Dispute Resolved, World Trade Center is Tallest in US

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After two years of debate and controversy, 1World Trade Center was officially certified as the tallest building in the United States today.

A 408-foot spire on top of the tower, due to open next year, will count toward the official height of the building, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat announced, resolving a dispute which involved the developers, architects and supporters of the building.

The tower was designed to reach the symbolic height of 1,776 feet, which would also surpass the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago as the tallest building in the country. But the official height was called into question last year when the developers redesigned the structure that sits on top of the tower.

The Council on Tall Buildings, the Chicago-based non-profit group which tracks building heights around the world, includes architectural spires on buildings as part of the height measurement, but not antennas and other temporary structures. The antennas on the top of Willis Tower, for example, don't count toward the height.

When the cladding was removed from the WTC's spire last year, the role of the structure was called into question. Without the spire, WTC (which is no longer called Freedom Tower) would fall far short of Willis tower's 1,368-foot height.

But the CTBUH height committee, comprised of 30 industry executives, concluded the structure is part of the architecture of the tower.

"Even though the cladding was taken off the spire, you can still see that it is an architectural element," said Antony Wood, executive director of the CTBUH. "It is not just a plain steel mast from which to hang antenna or satellite dishes."

The debate about the tower's design was fueled last year when David Childs, lead designer for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on the project, criticized the change in the spire.

"We are disappointed that a decision has been made to remove the sculptural enclosure at the top of 1 World Trade Center," Mr. Childs wrote. "Eliminating this integral part of the building's design and leaving an exposed antenna and equipment is unfortunate."
But the CTBUH height committee decided the spire is still a permanent part of the building.

"The building is in fact 1,776 feet," said Timothy Johnson, chairman of the council. "We don't believe the spire will ever be removed."