Hudson Yard — The Shed

The Shed at Hudson Yards: A Revolutionary Cultural Space

The Shed, located at Hudson Yards in New York City, is an innovative cultural facility designed to adapt to the ever-changing needs of artists and audiences. The project, spearheaded by Culture Shed Lessee LLC, with Diller Scofidio + Renfro as Lead Architect and Rockwell Group as Collaborating Architect, is a testament to modern architectural and engineering excellence.

8200 tons

of steel

18,5 million m²

of floor space

$500 million

construction cost

Overview

The Shed is composed of two main elements: a fixed building and a movable shell, known as The McCourt. The fixed structure measures approximately 46 meters in length, 37 meters in width, and stands 33 meters tall. The McCourt, on the other hand, is a 39-meter high movable shell that can cover an area of 37 meters by 44 meters when deployed. This mobility allows the facility to transform into a vast, climate-controlled space for large-scale performances, installations, and events.

Innovative Design

The Shed’s total covered area spans over 3,293 square meters, with the Bloomberg Building accounting for 200,000 square feet of innovative cultural space. The McCourt, when fully deployed, provides a 17,000-square-foot hall capable of hosting up to 2,220 seated guests or 1,200 standing spectators in the lower McCourt.

Features

The building’s distinctive feature is its ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) panels, which are some of the largest ever produced, measuring up to 21 meters in length. These panels provide the thermal insulation of glass but at a fraction of the weight, allowing natural light to flood the space while withstanding extreme weather conditions, including hurricane-force winds.

Cultural and Urban Impact

The Shed is not just a building; it’s a dynamic cultural hub that transforms its environment. It serves as a versatile venue where art, architecture, and urban life converge, creating a space that is both a passageway and a destination. When retracted, the space beneath The McCourt becomes an open-air plaza, offering a public venue for visual arts, as exemplified by Lawrence Weiner's site-specific work, IN FRONT OF ITSELF.