Best Project, Interior/Tenant Improvement and Excellence in Safety: Google, St. John’s Terminal

Google, St. John's Terminal

New York City

EXCELLENCE IN SAFETY and BEST PROJECT, INTERIOR/TENANT IMPROVEMENT

Submitted by: Structure Tone

Lead Designer: Lead Designer: Gensler

Structural Engineer: Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP

MEP Engineer: RDA

Owner's Representative: Gardiner & Theobald

Designed as the new headquarters for Google’s Global Business Organization, the 1.3-million-sq-ft St. John’s Terminal aims to offer a communal, historic and environmentally conscious workplace for up to 3,000 employees, business partners and visitors. The updated structure includes the original three-story terminal topped with nine new levels. Updated portions of the building pair with historic areas to create a workplace with flexible meeting and conference rooms, green space and common spaces.

Amenities include an entrance lobby, a great hall on the ground floor, fitness center, massage suite, bike storage, medical suite, cafés, microkitchens, a teaching kitchen, lounges, gathering spaces, an auditorium and events hub.

A joint-venture partnership of Structure Tone and Turner Construction coordinated early in the project to address potential project challenges. About 26% of Google’s new space at St. John’s Terminal is dedicated to amenities, including the 1,000-person theater and auditorium.

The preconstruction team identified specific subcontractors that were qualified to take on distinctive scopes of work.

Photo courtesy Structure Tone

Significant challenges included installation of professionally engineered supported scaffolding in high or hard to reach areas, such as the theater’s acoustic ceiling. Crews also conducted 10 crane picks from the street that involved installation of mechanical units on the roof and three terrace locations.

The scope included extensive artwork installation, such as pieces that were mounted on the side of an 11-story open stairwell using the system-engineered scaffolding.

The project was completed below budget and on schedule in July 2023. With over two years of work and 2 million worker hours, it tallied a total recordable incident rate of 0.55—the lowest in the global Google construction portfolio, according to the submission.

The team completed more than 8,000 daily pretask plans; submitted 1,300 toolbox talks; managed over 3,200 safety orientations; and conducted 2,400 third-party safety audits. Crews also managed 20 partial- and full-building electrical shutdowns as well as 50 partial and full building sprinkler and fire suppression system shutdowns.