How the East Was One

New Office Tower Rises in Phoenix

With crews currently pouring concrete up to the eighth floor, the $103 million One Central Park East is rapidly climbing to its 26 story perch above downtown Phoenix.

Twenty-six stories of crisply articulated glass and steel, One Central Park East will be a Class A office tower at Van Buren Street and Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix.

Crews are currently pouring concrete for the first 10 stories of the building, which will be occupied by a parking garage and several retail pads on the ground floor. The office component atop the parking garage will be structural steel.

Photo courtesy Scott Blair

The 805,952-sq-ft building comprises 10 stories of cast-in-place concrete parking deck and 16 stories of structural-steel office space. There will be 8,696 sq ft of street-level retail.

The $103 million project is owned and developed by Phoenix-based Central Park East Associates, which includes development partner Mesirow Financial Real Estate of Chicago and an equity partner, the National Electrical Benefits Fund in Washington, D.C.

One Central Park East is adjacent to the new Phoenix campus of Arizona State University and near the Central Station Transit Terminal for bus transportation as well as the main station for METRO light rail.

The Phoenix office of Holder Construction is the construction-manager-at-risk general contractor. Groundbreaking was Nov. 14, and delivery is on schedule for Nov. 30, 2009.

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“This is a major addition to the downtown skyline,” says Andrew Conlin, Mesirow’s managing director, who is serving as project director from the developer’s Phoenix office. “It will be the best office space available in this market.”

Some of the building’s features include an entry lobby highlighted with stone, ornamental metals and millwork walls and ceilings. The steel framing in the office component, performed by Phoenix-based Schuff Steel, allows for flexible, column-free 28,000-sq-ft floor plates. Nine foot floor-to-ceiling glass offers views and daylight for the tenants.

The Phoenix office of SmithGroup designed the building, incorporating a unitized glass curtain-wall system, including dichroic glass elements. The Phoenix office of Walters & Wolf will install the curtain wall, shade fins, perforated metal garage panels and the corrugated ACM panels throughout.

The tower’s design features an 18-story, dichroic glass fin “window box” that vertically lines up with the lobby entry. The strip changes color as viewed from different angles.

Renderings courtesy SmithGroup

Early in the process, Holder, SmithGroup and Walters & Wolf used design assist for the façade design to meet craftsmanship and aesthetics criteria. In addition, Holder is using building information modeling daily to work with mechanical, electrical and plumbing, skin and interior finish trades.

Although it will not be LEED certified, One Central Park East has been designed to LEED standards. Key performance-based green elements are siting, glazing and shading.

As needed, shading elements made up of 1-in. insulated glazing units are attached to the high-performance curtain-wall system, says SmithGroup’s lead designer, Mark Roddy, AIA, LEED AP.

On the east and west façade, 24-in.-deep vertical shade fins will help block the low sun angles in the morning and late afternoon. Here, gradient ceramic fritting averages 15% over the glass, significantly reducing heat gain. In contrast, the south facade incorporates 24-in.-deep horizontal shade fins.

Other green strategies include stacking office space above the parking, which cuts the footprint size; using precooled outside ventilation air; installation of water-efficient plumbing fixtures and landscaping; use of local, regional as well as renewable materials; and modular construction techniques.

As part of its scope, Phoenix-based civil engineer Evans Kuhn & Associates planned infrastructure, including sewers and water mains. Many of the utilities are buried under First Street, adjacent to telecommunications and electrical lines. As a result, a 30-in.-diameter water transmission main had to be relocated.

This water main serves a large portion of the high-rise district in downtown Phoenix, so managing the “shutdown” period presented a major obstacle, says George L. Evans, PE, president and cofounder of the civil engineering firm. “The physical restraints were such that the actual relocation would interfere with many existing utilities, including the parallel 24-in, Northwind chiller lines, major telecommunications systems and large-voltage electrical duct banks,” he adds.

The $103 million project is adjacent to the new Phoenix campus of ASU and near the METRO light rail.

Photo by Patti Reznik Photography

The company was eventually able to submit a plan to the city to shore up and protect existing telecommunication lines and lengthen the amount of new 30-in. pipeline to be installed.

Because One Central Park East sits at the corner of two of downtown’s busiest streets, coordinating dozens of tractor-trailer and concrete truck deliveries every day has required meticulous coordination, says Tom Dobson, senior project manager for Holder.

“We pour concrete starting at 1 a.m. and stagger the material deliveries to ensure that the crane is available to unload the trucks when they arrive,” Dobson says. “Once a delivery does arrive, it’s given the highest priority to minimize its time onsite and minimize any impact to our neighbors.”

While performance-driven in its design components, the building features a focal-point aesthetic element: an 18-story dichroic glass fin “window box” that vertically lines up with the lobby entry. As sunlight and point of view change, the strip changes colors.

“When you’re a block away and looking back at it, it may be a different color,” SmithGroup’s Roddy says. “Six blocks away, it may change color again.”

Key Players

Developer: Central Park East Associates
Architect: SmithGroup
CM at Risk: Holder Construction
Engineers: PK Associates; Evans Kuhn and Associates
Subcontractors: Schuff Steel; Baker Concrete; Walters & Wolf; Cannon & Wendt; Kinetic Systems; Schnabel Foundations

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