Focus on the USA
Manntech is proud to have been closely involved with a number of projects that typify the cutting edge of American building design and management.
In the public imagination, the development of the USA as a powerful and confident country is inseparable from the emergence of the skyscraper and the construction of ever-taller, ever more ambitious buildings. Since the building recognised as the first skyscraper, Chicago’s 42 metre tall Home Insurance Building, opened in 1884 the skyscraper has become an integral part of American culture and a symbol of the country’s ambition.
Among the current trends we are seeing in American construction are a greater emphasis on sustainability and more mixed-use developments which blur the lines between office, residential, retail and arts spaces. Manntech is proud to have been closely involved with a number of projects that typify the cutting edge of American building design and management.
Fulbright Tower, Houston
The Fulbright Tower is an office skyscraper which has been home to some of the world’s most prestigious companies including ChevronTexaco, Crescent, GE Asset Management, J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Fulbright & Jaworski. Providing 115,855.8 square metres of Class A office space and rising an imposing 221 metres to the roof, Fulbright Tower also boasts the sustainability credentials of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is an internationally recognised green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. After considerable damage to the building itself and the old facade access system, Manntech were tasked with providing a single Building Maintenance Unit which was required to carry out work on multiple floors including the installation of new purifying ‘negative air’ machines designed to remove potentially dangerous particles from the air.
Millennium Tower, Boston
As a prime example of a bold mixed-use development, Millennium Tower is primarily a residential skyscraper but is also home to retail and Class A office space. Rising 208 metres, this luxury high-rise is the tallest residential structure in Boston, and the third tallest building overall. It is located on the site of the former flagship store for Filene’s in Downtown Crossing and is emblematic of the changing face of American cities. The architects state that the national consolidation of department stores, combined with competition from ‘Big Box’ operations and a steady increase in internet shopping led to the collapse of the historic Filene’s brand. After some years of neglect, they were engaged to renovate and restore the Filene’s Building, and to design a new mixed-use residential tower that would redefine the Boston skyline. Part of their vision for a vibrant, new mixed-use building was a variable height curtain wall which, along with other challenging architectural features, required a highly manoeuvrable and versatile facade access solution only Manntech could deliver.
Salesforce Tower, San Francisco
This office skyscraper is the tallest in San Francisco and represents one of the most imaginative and creative uses of any commercial building in the way it incorporates public art. Located in the South of Market district of downtown San Francisco, its glass facades offer stunning views across the city skyline and the bay. The crown of the tower features a nine-story electronic sculpture created by artist, Jim Campbell. This features low resolution, abstract videos of San Francisco that will be filmed each day. It will be the tallest public art piece in the world and reflect the constantly moving and shifting vitality of life in the city. The importance of this ingenious and uniquely fluid art installation, along with the shape of the building itself as it tapers inwards towards the roof, presented particular challenges for the provision of effective facade access systems. The solution Manntech delivered meets these challenges with machines featuring a parallelogram system, or Z-luffing, to lower the jib when not in use, meaning they are not visible in their parked position.
As the longest-established building access system provider, Manntech has seen the evolution of American skyscrapers over the last 60 years and is still at the forefront of emerging trends and innovations.