4 unique features of the newest addition to Newark skyline

Prudential's new tower officially opened this week.

NEWARK -- About 3,000 Prudential Financial employees are working in a new 20-story tower the company officially opened in a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week.

The 309-foot tall building includes several unique architectural features that company executives say reflect the culture of the 140-year-old company.

"Prudential's culture (is not) ostentatious," Senior Vice President of Enterprise Services and Financial Systems Richard Hummers said at the building's official opening. "We wanted (the building) to be current, contemporary, and state-of-the-art. We wanted it to be iconic, but we didn't want it to be...flashy."

Some of the building's most standout features include:

1. All that glass

The new tower is covered in glass from bottom to top. According to Prudential, there are about 400,000 exterior windows, and 800 more in the interior atrium. Altogether, the building has about 300,000 square feet of glass outside, and 10,000 square feet inside.

The outside glass, Prudential said, is a low-iron variety with a low-E energy efficiency coating, a part of the company's plan to apply for a federal building certification for energy efficiency.

The north and south sides of the building are connected by a large glass atrium containing 32 bridges workers can use to travel back and forth.

The building's green wall. (Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

2. Work it out

In addition to offices and meeting rooms, the building is equipped with several workout areas. A 3,700 square foot gym includes treadmills and other machinery, and the tower's 50,000 square foot rooftop terrace includes a jogging path that overlooks the city.

3. Zen gardens

The tower's got three zen gardens - two inside and one outside. They are designed, Prudential representatives said, to represent "the connection and friendship (between) our international businesses and the USA, (and) our past and our future."

4. The green wall

It's art meets a logo meets a piece of environmental appreciation. The building's plaza features a 60 by 30-foot green wall made of eight different types of plants. The piece depicts Prudential's Rock of Gibraltar logo. Plants in the mix include pachysandra, sedum ternatum (also called the three-leaved stonecrop), carex "morrowll," phlox subulata, heuchera Americana, heuchera "purple palace," euonymus "green and gold," and euonymus "kewensis."