The redevelopment of New York Penn Station has moved into detailed design development with the selection of HNTB, an infrastructure engineering and transport systems design firm, HOK, a global architecture practice focused on major civic and transport projects, and Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), an architecture and urban design studio, as the lead design team for the station’s transformation.
The appointment places the architectural direction of the project in clearer hands for one of the busiest rail hubs in the Western Hemisphere, handling more than 600,000 daily riders. It comes after the selection of Penn Transformation Partners, a joint venture of Halmar, a heavy civil construction contractor, and Skanska as master developer under a federal procurement process led by Amtrak and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The arrangement separates oversight, delivery and design across different entities, moving the project further away from procurement decisions and into architectural development.
A station shaped by long pressure and repeated reset attempts
Penn Station’s current condition is tied closely to its history. The original McKim, Mead & White Beaux-Arts station was demolished in 1963 and replaced with the existing underground facility, which is constrained, overcrowded and no longer aligned with the scale of demand placed on it.
Moynihan Train Hall has added capacity for Amtrak and some Long Island Rail Road services, but much of the station still runs through the original underground structure. Multiple rail operators share the same constrained system, including New Jersey Transit and Amtrak, creating a layered operating environment that has accumulated over decades rather than being designed as a single whole.
Future regional rail expansions are expected to add further strain, reinforcing the need to rethink capacity, circulation and operational resilience together rather than in isolation.
A design approach built around reuse, not replacement
At the centre of the proposal is what PAU calls an “architecture of memory”, led by founder and creative director Vishaan Chakrabarti, an architect and urbanist who has worked on and followed discussions around Penn Station for many years.
The design does not begin with demolition. Instead, it builds from what is already there. Large parts of the existing structure are kept and reworked, with new elements added to change both how the station is used and how it is experienced at street level.
A parabolic train hall forms the main intervention. It brings daylight into the station, opens up circulation, and increases capacity. From here, the space extends into a continuous colonnade along Eighth Avenue, giving the station a clearer edge and reconnecting it to both the surrounding streets and Moynihan Station. The frontage is treated as a 450-foot civic stone façade, reshaping the station’s presence along Midtown’s street line.
Circulation, structure and how the station actually moves
Inside, the design replaces narrow, fragmented corridors with a more continuous concourse. A central stair links street level to the concourse, supported by escalators and lifts that are intended to ease vertical movement through the station.
The concourse is organised as a continuous space with wider circulation routes and ceiling heights of at least 20ft throughout. The design increases circulation space by 165%, alongside improved accessibility and upgraded passenger facilities.
Existing structure is not simply replaced. Columns linked to Madison Square Garden are incorporated into new stone entry porticos known as “McKim Vestibules”. Other structural elements are re-clad in bronze and brought into the train hall composition, while skylights pull daylight deeper into the interior.
Stone, bronze and glass form the dominant material palette, used in a way that prioritises durability and clarity over ornament.
Material references and civic language
The design draws on New York’s Art Deco legacy, the WPA era and broader civic architecture traditions, but stops short of replication. The intention is to work with those references rather than reproduce them.
At the centre sits a train hall more than 50ft high, where retail, dining and waiting areas are absorbed into a single continuous interior environment. The concourse functions as an open public level, with improved vertical circulation designed to reduce congestion and distribute passenger flow more evenly.
Restored elements from the original Penn Station, including bronze eagles, are reintroduced alongside new stone and terracotta detailing that adds another layer to the building’s historical references.
Project team and technical contributors
The project brings together a wide network of consultants and engineers working alongside the design team. HOK acts as managing architect, with Severud Associates responsible for structural engineering. HNTB is involved in rail operations and phasing, alongside Network Rail Consulting.
ME Engineers is handling mechanical systems, while Langan is responsible for surveying and geotechnical work. City ID and Pentagram are working on wayfinding and graphic design, L’Observatoire on lighting design, Lerch Bates on back-of-house planning, and the Public Art Fund as public art consultant.
The project is being delivered in phases, while the station continues to operate as a live transport interchange.
Design work is now underway, with construction expected to begin in 2027. The project now moves into detailed architectural development for a station that remains central to New York’s transport system and its long-term capacity planning.