601 New Jersey AveExisting Conditions

Existing Conditions:

The existing conditions portion of the thesis report covers the project team, the project purpose, the site, architecture and various systems of 601 New Jersey Avenue. Systems that are included in this existing conditions report include electrical, mechanical, and transportation to name a few. Particular attention, at the end of this section will be focused on the existing conditions of the building’s structural elements, such as the building loads, foundations, framing and lateral load system. The information provided here will often be referred to in other sections of this thesis report. In most cases as a means of comparison to the new proposed system. For your convenience several of these items in each section that will be used for comparison are bulleted after each section.

PRIMARY PROJECT TEAM:

  • General Contractor: James G. Davis Construction Company
  • Construction Manager: Julie Kirkwood
  • Architect: Hickok Warner Fox Architects, Washington D. C.
  • Engineers:

Civil Engineers: Delon Hampton & Associates, Silver Springs MD.

MEP Engineers: Girard Engineering, Ltd. McleanVirginia

Structural Engineers: Structural Design Group, Ltd. Gaithersburg, MD

  • Exterior/Lobby Lighting: Moran Coventry

BUILDING PURPOSE:

In response to the Federal Trade Commission’s solicitation for DC office space Lowe Enterprises, in a joint venture with the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association, devised a plan to convert A & T lots 864 and 863, in the northwest portion of Washington, DC, into an Office Building Complex. In addition to its close proximity to Capital hill these two sites also provide easy access to restaurants and shops as well as the DC metro. Without a signed lease Lowe Enterprises and the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association proceeded with the design of the project. The Architects and Engineers toiled for approximately 8 months before construction began on July 17, 2000. The office building was completed 20 months later on March 13, 2002. The building alone cost 24.2 million dollars and the total project cost top off at 68 million dollars. However their venture was fruitful. Lowe Enterprises was awarded the lease and the Federal Trade Commission agreed to inhabit the first 7 stories of 601 New Jersey Avenue. A ten-year lease was signed in May of 2001, for approximately thirty-eight dollars per square foot a year. The remaining portions of the building were later leased as well.

Thesis Report Topics:

  • Construction durations.
  • 24.2 million dollar building cost.
  • $38.00/square foot a year to rent space.

SITE:

The current structure utilizes the majority of the available space on the lot, which is the reason for its unique shape. The drawing below illustrates the foot print of the building on the site.

As can be seen by the drawing, the shape of the building was influenced greatly by the unusual layout of the streets in the city of Washington D.C.

ARCHITECTURE:

601 New Jersey Avenue has a typical façade style however it also has a unique non-rectangular shape that adds a new dimension to this highly used approach. The brick façade, of varying color, is accented with masonry and precast concrete lintels, sills and other accents. The use of curtain walls around the windows on the first and second floors also adds character to the facade. The building took complete advantage the useable portions of the lot, as mentioned previously, working around the sites unique diagonal shape, as well as zoning limitations posed by the city of Washington. The interior features 8’6” ceilings, long beam spans, and columns that do not intrude into the space, resulting in a large flexible office space. The Architect was very successful in incorporating the buildings distinctive location into the design as well. Tinted windows were used on all four sides of the building providing a full view of the city. An eighth floor terrace also provides a magnificent view of the capital building as well as other portions of Washington, DC.

Comparison Topics:

  • 8’6” ceiling heights.
  • Column free office space.

CODES AND ZONING:

The model building code used for the construction of 601 New Jersey Avenue was the Boca Building Code 1996. In addition to the various other systems specific codes used implemented for the design, the District of Columbia also required the application of their Construction Codes. This particular site was marked as a HR/C-3-C zone which provided incentives for residential or hotel purposes. However C-3-C permits the development of the land as a business facility. A DCMR height restriction was also set at 110 feet and certain set back limits controlled the use of the site. In addition, the site was required to provide a minimum of one parking space for every 1,800 square foot of office space. Special restrictions were place on the loading dockareas as well. In addition there is a FAR restriction, which is a limitation of on the allowable square feet that the building can possess.

Thesis Report Topics:

  • 110 feet height restriction.
  • Minimum parking space requirements, one parking space for every 1,800 square feet.
  • Allowable square feet.

BUILDING ENVELOPE:

The building envelope varies in different areas of the building. The visual part of the envelope consists primarily of brick with occasional precast and stone accents. The consistent use of stone accents is found at the base of all sides of the structure except the rear portions of the building. Behind the stone accents are typically eight-inch concrete masonry units followed by a four-inch metal stud. The front façade has curtain wall window assemblies on the first two floors. Otherwise all four sides of the upper portions of the building generally have the same envelope components. This envelope generally consists of four-inch face brick supported with masonry ties and a six-inch metal stud. An air space is found between the brick and studs where the flashing is located. Half inch sheathing also protects the studs from the water that infiltrates through the brick façade. The space between the metal studs is typically filled with batt insulation and the walls are finished with ½ inch gypsum board. Additional finishes found on the interior side of the wall vary depending of the tenant that occupies the space.

The tinted glass windows make up a large portion of the build’s façade. However a portion of the window unit is opaque. The glass generally has a shading coefficient of .31 and a transmittance and reflectance of thirty-six and fifteen percent daylight and twenty and twenty-five percent solar respectively. Another variation to the typical envelope is found at these panel boards below the windows. The envelope in this case is does not include the four-inch face brick and contains only a four-inch metal stud as opposed to the typical six-inch stud. The rear face of the building contains smaller sized windows without panel boards. 601 New Jersey Avenue has a flat roof that consists of a concrete slab on deck covered with rigid insulation and finally an EPDM membrane. Further insulation is provided by the spray on fire proofing on the interior portions of the steel deck.

The garage levels are protected from the elements through the use of reinforced concrete walls and slabs. A bituthene waterproof membrane and drainage protection board typically separated the walls from the surrounding soil. The slabs are protected by two inches of rigid insulation and heat tape when in contact with interior areas of the building. Slabs below the garage levels are generally slab on grade.

Comparison Topics:

  • Window sizes
  • Façade details

ELECTRICAL:

  • The Electrical systems in 601 New Jersey Avenue stem from the two 400 Amphere 460/265 Volt three phase panel boards.
  • The panel boards include circuit breaker overcurrent protective devices.
  • The circuit breakers have a 223-Amphere frame sized or larger.
  • All emergency lights and signals run off a 400 KW 480/277 Volt 3 phase emergency generator. The emergency generator, located in the penthouse, is oil powered. A 300-gallon oil tank that powers this system is located in the lower garage level. The oil is then pumped to the penthouse to a day use tank.
  • The building also features occupancy censors in the various rooms of the buildings, and a state of the art telecommunication system.
  • An electric slab heater was used in conjunction with insulation on the first floor, protecting it from the unheated garage space below.

LIGHTING:

  • The lighting was designed effectively around the purpose of portion of the building in which it was located.
  • The majority of the lighting in the office space of 601 New Jersey Avenue consist of 2’x2’ or 2’x4’ louvered fluorescent troffers.
  • Fluorescent strip lamps were placed in the garage levels to provide plenty of light for occupant safety.
  • Metal Halide lamps are economically efficient and provide significant lighting to both the roof and loading dock areas.
  • Six inch recessed lighting and dimmable lights provides accents throughout the building including the lobby and building exterior.

MECHANICAL:

Cooling:

601 New Jersey Avenue was tenant base built, and the mechanical systems in the building provide flexibly for the future tenants that would occupy the facility. Each floor, floors 2-9, is cooled by two self contained water cooled AC units with variable air volume controls. The two self contained units (SCU) occupy two mechanical rooms on the north and south ends of the structure’s core. The SCU’s, located in the northern mechanical rooms on floors 2-8, provided 12,000 cubic feet per min (cfm) of cool air to the northern portions of the building. The SCU’s on the ninth floor have a greater capacity of 12,500 cfm. The SCU’s differ significantly on the southern portion of the building, providing 14,000 cfm on floors 2-8 and 14,500 cfm to the southern portions of the ninth floor. The first floor lobby is cooled by a controlled volume self contained unit which provides 4750 cubic feet of air per minute. The rest of the first floor was intended for commercial use thus the air conditioning would be provided according to the tenants needs.

Each self-contained unit has both a condenser and an economizer. The condenser is supplied condensed water by the two cooling towers located in the penthouse. The cooling towers have a capacity of 1605 gallons per minute (gpm), and their fans have a 152,100 cfm capability. Two primary pumps, also located in the penthouse, pump 2280 gpm of condensed water from the cooling towers to the self-contained unit’s condensers on each floor. The economizer is a cost effective system that is put into use, instead of the condenser, on cool days when the cooling towers can produce water at 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooling towers supply condensed water to the heat exchanger by means of two pumps with a 930 gpm capacity. Two additional pumps, force condensed water through the other end of the heat exchanger. This is then transported down to the economizers in the self contained units.

Heating:

  • The garage levels features no heating or cooling devices, other than surface mounted wall heaters in the elevator lobbies and stairwells.
  • Wall heaters are also located in the penthouse area.
  • Heat is provided to the building floors via electric fan powered perimeter variable air volume baseboard heaters.

Outside air:

Outside air is brought into the system by means of two fans. The fans have a 17,600 cfm capacity and provide 2200 cubic feet of air per minute to each of the two mechanical rooms on a particular floor. Air is then dispensed, by the SCU, throughout the floor. The air is then either ejected through the toilet room exhaust or it returns through a cavity wall into the mechanical room where it mixes with new outside air and the cycle continues.

Plumbing:

  • The penthouse is the location of two 120-gallon water heaters that have the capabilities of maintaining a 120-degree temperature setting.
  • Two sump pumps are provided to shed away the extra water around the sub grade walls of the building.
  • 601 New Jersey Avenue also processes a sewage ejector that has a 50-gallon per minute capacity at a 42 ft head for each pump.

Stair Pressurization:

  • During emergency situations both stairwells are pressurized to prevent the entry of smoke.
  • The pressurizing system consists of a fan that provides 1083 cfm on every other level of the stairwell.

Comparison Topics:

  • Duct sizes

FIRE PROTECTION:

601 New Jersey Avenue contains both active and passive means of fire protection, in the form of smoke detectors and sprinkler systems. Intelligent photoelectric smoke detectors are placed throughout the building, including the mechanical rooms, stairwells, cavity walls and in each of the HVAC units. They have an audible out put of 85 dB they are tamper resistant as well. A building voice evacuation system was also installed in addition to visual strobes. The smoke detectors for the stairwells will activate the stair pressurization that was discussed in the mechanical section. Similarly the smoke detectors in the HVAC units will shut down the units in the case of smoke detection.

The entire building has a complete automatic hydraulically calculated sprinkler system. The first through ninth floors have wet pipe sprinkler systems. The garage levels and ramps have a dry pipe sprinkler system. The sprinkler systems extend to the elevator pits as well. A ten-gallon per minute jockey pump maintains the water in the sprinklers at ten pounds per square inch. A backflow protector is also an essential component found in this building. A UL rated fire pump and controller with transfer switch, that has a 750 gallons per minute capacity at 155 feet head provides the necessary water to the firefighters.

TRANSPORTATION:

The two means of transportation in 601 New Jersey Avenue consists of seven passenger elevators as well as two stairwells on the north and south portions of the building’s core. Two of the seven elevators are hydraulic elevators that transport the building’s occupants from the sub grade parking levels to the first floor. The remaining five elevators are traction elevators and are the primary means of access to levels one through nine. One of the five elevators has both a rear and front door, this elevator is the only way to access the penthouse and the roof levels other than through the stairwells. Each elevator has a 3,500 pound class A loading capabilities, and move at 350 feet per minute and requires 480 volts, 60 Hertz. The doors open in the center and they have infrared protection devices. Emergency call buttons, a firefighter control panel and a telephone jack are typical features of the elevator systems.

The stairwells, are as mentioned before, have safety features that make them a safe means of egress from the building. The below grade levels of the stairwells are composed of concrete similar to the rest of the underground structure. Once above grade, steel pan stairs are used. The north stairwell leads to a corridor of egress that exits on the northern side of the building. This corridor is lit with emergency lighting and has a two-hour fire rating on the ceiling and wall materials. The south stairwell exits into the first floor elevator lobby. The occupants may then exit either through the buildings main entrance or through the corridor in which the north stairwell exits.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS:

The main telephone room is located on the second level of the sub grade garage. There is a telecommunications room located near the elevator lobby of each floor. The building was built as a state of the art including its ability to communicate with the world. Raceways and four-inch square galvanized boxes. The telecom rooms contain 400 amphere fusible plugs in units supplied by the feeder busway that spans up the entire building.

Existing Conditions: Structural

BUILDING LOADS:

The original loading conditions that were compiled by the structural engineer in the design of 601 New Jersey Avenue were based on Boca 1996 building codes and other supplementary codes.

Dead Loads:

The structural system in 601 New Jersey Avenue is composed of both a two way concrete system found on the sub grade levels of the building and a composite steel beam and column system found on the levels above grade. The steel beams and columns are w-shaped beams. The flooring system consists of a 3” 20 gage steel form deck and lightweight concrete. The brick façade also provides additional dead load to the building and is composed of stone panels and brick. A conservative load of 550 plf was used for the design of the existing system. A summary of the dead loads that act on the building are listed below.