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Built to last: Brickell office tower’s windows exceed Florida building codes A developer has shelled out millions to strengthen the glass walls of his Brickell Avenue office project. BY CURTIS MORGAN After Hurricane Wilma raked Miami four years ago, developer Alan Ojeda picked his way down Brickell Avenue to survey his new apartment project, One Broadway. Glass from shattered skyscrapers was everywhere, covering streets and One Broadway’s roof and balconies. His high-rise – built to the latest codes with laminated windows designed to endure “small missiles” like roof gravel – had escaped unscathed. Still, the surrounding damage troubled Ojeda. Crews spent days shoveling fist-sized shards off the 36-story roof – bigger junk whirling higher than South Florida’s vaunted hurricane coded addresses for high-rises. Now, with Wilma’s lesson in mind, Ojeda is putting the finishing touches on another new building, 1450 Brickell. His company bills it as the most wind-resistant glass-sided office tower in the nation. In a marketing release, its exterior wall contractor claims it withstood pressure tests in the lab equating to a 327-mph gust. “The first thing we decided was we needed to protect the building,” said Ojeda, chief executive of Miami-based Rilea Group. “Obviously, the hurricane proved what the code says is not enough.” In what building experts said appears to be a first in Florida for a commercial tower, the entire 35-story facade is being constructed with “large missile” impact glass, an upgrade Photo of 1450 Brickell nearing completion. adding millions to the $250 million project. Required for www.1450brickell.com To a large degree, Wilma did the worst damage to towers erected before a strengthed 2000 code mandating windows with layers of plastic laminate. Buildings with those, including One Broadway, actually weathered Wilma well. TOO RISKY But Wilma was a 100-mph storm, not a major hurricane, and Ojeda decided that what worked in an apartment – built with balconies and concrete block – was too risky for an all-glass, high-end office high-rise. 1450 Brickell’s 14th-floor sky deck “You have to look at it in a different way. You have to look at it as a body of glass,” he said. “Small missile is homes but only on the first 30 feet of taller buildings, the good. But what is better?” glass can withstand strikes from a nine-pound 2-by-4 stud. He and his contractors stress they aren’t claiming they’ve There are some questions about the stunning 327-mph built an unbreakable glass fortress that will survive a major wind calculation. The director of the testing lab, A.A. hurricane without a window cracked or blown out. “Sak” Sakhnovsky, whose Construction Research There is no way of knowing what might be flying around Laboratory in Miami pioneered testing building designs the next time one hits. against the elements, acknowledged that “it’s probably a bit of a stretch.” But the building does exceed the nation’s toughest wind code. Ojeda is banking that his investment – the glass But Sakhnovsky also said the building, expected to open added millions, about $30 to $40 a square foot, to curtain early next year, raises the bar on wind resistance. wall costs – will pay off for his company and tenants over coming hurricane seasons. “It was designed for extremely big loads, probably higher loads than we have ever tested,” he said. The state has upgraded some window codes since 2005, the Building Commission’s Dixon said – but mainly to Despite questions from many engineers and building reduce water leaks. To address flying debris, the standards officials after Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma blew out for attaching objects like satellite dishes were also thousands of building windows from Miami to Fort substantially increased, he said. Lauderdale, window codes haven’t changed much since 2005. “Small missile” windows – tested by firing pea-sized ball bearings at panes – remain the high-rise standard. “If they are actually using glass that would pass the large-missile test, that’s not something I have seen,” said Tim Reinhold, vice president of engineering for the insurance-industry-supported Institute for Business and Home Safety in Tampa. “To me, that sounds like a very positive step.” Rick Dixon, executive director of the Florida Building Commission, which revises statewide building codes, said that level of protection typically applies only to facilities considered critical such as hospitals. 1450 Brickell is located in the heart of Miami’s Brickell Financial District www.1450brickell.com Miami-Dade, whose codes Broward also uses, tweaked the had to put them on steroids,” said Lee Steffens, project code to require laminated or tempered glass for insulated executive for St. Louis-based Enclos. windows above 30 feet. The change, which went into effect in 2007, is intended to cut down on large flying shards that While the tougher glass adds a margin for debris, it’s the likely triggered the cascade of breakage in Hurricane entire assembly that increases wind resistance, Steffens said. Wilma, said Jamie Gascon, chief of product control for “Your skin can take so much pressure on it, but in the end Miami-Dade’s building code compliance office. it’s your skeleton that holds you up.” Gascon said county records show 1450 Brickell’s glass was The 327-mph mark, Steffens said, came from a standard test approved for a small-missile standard but is similar in design that briefly exposes a glass system to pressures 50 percent to laminates commonly used for large-missile windows. over design capacity. But Gascon said county records showed test pressure “CURTAIN WALL” equated to “more in the neighborhood” of a still-impressive 220-230 mph. To handle the glass, Enclos Corp., which designed and installed 1450 Brickell’s exterior or “curtain wall” – “There seems to be a clear question as to how they derive the outer framing system that is a standard construction that 327,” said Gascon. method for modern glass skyscrapers – also had to beef up everything else. The glass also cuts energy costs, Ojeda said. “Wilma happened. It’s not that it happened when we were kids. Bolts are heavier gauge. Aluminum framing is thicker and It can happen again,” Ojeda said. “If you view things in wider. More silicon is used to hold and seal panes. Anchors the long term, you know that if you cut corners, you will that attach the wall to the concrete core, “we’ve basically wind up paying for it.” 1450 Brickell’s striking lobby will maximize the use of natural light. www.1450brickell.com Developed by: About 1450 Brickell 1450 Brickell is a 35-story, 582,817 square-foot ‘Class-A’ office tower in Miami, Florida’s Brickell Financial District. The building offers both commercial office and ground-level retail space and is located in one of the City’s least congested areas, offering convenient in-and-out access, as well as sweeping views of Biscayne Bay. The Tower, which is the first pre-certified LEED Gold ‘Class-A’ office building in Miami’s Central Business District, is comprised of flexible floor plates ranging in For leasing information, please contact: size from 23,912 to 26,411 square-feet. 1450 Brickell is developed by Miami-based Rilea Group, a full-service real estate development firm that has been developing real estate projects in South Florida since 1981. Learn more at www.1450Brickell.com. BLANCA COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE, INC. 1428 Brickell Avenue, Suite 302 At A Glance Miami, FL 33131 • 35-story, 582,817 square-foot ‘Class-A’ office tower T: (305) 577-8850 • Pre-certified LEED Gold F: (305) 577-8853 • Developed by Rilea Group, designed by NBWW & Associates www.blancacre.com • Floor plates range from 23,912 to 26,411 square-feet Tere Blanca [email protected] • One of the nation’s strongest curtain wall (305) 577-8851 window systems • Well-located in the heart of Miami’s Brickell Danet Linares Financial District [email protected] (305) 577-8852 Licensed Real Estate Broker www.1450brickell.com.