The contemporary version of “Annie,” the 1982 film about a precocious orphan, opens nationwide on Friday with Quvenzhané Wallis in the title role and Jamie Foxx playing Will Stacks, the man who gives her a home. Like Oliver Warbucks before him, Stacks is a successful businessman, but his residence is nothing like Warbucks’s 130-room Versailles-inspired limestone palace in the first film. Instead he lives in a power penthouse with 360-degree views of Manhattan. Marcia Hinds, the film’s production designer, created the set on the 47th floor of the glass office tower at 4 World Trade Center — while it was still under construction. She recently explained to a reporter how her team managed to pull that off. (This interview has been edited and condensed.)

Q. Before we get into the details, tell me how you found the space.

A. Will Stacks, our Daddy Warbucks character, needed to be on top of the world. He’s a billionaire. He’s AT&T. We were in some beautiful homes, but none of them just wowed us. We were constantly pointing at 4 World Trade Center, saying, “Can’t we go there?” So the location manager, Tyson Bidner, got us in. It just was breathtaking — the terrace, the Freedom Tower in front of you; you look down at Memorial Park.

But it was completely raw.

­We walked into a space with exposed ceilings and a concrete floor. The windows were there and that’s why we were there.