American Copper Buildings, Residential tower complex in Murray Hill, Manhattan, United States.
The Copper consists of two residential towers in Murray Hill: the west tower rises 540 feet (160 m) and the east tower 470 feet (140 m). Their north and south facades are clad in copper panels, while the east and west sides are floor-to-ceiling glass. A three-story skybridge on floors 27–29, about 300 feet above ground, links the towers.
The site held Consolidated Edison's Kips Bay Generating Station before Sheldon Solow sold the plot to JDS and Largo in 2013 for $172 million. JDS built the towers from 2014 to 2016, applying the first copper cladding in mid-2015 and starting the skybridge installation in January 2016. The west tower opened in April 2017 and the east tower in late 2018.
The towers' name comes from their copper cladding, which oxidizes from bright metal to dark brown and finally verdigris, a pale gray-green like celadon. The architects staggered the panels in patterns radiating from the skybridge, so the color change reads as texture across the facades.
The towers stand at 626 First Avenue in Murray Hill, between East 35th and 36th Streets near the East River. Interiors, including the skybridge pool and lounges, are for residents only, but the copper-and-glass facades and the leaning profile are visible from the street and from the waterfront across First Avenue.
The skybridge's steel trusses weigh up to 421,000 pounds (191,000 kg) and span 100 feet (30 m) on floors 27 to 29. Its glass carries an aluminum mesh interlayer that cuts solar gain, so from outside it reads as an opaque band rather than a window.
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