Moynihan Train Hall Facade

The adaptive reuse and historic restoration of Moynihan Train Hall has transformed NYC’s Farley Building, a former post office originally opened in 1914, into an expansion of Penn Station, the busiest transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere. The Beaux-Arts style building flanked with Corinthian columns was built as an architectural accompaniment to the original Penn Station which was completely razed in the 1960s and replaced with a fully underground transportation facility.

Looking to restore the luster of the historic landmark and provide an expansion site for New York City’s transit space constraints, Moynihan Train Hall now provides a new headhouse with access to Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road platforms. Centered between Eighth Avenue, Ninth Avenue, 31st Street, and 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, the $1.6 billion infrastructure renovation project has brought a new sophistication to Penn Station. The state-of-the-art site contains over an acre of glass roof skylights suspended above a modern central atrium, aisles of mixed-use retail space, and a new 320-seat waiting area. Yet, the Farley Building’s 200,000 square-foot stone façade, 700 windows, copper roof, steel trusses, and many other unique historic details were fully restored during construction.

Facade Engineering

McLaren Engineering Group worked with Genesis Architectural to provide both external and internal glass and metal facade elements throughout Moynihan Train Hall.

Exterior Renovations

For the exterior turn-of-the-century steel arches between 31st & 33rd Street entrances, our facade engineering team provided design of the curved metal panels, framing, and connections to the support structure/facade.

Internal Enhancements

Inside Moynihan Train Hall, McLaren was responsible for the design of interior storefront systems throughout the structure including all glass analysis and connections to the main building. Additionally, the team provided glass door and framing design, elevator enclosure metal panel design and framing, aluminum framing design for the security window, Amtrak ticketing area support, and design of the sill at the south waiting retail area.

The Facade Engineering Division also worked with Above All Storefronts on a number of separate projects including the design of metal panels to support Moynihan’s screenwalls, mechanical screens, skylight curb panels, and interior storefront design that included the glazing, Euro-Wall, NanaWall, and steel support framing.