Grand Central Terminal

New York, NY

NATURE OF PROJECT:
Blast mitigation
Glass repair/replacement
100-year-old window
Mesh screen fabrication and installation

SCOPE OF PROJECT:
Phase 1: Install fragment retention film on 454 windows in the terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall after removing decades of dirt and grim from the windows.
Phase 2: Install fragment retention film on 5,000 windows in main terminal. Replace or repair cracked or broken glass. Install polycarbonate to exterior of 688 skylights; fabricate and install stainless steel mesh screens to skylight interiors.

TYPE OF FILM INSTALLED:
7-mil clear fragment retention film [Vanderbilt Hall]
11-mil clear fragment retention film [main terminal]

PROJECT CHALLENGES:
Grand Central Terminal is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. It’s also one of the busiest. The terminal is packed from morning to night with New Yorkers and visitors catching trains and subways, and shoppers visiting its many stores and restaurants. Commercial Window Shield had to perform its complicated work without disturbing the flow of the pedestrian traffic. Additionally, because of the significance of the building, every task had to be delicately handled to preserve the historic architecture. Other challenges included developing a net system to capture dust and debris from the work being done high above the terminal floor – over a pair of popular, crowded restaurants - and utilizing a 50-foot boom lift to access the windows. Multiple windows required replacing broken glass. Many of these panels were glazed using glazing compound containing asbestos which had to be properly remediated.

PROJECT DETAILS:
The scope of this project was so daunting, Commercial Window Shield was the only bidder. Multiple film installation companies attended the pre-bid walk through and left before the tour was completed. In Phase 1, in Vanderbilt Hall, the cleaning of the 454 windows, left untouched for decades, was a significant and delicate task - required to make sure the film would adhere to the glass. In Phase 2, nearly 50,000 square feet of glass was protected by fragment retention film. Commercial Window Shield’s fabrication of and complicated installation of plastic panels to protect the exterior of the terminal’s 688 skylights underscored the complexity of the project, which was completed on time and widely praised by the client.