Award of Merit: Renovation/Restoration
The $104-million project to rehabilitate New York City Hall's historical elements included a building-wide infrastructure system upgrade and enhancements to meet new fire and life safety codes. The first major renovation of the structure in nearly 100 years, the project team worked around city government activities, building tours and mayoral events. During construction, the City Council was displaced from the East Wing, but the West Wing remained occupied by the mayor and associated offices.
New basement and storage space was constructed under the occupied 200-year-old museum and city government facility. Through a series of underpinning operations, the entire northeast quadrant of the building was supported during the construction of the 5,000-sq-ft basement up to 25 ft below the existing structure.
Findings such as pottery, debris and graves located beneath the building and project site required that a team of historic preservationists monitor construction activities. This caused the project team to go slightly over budget and drew comments from one Best Projects judge. "If you look at the field conditions, they went over budget for a good reason," he said.
The team used micro-tunneling technology to run the building's electrical feed from an offsite vault to the new sub-basement.
New York City Hall Rehabilitation, New York
Key Players
Owner New York City Dept. of Design and Construction
Construction Manager Hill International Inc.
Lead Designer Beyer Blinder Belle
Structural Engineer Robert Silman Associates
MEP Engineer Lakhani & Jordan
