34th Street Station – No. 7 Subway

For a new station of New York City’s No. 7 subway line at 34th Street/Hudson Yards, WSP designed lighting for all areas of the underground space, including custom fixtures that became integral elements of the architectural forms and finishes.

Location

New York, USA

Client

New York City Transit

Lighting for the station, which is located deep underground with two mezzanines, contributes to a pleasant and functional environment. Lighting in the mezzanines, escalators, stairs and platform works closely with the architectural shapes and finishes.

The economies of scale allowed most of the light fixtures to be custom made to enable sculptural shapes, match finish patterns, and accommodate New York City Transit (NYCT) requirements for wiring protection and maintenance. Illuminance levels and distribution meet NYCT exacting standards. The firm’s lighting designers collaborated with representatives of the architect, electrical contractor, transit authority and fabricator regularly and reviewed fixture prototypes at the factory for quality in finishes, dimensions and light distribution.

The new station is the terminus of the No. 7 subway, which was extended 1.5 miles from its previous terminus at Times Square. The first new subway station in New York in 25 years, the 34th Street station serves a huge new commercial and residential development at Hudson Yards as well as the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

WSP served as designer of the subway extension, provided construction support services and served as systems integrator, ensuring that mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP) systems performed as designed. WSP also prepared a 6,600-page environmental impact statement that considered the extension of the subway line as well as the expansion and modernization of the Javits Convention Center and the rezoning of much west Midtown Manhattan.