Crews from Brasfield & Gorrie are looking to the past as they build to the future in downtown Birmingham. Work is well under way on a spectacular office tower that will be only the second building constructed in the area in more than a decade. When completed, One Federal Place will tie-in to the historic Federal Reserve Bank Building via a wall extension and monumental fountain.
“One Federal Place is a 12-story building, including a five-level parking garage, which will offer retail and restaurant space when finished,” said construction Superintendent Randy Morgan.
The structure is a combination of curtain wall, architectural pre-cast and granite imported from Europe.
“It’s been an interesting job because of all the challenges. There have been some delays due to the caissons. Downtown Birmingham is very unpredictable as far as the amount of rock you might hit, and where it’s located in proximity to different support structures, you may hit rock up close to the top of the ground. It’s hard to know the amount of time involved when you are dealing with caissons. We’ve encountered a little more rock than what we anticipated [7,500 cu. yds. of mass rock was removed], which at the time put us behind schedule,” Morgan explained.
Approximately 38,000 cu. yds. (29,053 cu m) of dirt had to be moved as crews began the demolition work to the site, which had previously served as a parking lot.
“We had to excavate down to the raw earth. Our engineers laid the building out and dug a hole into the ground over 20 ft. But first we had to drive all the H-piling. There’s just a lot you have to do to get things ready for the main construction,” Morgan noted.
According to Assistant Project Manager Matt McClure, “Once the caissons were handled, the elevator pits could be completed and we started with the foundation walls. They surround the entire building, including the parking deck. Once that was done, we could start on the elevated slab work, which started in the parking deck. It’s pretty complicated, because it’s a split-level structure.
“One very critical part of the construction is the setting of the penthouse structural steel framing.
“It’s very crucial in getting it down as soon as possible after topping out, in order to start the roofing activities,” added McClure.
Crews had to close in the penthouse structure with stud framing and apply external installation and finish system. The roofing is a single-ply system and the focus will be on the lower roofs while they make adjustments on the third floor. Both lower and upper towers have been designed, McClure said.
Equipment used on the job includes a Caterpillar 416C backhoe, two SK-405 tower cranes, two caisson drill rigs, a mobile crane, two SK 200SR/SK 135SR, dump trucks, Georgia buggies, swingstages, two rock drills during blasting activities, a Lull F-644 traverse forklift, a mobile crane and pile driver for shoring installation, and a concrete pump with a placing boom for upper elevated slabs.
McClure explained, when interviewed earlier this year, “There’s naturally a lot to keep up with on this project. The utilities are pretty much done, except for a storm sewage connection that shouldn’t be anything major. We started a few months ago on the exterior skin installation on the upper tower, which is a curtain-wall system. The pre-cast parapet is an architectural concrete band that runs around the top of the building. There’s also some around the third floor. The pre-cast has two finishes that mimic the look of granite to tie in with the old Federal Reserve Bank. On the north end of the third floor a small sloped metal roof will be installed to match the old copper tile roof on the older building. It will appear as if it has aged with time.
“We still have to re-do the surrounding sidewalks with concrete pavers with a concrete banding outline,” he said.
Subcontractors on site include AmeriSteel Corporation, Gate Pre-cast, Haymaker Electrical, Otis Elevator, Sunbelt Aluminum and Glass, Masonry Arts, and Shook & Fletcher Mechanical Contractors Inc., which handled the cooling and heating assignment.
“More than two-dozen sheet metal mechanics and pipe fitters will be needed as the building’s heating and cooling systems are installed. The cooling capacity of the building is 1,000 tons of air conditioning,” explained Shook & Fletcher President Gene Dikes.
“There’s a cooling tower on the roof. What we’ll have is condenser water piping that goes from the cooling tower down to the core of the structure. We’ll also be using a power crane to lift the equipment from floor to floor, with the air conditioning units and platforms with duct work and pumps. As for the overall piping, we’re looking at a total of about 600 ft. for a 12-story building,” he added.
According to Masonry Arts Project Manager Wade Giattina, “Our biggest challenge is probably the tight schedule, but we’re doing everything possible to meet the deadline. We’re doing the interior work and supplying exterior stone, so I’m also concerned about transporting the materials because it’s coming from Europe by boat and it’s cut to size. It truly has to be just right. You have to be extremely careful about cracks and breakage so we have to order extra material, just in case. We’re probably looking at more than 40,000 sq. ft. of granite and marble on this project.
“We’ll be using a Lull to move the stone from the parking deck to the scaffold. Then we will hand set the stone. I think when the work is done it will provide a nice transition with the connector wall to the other building.”
The first elevated slab has five different elevations to match the existing grades at the sidewalk. The lower tower (levels one through three) are stone veneer with masonry backup. The upper tower is a curtainwall system with integral stone. The project includes an extensive underslab drainage system, and waterproofing was installed because of below-grade levels. Brasfield & Gorrie self-performed the concrete/formwork package.
The law firm of Bradley, Arant, Rose & White will occupy half the building, renting office space on six floors. Other tenants have yet to be announced.
One Federal Place is a joint venture by The Atlanta-based Barry Realty Group and the Birmingham-based Sloss Realty. Construction is expected to be completed by late summer 2002.
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