USA - This month, Rockefeller Centre welcomes its newest addition to New York City: Skylift, perched on top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Tishman Speyer, working in partnership with the designers at THG Creative, created a feat of engineering brought to life by the technology-enabled storytellers at TAIT, known for their work on music tours, spectaculars, and attractions around the world.
Skylift allows groups of visitors to be lifted and rotated 30ft above the 70th floor of 30 Rock, also known as Top of the Rock Observation Deck. This offers ‘an unparalleled view’ of the city and a perspective looking down into the streets below. Once elevated, the platform revolves for a 360-degree viewing experience and a panoramic photo moment.
Jim Shumway, vice president - project delivery at TAIT, said, “We welcomed the opportunity to tackle a project with such exciting challenges, all of which were overcome by the amazing team assembled. We’re proud of the engineering, fabrication, logistics, and installation expertise we brought to Skylift, along with the TAIT Navigator Automation Platform and Show Control System. We are delighted and humbled to finally see guests enjoying the efforts of this phenomenal team.”
Designed to run 16 hours a day, 365 days a year, Skylift required extensive engineering to ensure it can withstand the seasonal extremes of Manhattan’s unpredictable weather. Seismic and wind loading concerns added to the challenge, but with TAIT’s decades of experience creating machinery for attractions around the world, Skylift has been engineered to last via extensive fatigue analysis.
The large machinery required to achieve the full vision of Skylift had to be disassembled into pieces that would fit into Rockefeller Centre’s passenger elevators to reach the top floor of the building before reassembly on the roof.
"As soon as Tishman Speyer approved our design for Skylift, we knew that we needed an outstanding team of fabricators and engineers to make the vision become a reality," said Phil Hettema, founder and CEO of THG Creative. "There were a number of challenges that TAIT helped us overcome when it came to building such a magnificent attraction on top of a landmarked building, and the collaboration was integral to our successful launch of Skylift. We could not be more thrilled with the magic that we were able to create with TAIT in building this dazzling addition to New York City's iconic skyline."
At night, Skylift features a spectacular display of over 50,000 LED lights, built into the art-deco style facade. Created by engineers, designers, and scenic artists in both the UK (Wakefield and Suffolk), and the US at the company’s headquarters in Lititz, PA, TAIT took on extraordinary technical challenges to help bring Skylift to life, both in the machine design and scenic finishes guests interact with daily.
“Rockefeller Centre is full of amazing experiences, but none quite as breathetaking as Skylift,” said EB Kelly, senior managing director at Tishman Speyer and head of Rockefeller Centre. “The thrilling experience of revolving 900ft above ground for 360-degree views, eye to eye with skyscrapers in the beating heart of New York City, is one no visitor will forget. Skylift is the crown jewel of our revitalization of Rockefeller Center, which has brought a new vibrancy and energy to every corner of campus.”
