Transforming a former four-story freight terminal in lower Manhattan that once serviced elevated trains into a 12-floor, 1.3-million-sq-ft hub for Google was bound to require an innovative design and construction program to deliver a workplace fit for a tech industry leader.

When the project team faced a tight schedule to open the new facility, it developed a pioneering solution borrowed from bridgebuilding that could encourage greater use of precast concrete for building cores in New York City.