The building was built on the One Columbus Plaza near the “New Haven Coliseum” stadium, which was used to play ice hockey and was demolished in 2007.
The Knights Tower was designed to house 700 employees. With its 98 meter high and 23 storeys, is the third tallest building in the skyline of the city. The mechanical and lighting systems are integrated in the structure; therefore, there are not false ceilings in the building, allowing a clearance work area of 3.66 meters of the almost 4 meters high between storeys.
The building has 5 towers: 4 exterior and one interior tower where the lift wells are. But the main peculiarity is the place of the four vertical concrete cylinders in the four corners of the building, inside which are the stairs and the toilets. The columns are covered with a kind of silo paving stone of about 77 and 84 cm2 and of a bronze tone, that serve for balancing the vertical force of the towers, while the darker paving stones agreed with the color of the steel.
The four cylinders are connected by longitudinal girders of around 27 meters. The girders formed the steel frameworks that support the different levels and whish are fixed to the central core and the exterior towers. Kevin Roche, after many discussions with the captain of fire brigade, persuaded him to allow the installation of the girders without fire protection, because they are part of the façade. That fact is highlighted by glass walls that are 1,5 meters offset from the line of the girders, whereas the intermediate space is equipped by a brise-soléis.
The main hall and the two service mezzanine stood out as distinguish elements in the lower part of the façade, giving the other twenty-one levels a homogeneous rhythm, as far as they ascend to the top.
The wish of Kevin Roche was to create a building with a strong vertical appearance from the square and that was used as reference point to the entry of New Haven from the motorway.
The Knights Tower was designed to house 700 employees. With its 98 meter high and 23 storeys, is the third tallest building in the skyline of the city. The mechanical and lighting systems are integrated in the structure; therefore, there are not false ceilings in the building, allowing a clearance work area of 3.66 meters of the almost 4 meters high between storeys.
The building has 5 towers: 4 exterior and one interior tower where the lift wells are. But the main peculiarity is the place of the four vertical concrete cylinders in the four corners of the building, inside which are the stairs and the toilets. The columns are covered with a kind of silo paving stone of about 77 and 84 cm2 and of a bronze tone, that serve for balancing the vertical force of the towers, while the darker paving stones agreed with the color of the steel.
The four cylinders are connected by longitudinal girders of around 27 meters. The girders formed the steel frameworks that support the different levels and whish are fixed to the central core and the exterior towers. Kevin Roche, after many discussions with the captain of fire brigade, persuaded him to allow the installation of the girders without fire protection, because they are part of the façade. That fact is highlighted by glass walls that are 1,5 meters offset from the line of the girders, whereas the intermediate space is equipped by a brise-soléis.
The main hall and the two service mezzanine stood out as distinguish elements in the lower part of the façade, giving the other twenty-one levels a homogeneous rhythm, as far as they ascend to the top.
The wish of Kevin Roche was to create a building with a strong vertical appearance from the square and that was used as reference point to the entry of New Haven from the motorway.
