The $300-million new headquarters of LG North America—part of the South Korean global manufacturer of electronics and other products—survived a unique design challenge: a protracted three-year battle with conservation groups opposed to the building’s planned 143-ft height atop northern New Jersey’s iconic Palisades.
But once a negotiated deal and major design change finally led to an early 2017 start, the project team faced a far more down-to-earth struggle: having to blast, chop and haul out “some of the hardest rock known to man,” says one manager.
这座在新泽西州恩格尔伍德悬崖（Englewood Cliffs）占地27英亩的352,000平方英尺的建筑物，今年秋天早些时候亮相，并定于2019年底完成。但是，与许多规模的许多办公结构不同，该建筑物比高高的建筑物更长- 感谢2015年的和解协议将其计划的高度减少到69英尺，并从最初的490,000平方英尺缩小了其面积。计划巩固六个LG部门和最多1,000名员工的房屋。
“It’s roughly 1,300 feet long end to end,” says Larry Borensen, construction executive at Turner Construction, the project’s CM. “You can actually lay the Empire State Building down in the footprint of this building.”
That greater length and reshaped massing for the structure meant more foundation area, with a lot more ground work at the start since the project team needed 11 months to complete a monumental rock removal effort. Crisdel Group was the main excavation and site preparation subcontractor.
博伦森说：“在悬崖上，我们比[哈德逊河]河高约400英尺至500英尺，但在该地点的岩石条件下，我们的岩石状况非常高。”“我们进行了广泛的爆炸操作 - 250个单独的爆炸，以取下岩石以获取底部的底部。”
他说，项目团队遇到的主要岩石是糖尿病库，这是一个特别坚硬的花岗岩，构成了大部分栅栏，从新泽西州泽西市约20英里到纽约州的Nyack附近，并成立了超过2亿年。前。
该团队在现场进行了破碎的操作，回收了许多巨石，以在该物业周围进行美化，但在后来的阶段还出口了大量岩石。博伦森说，这项工作一直持续到2017年末，重点转移到了基础建设中。
该项目的设计师纽约市Hok的校长肯·德鲁克（Ken Drucker）说，早期的设计和施工颠簸使今天的项目进步更加顺畅。他说：“我们有一个预算的项目……还有一座美丽的玻璃建筑……将在帕利萨德大路（Palisades Parkway）边缘的自然环境中。”
Scenic Showdown
The design-bid-build project’s origins date to 2009, when LG decided to consolidate its regional operations—spread across various buildings in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.—into a new home for its electronics, chemicals, display and other divisions, says John Taylor, senior vice president for public affairs at LG Electronics USA. After a nationwide search, it chose property close by, enlisted HOK to design an eight-story tower and secured state and local approvals, he says.
Following demolition of an existing structure on the site, construction was about to start in 2013 when the team abruptly found itself “in a fight,” says I.D. Kim, LG vice president in charge of the project.
一组保存和社区组织 - 包括风景秀丽的哈德逊，新泽西州妇女俱乐部联合会，自然资源国防委员会，新泽西保护基金会和纽约 - 纽约新泽西步道会议 - 批评该项目的计划高度。
Their main concern was that the structure would be out of line with a local ordinance that capped Palisades building heights at 35 ft, and how a variance in this case might establish a precedent for tall buildings on the ridge north of the George Washington Bridge, ruining scenic views. They battled on several fronts, including protests, ads and a lawsuit. “At one time there were billboards on [Manhattan’s] West Side Highway [and] talk-radio shows protesting the height of the project,” Drucker says.
The project stalled as the two camps squared off until negotiations began in 2014. “During this process, the conservation groups finally understood why we were very serious about this project,” Kim says. “We were preparing for LG’s long-term future.”
谈判在11个月后达到了2015年的协议，该协议基本上将建筑高度的差异分为69英尺，这一水平与该站点上的树冠相匹配。
劳伦斯·洛克菲勒（Laurance Rockefeller）是一位环保律师，其一家人在80年前为帕利塞德州际公园（Palisades Interstate Park）捐赠了这块土地，他认为LG“愿意与我们倾听和合作寻求共同的解决方案”。但是，该协议还需要进行完整的重新设计，新的现场计划和许可，而LG才能开始建设之前的两年。该公司没有透露延迟和重新设计的成本影响。
Joined at the Cube
The resulting design calls for a two-wing building that is five stories—four stories above grade on one side—and three stories above on the other. The two sides come together at a glass-enclosed 18,000-sq-ft “cube” at the heart of the structure. The wings will house executive and open-plan offices, collaborative and dining spaces and a gym, while the cube will have the lobby, showrooms for LG’s large suite of products, training and meeting spaces, and an educational science center for students, Taylor says. “It’s part of our community outreach, and it will display some of our own technologies” and information on energy efficiency.
The structure will also have 1,000 parking spaces, more than half in a basement garage across most of the building, as well as extensive exterior plazas and landscaping. The design also allows for a future third wing.
Borensen说，这座钢制框架的建筑在金属甲板上具有混凝土的底层和混凝土，并带有窗帘墙的外观，该项目团队上个月开始安装。三层楼的立方体 - 博伦森（Borensen）说的“宝石盒子”（Gem Box）说，玻璃框架的比例更高。
Foundation construction began in earnest in December 2017, including work on an underslab drainage system, but winter weather quickly became a factor, Borensen says. “We had four Nor’easters in a period of a month,” he says. The pace picked up in spring with steel erection, because the team ordered girders and beams before the tariff-induced pricing battles and supply challenges of recent months, Drucker says.
The next hurdle is enclosing the structure before winter to start interior work, Borensen says.
The fit-out has unique elements because LG happens to make many devices, appliances, machines and systems that go into a modern office building, Borensen says. He says the project is seen as a way to display LG products that have not been widely used in the U.S.
These include lighting control, HVAC, building management and security systems; carpets and light fixtures; electrical switchgear; photovoltaic panels; digital signage and studio walls; and refrigerators, video displays, communications equipment and other appliances. “We implemented all of these products, which we purchased for the project through our subcontractors,” Borensen says.
The Seoul-based company’s consumer goods are well known in the U.S. market—such as its cellphones, electronics and home appliance offerings—but it aims to expand systems and technologies for business users, Taylor says. “There will be hundreds of flat screen displays and LED lighting,” he says.
Going for Platinum
A crowning element of the project is its sustainable design features, which meet LEED Gold status but could rise to Platinum depending on final scoring, Kim says. “One of the most important criteria we had considered in the design phase was an environmentally friendly designed building,” he says.
Borensen说，功能将包括节能的建筑系统，照明，太阳能电池板以及大量的外部种植，绿色屋顶和庭院以及现场的重新森林部分。泰勒说，种植将包括1,500棵树，这不仅将瞄准LEED点，而且还可以作为附近住宅在内的邻近物业的缓冲。
Other sustainable features include the building’s narrower width, Drucker says. “We’re following European standards for getting daylight deep into the floor space, so the building wings are only about 98 feet wide,” he says. “A typical New Jersey building is 120 feet to 140 feet wide.”
Another key element is restoration and mitigation of five wetlands on the site, says Drucker. The team created a retention pond for stormwater collection to reduce site runoff into natural areas and nearby properties. “The goal was to use as much of the existing footprint of the [original] building on the site,” Drucker adds.
他说，该项目还将获得可持续性点，因为其靠近大众运输，以增加站点周围的步行路径，并通过间接场地照明和自动阴影来减轻光污染。
德鲁克说，LG建筑物甚至友好。他说：“我们创建了许多恢复栖息地，我们遵循了奥杜邦社会的指南，以寻求鸟类保护。”
