Worcester, MA
Verizon Building
Scope/Solutions
The Verizon Building in Worcester houses offices and a telephone switching station. Verizon wanted to rehabilitate the deteriorating facade of its 1929, seven-story Art Deco-style building. The project architect recommended replacing the deteriorated limestone facade with precast concrete that would maintain the appearance of the building and SGH designed the supports for the new panels.
While the original limestone blocks measured 8 in. thick, the new precast concrete panels were only 4 in. thick to accommodate a new thermal and water barrier system. We designed custom connections to secure the precast concrete panels. For this project, SGH completed the following:
- Developed a solution to attach the precast concrete panels to the building through the thermal/waterproofing barrier
- Determine the configuration of each of the existing limestone blocks and located connections for new panels by using the general contractor’s field dimensions and precast fabricator’s shop drawings
- Detailed both lateral and vertical connections for every panel, which also attached adjacent panels to each other
- Specified new steel columns located within sections of the mass masonry throughout the facade
- Devised over 7,500 custom steel components welded to the columns with connectors slotted into the panels
- Detailed the connectors to be adjustable to allow on-site adjustment during construction
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Project Summary
2012
Completion Date
Solutions
Repair & Rehabilitation | Preservation
Services
Building Enclosures | Structures
Markets
Commercial
Client(s)
NER Construction Management, Inc.
Specialized Capabilities
Repair & Strengthening | Condition Assessments | Preservation
Key team members
Additional Projects
Northeast
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Bangor Savings Bank was looking to consolidate their operations by constructing a new headquarters with a five-story office building and a four-story parking garage. SGH served as the prime consultant, structural engineer, and functional designer for the parking garage.
Northeast
75 State Street
The use of gold leaf in Boston dates back nearly 300 years. This material, however, was untried and unproven on a large scale for modern buildings until the construction of 75 State Street in the late 1980s. SGH evaluated the technology and its applicability to the granite for the building.