One Vanderbilt Avenue

Soaring 427 m (1,401 ft) into the New York City skyline, One Vanderbilt Avenue is the tallest office tower in midtown Manhattan and the city’s fourth largest skyscraper. Its striking tapered pointed tower has gained prominence amidst New York City’s most iconic buildings. Situated in the city’s premier business district and connected to Grand Central Station, One Vanderbilt Avenue offers tenants an innovative and contemporary space.

In addition to meeting New York City requirements for buildings to be ‘topped off,’ the client wanted to light the building’s crown and spire with colorful lighting that could easily be changed to recognize holidays, sporting events, special occasions, foundations, and to foster a connection with the public.

Completed in Spring 2021, One Vanderbilt Avenue is the first building of its kind to implement a full Color Kinetics IntelliHue lighting system, including Color Kinetics ColorGraze IntelliHue Powercore and Color Kinetics ReachElite High Punch Powercore, IntelliHue.

Edge lighting is achieved with continuous runs of ColorGraze luminaires. The 305 mm (1 ft) grazing fixtures spaced 2 m (6 ft) apart are mounted to the catwalks on the inside of the curtain wall glass 457 mm (18 in) off the glass and to the steel beams on the outside of the curtain wall. ReachElite High Punch fixtures mounted 1.2 m (4 ft) off the glass and spaced 1 m (3 ft) apart deliver flood lighting to the impressive structure.

Interact Landmark enables building management to remotely monitor and manage the dynamic lighting system from a smartphone, tablet, or PC from anywhere and at any time. A Pharos controller is also integrated into the system. Color Kinetics Data Enabler Pro delivers power and data to the connected system.

The combination of superb service and confidence in Color Kinetics solutions is what sets Color Kinetics apart. Beyond the inherent importance of Color Kinetics high-quality, color-changing, end-to-end lighting solutions, the success of the project also relied on the ‘do-whatever-it-takes’ approach of the Color Kinetics team - an easy-to-work-with partner that supports the project, clearly communicates, and provides expert consultation before, during, and after installation. For example, creating lighting content for the project involved a highly collaborative process in which the Color Kinetics team customized light shows that reflected the customer’s wishes. Now, the building automatically lights up on pre-determined dates in the right colors, including the iconic blue and white stripes of the New York Yankees.

"My team and I worked closely with Signify on the illumination of the top of the Tower over the course of several years. With their extensive programming knowledge, they were able to bridge the gap between our vision and the client’s wish list for special events and holiday scenes. The entire process was efficient and enormously rewarding." - Suzan Tillotson, Tillotson Design Associates

One Vanderbilt Avenue is a stunning addition to the New York City skyline, where most of the color-changing buildings shine brightly with Color Kinetics lighting.