Meticulous planning and organization was essential to the 1.3-million-sq-ft rehab of American Airlines’ global headquarters in Fort Worth.   

Although American Airlines averages 6,700 flights daily, its headquarters hadn’t received a revamp in nearly three decades. The airline worked with Structure Tone Southwest to deliver its vision. The project would complete the largest portion of the development plan for its global headquarters—corporate spaces.

The plan entailed the construction and fit-out of four eight-story office buildings and two two-story buildings that connect to a central four-story hub known as Town Center, which houses retail, dining and other amenities. Throughout construction, Structure Tone Southwest worked alongside another contractor assigned to the core and shell of each building.

To tackle the gargantuan project, Structure Tone Southwest split up the square footage into manageable sections and assigned a superintendent to each. Every two weeks, crews turned over two new floors to the interior crews, who then verified that all elements passed muster. The staggered system allowed the two construction teams to perform work simultaneously. At the height of construction, there were more than 1,800 workers on site. 

The project was designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, meaning that all materials had to be energy efficient, sustainably made or locally sourced and construction materials had to be recycled. The contractor assigned an assistant project manager to exclusively manage this aspect of the project.

Eight months before construction was complete, American Airlines laid out a four-month schedule for its 6,000 employees to move in. Even with more than 1,000 design changes and a two-week start delay, the contractor was able to meet each move-in date the airline had set.

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