Project of the Year - Restoration

140 West Street

The intricacy and detail of the work on the historic façade and interiors of 140 West Street - and on the critical communications hub inside the building - astounded the jury, earning it top honors in its category and strong consideration for overall project of the year.

"The [effort] focused on restoring the art deco - they did an outstanding job there," said one jury member. "But the amount of technical work and cables they had to install there was tremendous."

The $1.4 billion restoration of the historic structure - now known as the Verizon Building - wraps up by year's end, more than three years after the fall of the Twin Towers across the street in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The brick and limestone tower, originally developed in 1927 for the New York Telephone Co., was the first art deco skyscraper, showcasing ornamental limestone and detailed exterior design panels.

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But as spectacular as the building's features were, its role in the neighborhood was even more significant as the base for 1,000 Verizon employees and as a behind-the-scenes communications hub for thousands of residents - linking more than 4.4 million voice and data lines in the downtown area.

In the days immediately following Sept. 11, the first responsibility of the project team, led by Tishman Interiors Corp. as construction manager, was to coordinate with more than 1,600 Verizon technicians onsite to restore communications systems. Debris from the fallen towers had severed the foundation of the property, causing massive structural and mechanical damage. In various spots, beams had penetrated the cable vault, gas lines, sewer lines, and a water line, which caused serious flooding.

"The damage went from the lowest subbasements up to the seventh floor," said a jury member.

The construction team first addressed the damage by pumping out more than 20 million gallons of water from the basement. It then installed emergency power generators and put telecommunications systems back in place. That effort also involved installing new 400-ton chillers to ensure that the new telephone and switch equipment stayed operational. By most accounts, those efforts restored nearly 95 percent of service to the area within two weeks of the attacks.

"The amount of work they had to do - making decisions on the fly on restoring systems and the exterior work - was unbelievable," said a jury member. "They had to find the connections, splice them, put them out on the street, and get the communications up and running."

Once the building was functional in the most basic sense, the construction team launched a massive electrical upgrade of new 12,500-kva, 480-volt service, as well as new transformer vaults, network protectors, switchgear, and 480-volt distribution throughout the building. It also installed new water and fire protection services and upgrades for the existing steam system, along with a new 3,200-ton chiller plant and riser system, six new 63,000-cfm handling units, and seven cooling towers.

"This project's use of technology was outstanding," said a jury member. "It's not the scale - it's the complexity."

But the construction team's biggest challenge over the project duration was meshing that redevelopment of 600,000 sq. ft. of new technology and office space with the restoration of the historic façade and lobby. Among the key players on that team along with Tishman was William F. Collins AIA Architects LLP of Setauket, N.Y. It assembled a team of 30 conservators, technicians, and artists, including Brooklyn-based Excalibur Sculpture Bronze Foundry, which reconstructed the 72-ft. entrance on Washington Street, and Petrillo Stone Corp., of Mount Vernon, N.Y., which carved 5,000 sq. ft. of decorative limestone and granite on the south and east facing walls.

The conservation effort replaced more than 1,800 windows, 520,000 bricks, 22,500 concrete blocks, and 93 tons of structural steel on the façade. It also involved incredibly detailed craftsmanship to restore the 210-ft. long vaulted ceiling. Artists painted more than 500 lin. ft. of floral decorative panels to replace the original displays destroyed in the attacks, while technicians used hypodermic needles to complete the intricate plaster and paint work on the vast lobby murals. The overall effort ultimately earned plaudits from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.