Architect

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners

Cost

$17 Million

A 16 story 1950’s era steel framed office building which had just indergone a $62 million renovation was heavily damaged in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Most of the entire south and part of the west façade were destroyed by the collapse of the adjacent 47 story WTC 7 tower.

RSD was requested by the Owner, CIty University of New York, to analyze the building anddetermine the extent of internal damage to the structure. The lateral load resisting system of the building was an orthogonal series of partial moment frames at every bay and it was these that were found to be compromised by the impact of the debris that fell on it. The cost of repair of all the connections and subsequent modifications were found to be excessive and the building had to be demolished. RSD designed the intricate demolition procedures required to deconstruct the contaminated building in this densely occupied urban area.