American Copper Buildings almost done

New York

WORKERS have almost completed mounting the copper panelling on the American Copper Buildings (née 626 First Avenue), the new tilting, two-towered development on Manhattan's East Side, but their most striking feature - a three-storey, 100 foot (30 m) long skybridge - is still open to the elements. On Tuesday, a Bloomberg photographer (and a laughably height-averse reporter) had the chance to take the construction elevator up to the buildings' 29th, and then 49th floors, to get a first look.

The towers, which were designed by SHoP Architects (also known for Brooklyn's love-it-or-hate-it Barclays Center) and developed by the luxury mega-developer JDS Development Group, will be made up entirely of rental units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms.