OWNER: Brookfield Financial Properties, NYC
DESIGN ARCHITECT: Cesar Pelli & Associates, NYC
PRODUCTION ARCHITECT: Adamson Associates. Ontario
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers, NYC
MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING ENGINEER: Flack+Kurtz Inc.
SCAFFOLDING & SHORING CONTRACTOR: Atlantic-Heydt Corp., Maspeth, NY
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Turner Construction Co., NYC

Amidst the dust and debris at Ground Zero, another project team feverishly worked to restore a well-known structure damaged by falling debris from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. With a 12-month schedule, a difficult work environment and a desire to succeed, the project team for the reconstruction of the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center set out to accomplish a daunting task.

When the debris from the North Tower fell, it destroyed a bridge connecting the Winter Garden to the North Tower. When the bridge collapsed, it pulled on the eastern end of the Winter Garden, bending the semi-circular ring girder at the front of the building.

Since this was a primary support for the structure, the ring girder had to be "straightened." To do this, bent portions of the semi-circular girder were cut out and replaced in pieces.

Simultaneously, the New York City Department of Design & Construction postponed debris removal until the structure could be shored and braced to ensure the overall safety of the building and the surrounding area.

Immediate efforts were made by the project team to install shoring towers. This presented great difficulties because the weight of the structure had to be transferred, increasing the chances for even more damage or possibly structural collapse.

Repair and reconstruction was required to broken roof arches, floor framing, the lateral support system and the exterior. This daunting task was complicated by a tight schedule that mandated completion by September 11, 2002.

To preserve as much of the existing structure as possible, sophisticated analyses were performed which resulted in the development to repair the damaged but restorable elements of the structure and to distribute the jacking stresses to the undamaged portion of the structure.

This included construction of a trolley car system to replace the glass. This system consisted of a four-scaffold system over the roof arches. The trolley could move side to side and up and down along the exterior of the Winter Garden. This helped to expedite glass roof panel erection and used the roof shoring towers as support for a temporary, intermediate protective platform located between the main floor and the roof. This allowed for the simultaneous replacement of the skylight, the overhead glazing in the atrium and the stone work below. This system allowed the skylight to be installed in 18 weeks compared with 30 months it took to install it when the building was first constructed.

The rebuilding of the east facade used the contemporary Pilkington Curtain Wall Glass system rather than the original stone facade to facilitate the project.

To ensure that the project schedule would be met, the project team worked around the clock. In one instance, they went straight from design drawings to construction documents and in other instances they expedited material shipments, including the 60,000-sq.-ft. of Italian stone for the floor and walls.

A team approach was evident throughout the project. An emotional investment was made by hundreds of people who wanted the Winter Garden restored on time and better than it had been.

"The project team," the jury said, "took the Winter Garden from a structural nightmare to a complete project in a very short period of time. It is a good engineering project. Its completion gave a lift to the city and the design improved on the visibility from West Street."