Hudson Yards · New York · NY

One Hudson Yards

Wide-plank engineered oak across a full residential tower, where slab flatness and delivery logistics governed the schedule more than the flooring itself.

Why engineered, at this width

A seven-inch board expands and contracts across its width roughly forty percent more than a five-inch board over the same humidity swing. In a glass tower with radiant heat and winter interior humidity that regularly drops below 25 percent, solid stock at that width would gap visibly by February of the first year.

Engineered construction crosses the grain in the core so the seasonal movement largely cancels. The wear layer specified here can be sanded twice, which covers the realistic life of the floor.

Slab flatness

New high-rise slabs are poured to a structural tolerance, not a flooring tolerance, and the two are not the same number. Every unit was surveyed with a laser and a ten-foot straightedge before material was released to that floor.

Self-leveling was poured where readings fell outside tolerance. Wide plank is less forgiving than narrow — a dip that a three-inch board bridges will cause a seven-inch board to rock and eventually break its adhesive bond.

Logistics

Material for a full tower does not stage on site. Deliveries were sized to the floors in active turnover and coordinated with the construction manager’s hoist schedule, which in practice meant the flooring calendar was set by elevator availability.

Full-spread adhesive over primed slab throughout. Nail-assist is not available over concrete, and at this width adhesive is the only fastening method that holds the centre of the board flat.