New York, NY General Contractor: Tishman Construction Corp. New York, NY Interior Fit-Out Construction Manager: Structure Tone Inc. New York, NY Curtain Wall Consultant: Israel Berger & Associates, Inc. New York, NY Structural Steel Erector: Cornell & Company Woodbury, NJ Miscellaneous Iron Fabricator: A-Val Architectural Metal Corporation Mount Vernon, NY Miscellaneous Iron Erector: Empire City Iron Works Long Island City, NY Ornamental Metal Erector: Melto Metal Products Freeport, NY Curtain Wall Fabricator: Permasteelisa Cladding Technologies, Ltd. Windsor, CT Curtain Wall Erector: Tower Erectors Clinton, NJ Metal Deck Erector: Cornell & Company Woodbury, NJ