FXCollaborative is leading the design effort to transform Penn Station from a cramped, crowded, and unwelcoming space, into a civic beacon of travel and transportation, befitting its role as North America's busiest passenger rail station. The station currently struggles with three times the passenger volume it served in the 1960s when the grand neo-classical Penn Station building widely regarded as a civic treasure was demolished and replaced by two unimaginative basement levels beneath Madison Square Garden and an office building. Despite piecemeal improvements over the years, the station today is outdated, poorly configured, highly congested, its finishes worn, its space constrained by a forest of legacy structural elements, and its building systems nearing the end of their useful life.
The Reconstruction Master Plan laid the foundation for major investment in the station, allowing it to maintain and expand operations, renew its infrastructure, improve its revenue stream, and re-establish it as the premier transportation center in the region. The plan evaluated both single-level and two-level alternatives that relieve overcrowding; improve passenger flow, safety, and security; rationalize station configuration and operations; increase revenue generation; improve passenger experience; unify the existing station with Moynihan Train Hall and a future expansion of the station; and address the existing deficiencies of building systems, platform and building egress, vertical circulation, lighting, finishes, and amenities.
In June 2023, FXCollaborative was thrilled to receive the support of Governor Kathy Hochul, MTA, Amtrak, and NJ Transit for our design and our continued leadership of the architectural team for a new Penn Station. We will direct the architectural vision and design for Penn Station and are excited to welcome collaborating architects John McAslan + Partners and Studio 397 to the team. Building on the Master Plan, and with the addition of both internationally renowned and local design talent, our team will deliver the world class Penn Station that New Yorkers, and all 600,000 daily passengers, deserve.
