Best of 2005 Awards

Ann Taylor Corporate Headquarters

Award of Merit: Interior Fit Out

The complexity of constructing retail space on the upper floors of an office building, rather than the typical ground-level location, is the main factor that made the Ann Taylor corporate headquarters worthy of an award, according to the Best of 2005 judges.

"With retail work on the first or second floor, you don't have to use the elevator for your cased goods," one judge said. "When you're putting retail spaces up in an office building, that's very difficult."

The 300,000-sq.-ft. project for the women's clothier involved interior construction on 12 floors of the 7 Times Square office building in Manhattan, with eight floors of office space for 900 employees, a floor that has the retail store layouts, and additional floors for executive, cafeteria, and support functions. The $35 million project finished in July, on time and under budget.

The project entailed building 3,000-sq.-ft. "labs" that mimic Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft stores, allowing employees to review store appearance and layout before introducing products in retail locations.

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Each headquarters floor has about 24,000 sq. ft. One has a presentation center with 20-ft.-high ceilings and a 7,000-sq.-ft. cafeteria seating about 160 people, with a coffee bar and a warming pantry because the food is not cooked onsite.

The project team also installed a fully integrated voice and data system with a main distribution center on one floor and satellite stations on other floors.

Ann Taylor added a wrinkle to the project by asking the contractor team to employ as many women-owned businesses as possible. The company makes an effort to support women in business because more than 90 percent of its employees - and all of its customers - are women.

The contractor met the goal by breaking the project into smaller components so that subcontractors of varying sizes could compete for work. As a result, 15 percent of the subcontracting work went to business enterprises owned by women, including New York-based firms such as Egg Electric, Donnelly Mechanical, and Mac Felder Plumbing.

In addition, the increased competition among subcontractors resulted in lower bids and reduced costs for the project, according to the construction manager, John Gallin & Son of New York.

The team also managed through six separate move-in dates for the Ann Taylor staff, a change of use and public assembly permit, and 12 separate certificate of occupancy sign-offs - planned to ensure that the phased move-in could take place even if one floor were to fall behind schedule. More than 100 subcontractors in more than 40 trades worked on the job.

Key Players

Owner: Ann Taylor

Construction Manager: John Gallin & Son

Engineer: Meyer, Strong & Jones

Architect: Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum

Electric: Egg Electric

HVAC: Donnelly Mechanical

Plumbing: Mac Felder Plumbing

Project Management: WG Project Management

Lighting Designer: Syska Hennessy