Cheers for Peers

Teamwork by Manhattan Construction and Thos. S. Byrne Helps Complete Pier 1's new Headquarters in 18 Months

When the nation's largest retailer of imported home furnishings needed a new home of its own, the company thought globally and shopped locally. The result is Fort Worth's first downtown high-rise in nearly a quarter of a century.

By Steve Freeman

The new $90 million corporate headquarters of Pier 1 Imports-a 20-story high-rise complementing the existing downtown Fort Worth skyline-proves the value of teamwork.

Built in just 18 months, the 460,000-sq.-ft. office building and adjoining 260,000-sq.-ft. parking deck is the product of a team of 33 subcontractors chosen for their high-rise expertise and ability to work with a tightly coordinated schedule.

Because leases on the three locations in Fort Worth that previously housed the company's central office operations were nearing expiration, Pier 1 needed occupancy in a shorter-than-usual timeframe.

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The selection of choice prefabricated materials, a generous staging area, the participation of two architects and attention to control measures from groundbreaking to occupancy were also key advantages in speeding the process.

"When we began this project, we knew we wanted a knowledgeable team with recent high-rise construction experience," said Jim Noack, Pier 1's director of architecture.
Pier 1 selected Dallas' Manhattan Construction Co. and Fort Worth's Thos. S. Byrne Ltd. as joint general contractors. The design team was headed by Duda/Paine Architects of Durham, N.C. Houston-based Kendall/Heaton Associates served as the architect of record.

The modern structure was designed to exhibit a timelessness that is homey and worldly and simple yet strong, said Turan Duda, design architect with Duda/Paine.

The reinforced-concrete structure clad in Italian stone, aluminum and glass will house about 1,000 employees when it opens in August. The prominent location is on an axis with the Belknap Street thoroughfare on the northwest edge of the city's central business district.

The building is the first high-rise built in downtown Fort Worth in nearly a quarter of a century, and it gives occupants a 180-degree view of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River and a 180-degree view of downtown.

The facility includes conference and training facilities, an employee fitness center, indoor and outdoor photo studios, a merchandise-sample room and executive suites.

Pier 1 purchased the property-which is adjacent to an expansive slope that runs to the Clear Fork of the Trinity River on the west and north-after a tornado destroyed a large church on the site four years ago. The high-rise and parking deck sit on only four acres of the 13-acre parcel.

As sitework got under way, crews drilled 75 to 80 ft. into the earth to hit solid rock for holding the concrete piers. The uncommon depth was due to soil containing fill dirt with a high plasticity-index factor, which meant it had a high shrink/swell consistency, said Stephen Dunn of MBC/Dunn Consultants, the owner's representative.

The fill dirt was added to the property 60 years ago when the city moved the river one block west because of flooding concerns.

Drilling the piers took two months and overlapped with laying the foundation, which took about three months. Desert Steel of Fort Worth used steel rebar in pretied pier cages varying in diameter from 18 to 100 in. Next, crews poured the columns, walls and grade beams and structure slabs.

Two materials were used for below-grade waterproofing: peel-and-stick membrane was applied to walls and asphalt was used on horizontal surfaces.

The entire foundation and structural work using cast-in-place concrete was completed in approximately one year while crews began work on the curtain wall and elevators. "We were installing stairs as we took the structure up," said Keith Cooper, construction manager with Manhattan.

With acreage at a premium, staging of equipment and materials was ideal. "That's rare, " Cooper said. "I've done many jobs with zero lot lines, which is a logistical nightmare."

The availability allowed for optimum positioning of two SK315 Peiner tower cranes on the north and south sides.

Workers poured and formed the concrete columns that would create the system of lattice-like framework for holding interconnecting panels of stone, glass and aluminum. This curtain wall system served as a weatherproof envelope, tested to withstand wind and rain.

Steel would have affected the illumination desired for the building and been more cost-prohibitive for the desired style, Dunn said.

The use of concrete also provided a more rigid frame and more flexibility for exterior work.

"Concrete goes up slower, so this is just another kudo for the team working with a short timeframe," Cooper said.

Another advantage of lot size was that architects could create a horizontal parking structure that would not distract from the external view of the office building. At its highest point, the parking deck rises just 10 ft. The employee parking deck on the southwest side holds 836 cars on four levels.

Speed of the structural formation allowed for interior work to begin and progress even while exterior work was ongoing. This overlapping or "stair-step timing" required concentrated scheduling efforts for subcontractors, Cooper said.

"The overall spirit of cooperation among the engineers, architects, design team and contractors, as well as Pier 1, has been phenomenal, and that's what it takes," Cooper added.

The use of prefabricated materials aided the process. Crews anchored 100-sq.-ft. glass and aluminum units to floors covering two stories at a time. The exterior "skin" was assembled at the factory, which allowed for maximum sealing.

Each unit weighs about 11 lbs. and is capable of being positioned in 15 minutes and anchored in one hour, said Chuck Knickerbocker of Curtainwall Design and Consulting of Dallas.

Despite prefabrication, the materials used were contoured to retain a customized presentation and visible appeal.

Prefabrication of stone, aluminum and glass permitted a system of fitting elements along a frame. The process resulted in the completion of one floor per week.

"We weren't glazing and adding a window system with a separate contractor hanging stone," Dunn said. "The stone and windows were designed as one package."

Part of the speed was accomplished by the continuous vertical placement of stone. With the exterior shape stepping in at floors 16 and 18, the building seems to have a series of layered jackets, with the stone, glass and aluminum creating a "vertical articulation," Duda said.

Architects decided on slabs of Italian quartz-like stone (from Henraux fabricators of Versilia, Italy) with the idea that it would achieve the reflection desired for a building designed to glow by sunlight during the day and be backlit at night.

Similarly, the exterior glass provides a reflectivity in tune with sky and light rather than a mirroring. The double-paned and insulated glass is 1 1/8 in. thick with a coating that cuts UV rays.

The crest itself is crown-shaped, while the building's lattice-work of concrete columns extends to the roof where it will hold large sheets of brightly backlit glass. The decorative addition hides the cooling tower, mechanical room and HVAC units and lighting mechanics. Platforms hold the three cooling towers 20 ft. off the roof to minimize disruption to the executive offices below.

"There is more glass up there than we normally see atop a building," said Craig Hawkins of Fort Worth's Brandt Engineering.

With the exterior taking shape and floors quickly being sealed off, interior crews worked to complete the blueprints. Programming and stacking was accomplished by Gensler of Dallas, the interior architect.

A 15,000-sq.-ft. lobby feeding in from the main entrance features walls of Italian traverten silver-gray stone and amber-toned paneling. With the ceiling at 25 ft. up, the wall material varies from stone to wood panels. On the lobby's exterior circumference, the largest panels of glass throughout the building let in natural light.

No less attention was paid to the main employee entrance. On the building's back or west side, the terrace level is also at grade level, although one floor is lower than the lobby. Employees entering the building will walk from the parking deck through a ramp of glass walls. For service deliveries, the loading dock is accessible via a ramp below the street on the building's south side and can accommodate four 18-wheel freight trucks at a time.

Above the lobby, a mezzanine level is visible from the main entrance due to three large balconies, which offer company leaders a podium from which to address employees in the lobby below.

Management offices are located along the exterior glass walls, and glass partitions in those areas allow natural light to flow into the open office space inside. The glass partitions were installed by James R. Thompson Inc. of Dallas, the interior contractor.

Electrical lighting fixtures mounted on the ceilings were chosen as a compromise between direct lighting and limited lighting. The ceiling mounts shine light upward and acoustical ceiling tiles bounce light downward to produce what Duda calls "task lighting."

The office floors are designed on access flooring that is easily unscrewed from the subfloor. Panels are steel in honeycombed patterns filled with concrete for bearing weight. Beneath the removable panels are electricity and telecommunication connections as well as linkage to heating and cooling ventilation. As a floor's arrangement changes due to new work demands, electricity and technology outlets can be dropped beneath the panels for quick set-up and reconnection.

A 7,000-sq.-ft. data room providing all computer technology infrastructure of Pier 1 stores worldwide is located on the eighth floor. Due to the access flooring underneath, moving in equipment weighing several thousand pounds required special maneuvering, managed by the interior contractor.

Project Team:

General Contractors: Manhattan Construction Co., Dallas and Thos S. Byrne, Fort Worth
Owner: Pier 1 Imports, Fort Worth
Development Manager: MBC/Dunn Consultants, Fort Worth
Design Architect: Duda/Paine Architects, Durham, N.C.
Architect of Record: Kendall/Heaton Assoc., Houston
Interior contractor: James R. Thompson Inc., Dallas
Structural Engineer: Brockette/Davis/Drake Inc., Dallas
Civil Engineer: Dunaway Assoc., Fort Worth
MEP Engineer: James Johnston & Assoc., Dallas
Electrical Engineer: Walker Engineering, Euless
HVAC and Plumbing Engineer: Brandt Engineering, Fort Worth
Pier Rebar: Desert Steel, Fort Worth
Pier Concrete: Hanson PLC, Dallas
Glass and Glazing: Haley-Greer Inc., Dallas