05/10/2019
Urbanization is one of the most prominent megatrends and major cities are going vertical. This is the only way to create space for the growing number of people being drawn to urban living. The Hudson Yards project in Manhattan perfectly illustrates the opportunities provided by densification and the challenges in construction for which Sika provides the solutions.
Office accommodation for 50,000 people, 4,000 apartments, 100 shops and restaurants, a hotel, schools, and parks. Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side is set to become a city within a city, complete with a 50-meter-high interactive art installation.
HOW DENSIFICATION WORKS
At USD 25 billion, Hudson Yards is the biggest private real-estate project in US history, and a textbook example of densification in construction in an urban environment. Until a few years ago, all you would have seen at this site on the Hudson River were Long Island Rail Road trains being marshaled. Now a huge platform has been erected across the marshaling yard, above which around 15 skyscrapers jut further into the sky with every week that passes. By the time the project is completed, around 1.7 million m2 of usable space will have been gained. Urban centers act like magnets. Worldwide, three million people a week move into cities; by 2050, seven out of ten people will live in an urban environment.
Sika's Solutions for Urban Construction:
High-performance concrete
Self-leveling mortars
Waterproofing systems
Sealings for insulation
Technical advice
Longevity of Sika technologies for reduced total costs of ownership
MORE COMFORT, GREATER SAFETY
When people live closer together, the requirementsthat buildings have to meet increase. Quality, safety, and sustainability become more important, as the Hudson Yards project shows. Given the stringent standards that skyscrapers have to meetin terms of strength, concrete becomes a key construction material. The site’s proximity to the Hudson River makes robust and reliable waterproofing a must. The skyscrapers’ glass facades must be able to withstand strong winds and steep fluctuations in temperature.
SUCCESS MODEL
Sika has the right technologies for all these challenges, from additives for high performance concrete and self-leveling mortars to waterproofing solutions and sealants for glass facade elements. But Sika is more than just a broad range of innovative products. The Group stands apart for its comprehensive, solution driven approach and technical experts, many of whom work in sales and provide professional advice to customers, frequently doing so on the construction sites themselves. Partnership begins at the planning phase, when specifications for the products that will be required are drawn up, and continues throughout the entire project.