Madison Square Garden

Since moving to its current location in 1968, “The World’s Most Famous Arena” has been home to the New York Knicks and Rangers and has hosted concerts for countless popular celebrities. Built on the site of the original Penn Station over railroad tracks that remained active during construction, the Garden is supported by existing columns that were reinforced for additional load as well as new columns that were carefully located between the tracks below. Severud Associates’ structural design of the Garden incorporates other complex features that include the 150-foot high, 404-foot diameter roof. Forty-eight cables radiate from a center tension connector to an exterior compression ring and support the largest tension roof of its kind. This ingenious design eliminates the need for interior supports—allowing clear views from every seat—while the mechanical plant that sits atop the roof acts as a mass damper, resisting wind uplift and attenuating vibrations.