Aric Heffelfingere

Fordham Place
Building Statistics

Building Name: Fordham Place

Building Location: 400 East Fordham Road
Bronx, NY 10458

Building Occupant Name: Varies

Building Occupant Type: Office / Retail

Size: 174060 SF

Number of Stories: 15

Primary Project Team:
Owner – Acadia Realty
CM – Acadia Realty
Architect – Greenberg Farrow
Structural Engineer – M.G. McLaren
Mechanical Engineer – Greenberg Farrow
Geotechnical Engineer – Soil Mechanics Drilling Corp.
Surveyor – Control Point Associates

Building Cost: $34.8 Million

Project Delivery Method: Design Build

Major National Codes Used: New York City Building Code
BOCA 1996

Zoning:

Historical requirements of building or zone where built: N/A

Building envelope including description of roofing system and all the types of various exterior wall systems throughout the building: Curtain wall system for façade. Roofing membrane on tapered insulation on 3 ½” composite roof slab.

Architecture (Design and Functional Components):
As you look around Bronx, NY you will notice a distinct similarity between most buildings; this being they are shorter older buildings, most less than 6 stories. Once Fordham Place is erected, it will tower over the city of Bronx, rising 15 stories above ground level. As you go up the building, its size decreases as the building steps in at the 6th floor and then again at the 15th floor. The 15 story office tower will connect into an existing 5 story brick and limestone building which will have retail space up to the second floor and a sports club on the third . The office tower base will be clad in GFRC or cast stone to match the limestone base of the existing building. The tower itself will be a panelized brick veneer system to compliment the existing building. The Tower design includes modern references to the classical detailing of the existing building (such as the cornices, cast iron mullions etc.) The floor elevations of the new building will match the existing and there will be an expansion joint separating the new and old.

Structural:
The taller tower part of the building is getting tied into an existing five story building, which introduces two totally different styles of structural design.

Existing Building: In the existing five story building, it is typical to see concrete encased interior 14” steel columns spaced approximately 26’ x 22’ in a typical bay. These columns support 18” steel beams and 18” steel double girders that were poured monolithically with an 8 in concrete slab. I came to the conclusion that since the double girder members are typically the same size as the beams, it was due to availability of size of steel members. On the exterior of the existing building, you will find solid brick piers from the second floor down to the concourse floor. These piers vary from 2’ x 4’ at the second floor to 4’ x 8’ at the concourse floor. From the third floor up to the fifth floor there are 14” steel columns. From my research, I believe the columns range from approximately 75 -275 lb/ft. The foundations consist of step footings 10’ x 10’ wide by 7’ deep.

New Tower: The new tower part of Fordham Place utilizes composite deck with a 6 1/4” slab supported by, most commonly, W16 x 26 steel beams. These beams then transfer the load to a steel girder varying in size. These steel girders range anywhere from a W18 x 40 to a W36 x 182. Most commonly, the girder sizes are around W21 x 50. Supporting the beams and girders are 14” columns varying from 665 lbs/ft to 43 lbs/ft. However, there are 4 W10 x 39’s that extend from 14th to the roof top. Once the load is carried all the way down to the ground, it will be transferred to 150 ton piles that will be hammered to approximately 45’. This extreme depth is due to poor soil characteristics. The lateral force resisting system is composed of braced frames and moment connections. There are six bents with braced frames all of which start at the ground floor and continue up to the rooftop. The braces in these frames are made up of HSS 12 x 12 x ½ members.

Mechanical:
The Buildings HVAC system basically consists of a Water Cooled Air Conditioning system in combination with a gas fired Central Boiler Plant. As part of the Core and Shell, a cooling tower mounted on the Building’s roof will provide condenser water (supply and return) via common pumps and piping, to adequately size valved taps terminating within each of the tenant spaces. Space heating will be accomplished via a gas fired Modular Central Boiler Plant (located in a mechanical room in the cellar level) which will deliver hot water to the building via common and insulated hot water heating risers, where similarly to the condenser water, adequately sized valved taps terminating at each of the tenant spaces will be provided under the core and shell work.

Electrical:
a.) Retail Tenants - Each retail tenant will be provided with a dedicated and separately (direct to utility co) metered electric service feeder emanating from the building’s main electric service room. Tenant’s service feeder will terminate at a pull box within the tenants space.
b.) Office Tenants - Each office floor will be provided with a separate feeder and floor
Panels sized to handle an above average office use type space complete with breakers and/or switches for future connection of both lighting and power loads. The floor electrical loads (including HVAC units) will be provided with electronic sub-metering furnished by the LL at tenant’s expense for reading energy consumption.

Lighting:

Plumbing:
The building will be provided with a few sanitary risers/stacks (with vents) complete with capped outlets at each retail tenant space and at each of the office floors. Domestic cold water to the building will be delivered from a master metered service to the various floors of the building via a common insulated riser. Separate valved outlets terminating at each of the retail tenant spaces will be provided under the core and shell work.

Fire Protection:
Building will be provided with a fully automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Code requirements and standard occupancy uses. System coverage will consist of a riser, loop and minimum grid with upright heads. An automatic fire pump will be required and provided under the Core and Shell work. A wet fire-standpipe system complete with hose rack stations, risers, fittings and devices will be required under the building core and shell work.

Transportation:
Building will be equipped with two escalators, 5 passenger elevators, 1 freight elevator, and 4 stair towers. Both escalators will be side by side (one going up and one coming back down), located at the northwestern corner of the existing building, and serving transportation from the concourse floor to the ground floor and from the ground floor to the second floor. Both escalators are almost 3 feet wide and travel at a speed of 100 feet per minute. Of the five passenger elevators, one is located in the existing part of the building while the other four are clustered together serving all 15 floors of the tower part of the building. All five passenger elevators have at least a 3500 lb capacity while traveling at speed of 400 feet per minute. The Freight elevator is located at west side entrance of the existing building and has a capacity of 5000 lb traveling at speeds of 200 feet per minute. The 4 stair towers are strategically located to comply with code. Two of which serve the existing building while the other two stretch from the concourse floor the rooftop of the impressive 15 story tower.

Telecommunication:
Fordham Place features a hi-tech, state of the art security system which consists of personal security at the lobby entrance with additional key cards for access of the building, and key card access of the elevators also. The reception desk will have computers with flat screens, telephones, and a concealed fire command station for security purposes. Pictures of visitors will also be take upon entry of the building. Each tenant will be given an ample amount of roof space for use of satellite dishes, antennas, etc.