1095 AVENUE of the AMERICAS Look 30 Years Younger

1095 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS Look 30 Years Younger

Facing By stripping the existing structure Above Silver-painted mullions form a Below The designers developed a new of it’s antiquated skin and replacing it grid that unifies the exterior. clipping system that welds to the spandrel with a high-performance facade, the beam and clips to the facade panels. owner saved money on a new structure and on long-term operating costs.

As Manhattan’s large stock of shell. Originally designed by Kahn modernist skyscrapers from the & Jacobs and completed in 1974, 1960s and ’70s continues to age, the 40-story tower featured a black building owners are struggling to glass and white marble facade maintain the viability of their prop- that let in too much wind and erties in the face of competition not enough light. In addition, the with the next generation of office old induction units that ringed buildings. One of the ways that the perimeter of the floor plates developers are now tackling cut down on rentable space and this problem is by stripping their further separated tenants from light properties to the bone and re- and views. On the other hand, the cladding them with modern, high- primarily steel superstructure was performance curtain wall systems, sound and featured floor-to-ceiling a move that not only improves heights of 14 to 20 feet, which are energy efficiency but can open right in line with, if not greater than, interiors to a whole new world of contemporary expectations. After light and views. running the numbers, Equity made In 2005, when Chicago-based the decision to strip the building to Equity Office acquired 1095 Avenue its frame and refit it with up-to-date of the Americas, also known as the mechanical and cladding systems, Verizon Building, they recognized rather than knock it down and the potential of its prominent start from scratch. “For a Class-A Bryant Park location. But they also building today, high-performance realized that no major commercial glazing is key,” says Equity’s Bob tenant would dream of moving Winter. “It gives more efficiency

1095 Avenue of the Americas 33 Equity hired architects Moed achieve the architects’ goal of de Armas & Shannon (MdAS) and creating an extremely sheer surface Gensler to reclad 1095 in an all- for the new glass wall. Not only did glass skin and replace the induction the architects specify extra-thick units with an overhead displace- Viracon glass for the curtain wall ment ventilation system. But imple- units to cut down on distortions 3 menting this redesign required in the surface ( ⁄8-inch outer lite and 5 more than just inspired planning, ⁄16-inch inner lite), they developed it required creative construction a clip system that can be adjusted 1 management. For one, Verizon, the to ⁄32 of an inch. These steps anchor tenant, needed to continue allowed the new skin to absorb occupying its floors, 6 through 12, tolerances in the frame to create a while the building was taken apart truly flat plane. Workers using laser and put back together. Also, Equity surveying tools carefully positioned leased out most of the property’s each clip before attaching the wall remaining one million square feet to ensure this would happen. early in the process, giving tenants In order to meet the move-in move-in dates that severely dates of some tenants, Tishman strained the construction schedule. developed an innovative installation Taking these challenges in stride, sequence for the enclosure. The Tishman Construction got down curtain wall, fabricated by Benson, to work, developing an innovative is a stacking system designed approach to the job that met the to be erected from the bottom client’s needs and became a first up. But the schedule demanded for construction in New York City. that the upper floors be sealed Before they could put the new first. Accordingly, Tishman began skin on, Tishman had to remove installing the wall at various places the old one. Workers first stripped up the elevation, starting with the the metal and glass, recycling the section that went from the 31st floor metal and sending the glass to to the roof, followed by the 14th the landfill. Then they turned their floor to the 30th, and finally from the attention to a more complicated ground to 13. “By overlapping the component: the marble, which installation we saved eight months was glued to large precast panels. on the schedule,” explains Patricia The stone and concrete were sawn Hauserman, Tishman’s project apart and the stone was sent for director. To make this work, the reuse in road projects. With only team created what they termed limited recyclability, the concrete “zipper floors,” where each was broken up and carted off. section of the wall comes together. Before uncovering the Verizon At these floors the last panel that floors, Tishman erected temporary joins the two sections does not weather walls to keep the 160 have a spandrel. It rests in the employees stationed there spandrel below and clips into the comfortable. The contractor also one above. insulated the standpipes through- By preserving 1095’s structure out the building to keep the water and renovating it with contempo- available during the freezing rary cladding and mechanical winter months. Once the skin systems Equity didn’t just create was removed, workers cocooned Class-A office space, they also the floors, abated the asbestos, saved untold tons of materials and applied new fireproofing to the from winding up in the land fill. The steel structure. As this team moved beauty of this story is that it wasn’t on, the new curtain wall panels just the most environmentally were loaded onto the floors, ready responsible decision, but also to be installed. the most economic. “We saved on After the prep work was the cost of a new structure, as well finished, the new cladding system as on costs for demolition, new Facing and above The wall is a stacking was ready to be installed. The foundations, and having to negoti- system of unitized panels that slide into original plan had been to reuse the ate new zoning laws. That saves the panel below and clip in above. old imbeds to hang the new curtain a lot money,” says Winter. Thanks wall, however testing revealed that to the ease and speed with which they did not meet current code panelized curtain wall systems standards for wind loading. In can be fabricated and fitted to an response, the designers developed existing structure, especially one a new clip system: a steel compo- that is steel framed, this alternative nent that welds to the web of the to upgrading Manhattan’s building spandrel beam and clips to the stock is now a real possibility. M

1095 Avenue of the Americas 35 Facing and above By installing the wall starting at various heights along the elevation, the team was able to seal certain floors to meet client move-in dates.

1095 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS

Owner: Equity Office, Chicago, IL Architect: Moed de Armas & Shannon, New York, NY; Gensler, New York, NY Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates, New York, NY Mechanical Engineer: Cosentini Associates, New York, NY General Contractor: Tishman Construction, New York, NY Curtain Wall Consultant: Israel Berger & Associates, Inc., New York, NY Miscellaneous Steel Erector: Hallen Welding Service, Long Island City, NY Architectural and Ornamental Metal Erector: Melto Metal Products, Freeport, NY

1095 Avenue of the Americas 37