A gem of the financial district, the former 7 Hanover Square was a postmodern architectural marvel when it first opened in 1983. Today, as the headquarters of NYC Health + Hospitals, the building is known as 50 Water Street and is one of the most eye-catching skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan.
Most famously known as the headquarters for the Guardian Life insurance company, 50 Water Street made news as a massive piece of commercial real estate. As well, the building was also home to a number of other businesses from law firms to news publications.
With the tenancy of the NYC Health + Hospitals group, more than 500,000 square feet and 14 renovated floors of this colossal building will be occupied by public health professionals. To accommodate the needs of this large corporation, we built open floor plans, enclosed offices, and upscale amenities on several floors of this 14-story build.
To provide the best in contemporary servers, routers, and data support systems, two large Main Distribution Frame (MDF) rooms were designed and constructed, with emergency power lines running to the basement.
The NYC Health + Hospitals move to 50 Water Street was reported as “the largest relocation in Lower Manhattan in 5 years.” As portions of the building were occupied and operational during the construction process, a multi-phased plan was executed to maximize usage and the overall speed of construction while avoiding any potential interruptions for the operating businesses. Successful completion of such an unprecedented real estate maneuver took ingenuity, meticulous planning, and staggering efforts.
Project Details
With construction spread across more than a dozen floors, organization and prioritization were key components to the success of the job. Beyond that, the usual challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated additional procedures including social distancing, daily logs, and electrostatic cleaning. Ultimately, perseverance and diligence paid off, resulting in an impressive build that features:
- Fully equipped office spaces – To modernize the interior, 60% of the NYC Health + Hospitals space was converted into an open floor plan with adjacent enclosed offices around the perimeter. On top of that, floors were outfitted with various pantries, IT rooms, and mothers’ rooms, providing first-class amenities to the new tenants.
- Specialty finishes – A refined design choice that brings an international flair to the building, Italian tile was a decisive move to elevate the interior design. Using custom Italian tile comes with the potential for shipping delays, due to the Italian summer holiday. That said, because of the proactive nature of our pre-planning phase, the tile was ordered months in advance and arrived with plenty of time for installation. To bring elegance and an artisanal style to the building’s clean design, textured wallpaper was ordered and installed, as well.
- Two large MDF rooms – Our team built two high-capacity MDF rooms, both of which were wired to an emergency power supply in the basement of the building to ensure functionality even during an unexpected power outage. To complete the renovation properly, new infrastructure was constructed while the equipment was live and running, a careful maneuver that allowed the tenants to maintain power to their servers despite the ongoing project.
