Best of the Best Winners
Best Interior/Tenant Improvement: Google St. John's Terminal
The headquarters for Google’s Global Business Organization includes the original three-story terminal topped with nine new levels.
Photo courtesy Structure Tone
Google St. John’s Terminal
New York City
Interior/Tenant Improvement
Region: ENR New York
Submitted by: Structure Tone
Lead Design Firm: Gensler
Construction Manager: Structure Tone-Turner JV
Structural Engineer: Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP
MEP Engineer: RDA
Owner's Representative: Gardiner & Theobald
Early coordination helped the Structure Tone-Turner Construction joint-venture partnership tackle challenges such as installing professionally engineered supported scaffolding in the theater’s acoustic ceiling and crane picks from the street that involved placing mechanical units on the roof and three terraces.
Subcontractors qualified for specific scopes of work helped the two-year project finish below budget and on schedule. Alexandra Schmidt, project executive at Turner Construction, said it was “inspiring” to watch the two firms “challenge and learn from each other. … We aligned our processes and utilized various forms of visual project management tools to ensure the various workstreams were all focused on delivering intentional quality at each of our milestones and turnovers.”
Photo courtesy Structure Tone
The original three-story terminal is topped with nine new levels. Updated portions of the building pair with the historic areas to create flexible meeting and conference rooms, green space and common areas. Amenities include a Great Hall, fitness center, bike storage, medical suite, cafes, kitchens and an auditorium.
Despite safety management being challenged by the variety of work scopes for each floor and workspace, the team’s recordable incident/injury rate of .55 during 2 million worker hours was also the lowest in Google’s global construction portfolio, according to the project team. The team reviewed work scopes, incidents and upcoming potential high-risk activity weekly with Google’s safety operations team. It also held weekly walk-throughs with Google and insurance risk managers as well as conducting root cause analysis on incident/accident basis and future prevention plans.
Photo courtesy Structure Tone
“The professionalism, high standards of performance and flawless execution of this complex project contributed greatly to its successful completion on-time, with top-notch quality and a dedicated commitment to workplace safety,” said Lou Ottrando, senior vice president, head of operations for STO Building Group Global Services.
