New Construction Awards 2001 - Building Bridges

Rudin Management Co. Inc., Reuters Americas, and Tishman Realty and Construction Co. Inc. all have long-standing, fine reputations for quality at all intersections. Added to their list of lifetime achievements is a joint venture, the Reuters Americas Headquarters building, located at the newly constructed 3 Times Square in New York City.

Named for its anchor tenant, Reuters Americas, the building is 855,000 square feet of Class A office and retail space. In addition to consolidating 13 Reuters offices and those of its subsidiary, Instinet, into a single building, the long-time goal and ambition for the project was to bridge together the famous Times Square "bow-tie" district with the revitalized 42nd Street theatre and entertainment district.

Project architect New York City-based Fox & Fowle, together with the building owner Rudin Management Co. Inc. and Reuters America, envisioned the building as a corporate icon amidst the glitz and glamour of Midtown Manhattan. "There's a real surge in revitalizing the Times Square/Theatre district in Midtown. I think that the Reuters Americas Building is an impressive addition to the area, offering a nice mix of retail and corporate office space to a historically commercialized and deteriorating section of the city," says John Gilbert, project manager for Rudin Management Co. "The project to rejuvenate this area is changing the face of Times Square with modern media and architecture. It's a very exciting time."

The building's strong street appeal stems from a 32-story, stone-and-glass curtainwall exterior - unique from every angle. Each side of the structure varies in scale, color, and texture. A seven-story, drum-shaped structure guides foot traffic around the corner and into a three-story lobby on the building's north side. The building's signature fin, located near the top of the building, only helps to more clearly identify the building in the bustling midtown area. Clad in towering electronic billboard media so prevalent to Times Square, the Reuters Americas Building makes its own statement in the town that never sleeps with a barrage of large video screens and a minimum of 12,600 square feet of signage.

From within the building's main lobby passersby can view programming broadcasted by world-renowned Reuters communications venues on a series of 30-foot-high video monitors that curve around the corner of 43rd Street - showcased behind a 60-foot-high glass wall.

The Reuters Americas Building is technologically advanced, using a neutral backbone infrastructure and triple redundancy back-up systems. A main technology room houses all carrier, voice, data, and Internet equipment; high-speed fiber optics and Category 6 copper wiring; and dual intermediate distribution frame rooms on each floor to provide redundant distribution of information, ensuring data delivery gear up the building for high-speed access to modern communications systems.

The building's extensive infrastructure provides power and access to:

• The securities trading floor with more than 200 trading desks.
• Corporate spaces within the building, including executive and standard offices, as well as open plan areas.
• A fourth-floor television studio visible from the exterior of the building.
• Approximately 12,500 square feet of the ground floor set aside for retail use. Retail areas on the second, third, and mezzanine levels total an additional 49,500 square feet of space.

Tishman managed the fit-out of 500,000 square feet of office space occupied by Reuters and Instinet. Building on the corporate image and culture, Reuters' interior space reflects, with more subtlety, the same dominance in the marketplace as the building's exterior.

With a price tag of $350 million, a primary emphasis for the project team was to develop and build a green building. One consideration was to realize 30-percent more energy efficiency than that of a typical building. This was achieved through the installation of a multi-fuel central chilling plant; the increased use of fresh air; and a maximized use of daylight, using 5-foot window mullions.

Perhaps one of the most interesting and unexpected happenings occurred during the addition of a separate subway entrance to the building. Due to the inaccuracies of mapping for the below-grade subways and utilities, the station entrance had to be relocated 75 feet west of where it was. Interestingly enough, this meant that the subway was rerouted back to where it originated in the 1930s.

Adding reverence to the New York City skyline, the Reuters Americas Building is a statement to bridging the gap between corporate America and the arts; classic theatre with modern media; and tradition with next generation architecture and design.

Clara M.W. Vangen (clara-vangen@buildings.com) is technologies editor at Buildings magazine.