MERRILL LYNCH HEADQUARTERS
PROJECT:
2 & 4 World Financial Center
New York, NY
NATURE OF PROJECT:
Blast Mitigation
SCOPE OF PROJECT:
Install 7-mil clear fragment retention film to all exterior facing glass
Sq.Ft. of glass protected – 358,500
Number of windows protected- more than 11,000 panes
Number of days to complete – 23 days
TYPE OF FILM INSTALLED:
Armorcoat 7-mil clear
FILM CHARACTERISTICS:
Blast Protection
CHARACTER OF PROJECT:
Extremely tight installation schedule with work being done in both buildings simultaneously. High security and close coordination with tenants, especially on the trading floors. The work was started the day after Thanksgiving, 2005, and was essentially completed before Christmas. This was an unprecedented short completion time – 23 days – for such a large and difficult project.
PROPERTY MANAGER COMMENT:
“Impressive work. Have anyone contact me and I’ll let them know the fine job that was done.”
– Thomas Conkling
SPECIAL NOTE:
These buildings are across the street from “ground zero” – the site of the World Trade Centers that were destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
PROJECT DETAILS:
Merrill Lynch occupies two high-rise office towers in the financial district in lower Manhattan. These buildings are located directly across the street from the site of the World Trade Centers that were destroyed on September 11th.
Bekaert Specialty Films, a film manufacturer, was awarded a contract to furnish and install 7-mil clear fragment retention film to the exterior facing glass of the Merrill Lynch New York Headquarter buildings. Time was of the essence and Merrill Lunch stressed that the project was to be substantially completed before the end of the calendar year.
Once Bekaert was awarded the project they realized that they might not have the necessary experience and resources to get this project installed and completed on time. Bekaert and Commercial Window Shield had joined forces on some prior projects so Bekaert contacted Commercial Window Shield to discuss acting as project manager.
Bekaert contacted Commercial Window Shield two weeks prior to Thanksgiving. Two weeks later the installation started. During those two weeks Commercial Window Shield and Bekaert agreed to a contract, met with the customer in their New York offices, put together and had approved an installation plan, mobilized a team of installers and made arrangements for lodging for the installers in the New York area.
The project started the day after Thanksgiving and was substantially completed 3 days before Christmas – a total of 23 days! This required that Commercial Window Shield install an average of nearly 16,000 square feet of film on about 500 windows per day. All the more impressive is that the work was done simultaneously in both buildings; the work had to be done after hours and on the weekends and extreme security and coordination was required. Several of the floors of the building are stock trading rooms and gaining access and working in these areas was difficult.
Possibly one of the largest film projects completed in the shortest period of time, even with all the activity and coordination, there were no complaints from the tenants.
"Wayne, Thank you for your email. Based on the information you have provided me below, I will give Steve the appropriate documents he needs from me. We will take care of the change order as quickly as possible, keeping in mind many people are on vacation due to the Christmas holiday. I would also like to thank you and your team for the outstanding work performed. DIA is extremely pleased with how quickly the work was done and with so few disruptions to the employees. You have a very professional and reliable crew. Please pass on my sincere thanks for their outstanding work. Have a Merry Christmas!"
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Susannah T. Finch
P.E.