Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
Structural design and blast engineering services for a window and skylight feasibility study and window replacement design for a grand-style Beaux-Arts building.
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Project Details
Overview
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is a seven-story, steel-framed and granite-clad building, constructed in 1907 in New York City's Financial District. Registered as a National Historic Landmark since 1976, it stands an example of the grand style of Beaux-Arts architecture.
We provided structural design and blast engineering services for a window and skylight feasibility study for the eventual design and implementation of a window replacement for the building. The study entailed providing alternative concepts for the upgrade of the more than 550 exterior and courtyard windows as well as the large rotunda skylight at the center of the building.
highlights
- Alternative upgrades, which included both retrofit of the existing systems and replacements that meet the federal Interagency Security Committee (ISC) criteria for blast protection, were evaluated.
- Some of the challenges associated with this study included balancing the inherently conflicting blast and operability requirements while meeting historic preservation constraints.
- Window replacement used a novel approach consisting of energy absorbing anchors.
- We also performed a visual assessment of the skylight structural system.
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