Barclay Vesey Building

SOLUTION

140 West Street was built in 1926 and served as the original headquarters of the New York Telephone Company. At the time it was the second largest building in lower Manhattan, 32 stories high, with over 1.2 million square feet of space. Today, the entire art deco facade, entrances and first floor lobby are all registered landmarks.

On September 11th the collapse of the Twin Towers across the street and 7 World Trade next door, caused severe structural and facade damage to 140 West Street. Entire column bays were destroyed as high up as the 13th story and the east facade was almost entirely destroyed up to the 9th floor. For nearly a month fire fighters pumped water from the Hudson through the standpipes in the Verizon building to fight fires in the seven-story high pile of burning debris next door.

Within 24 hours of the tragedy our firm was called upon by Verizon to directly oversee and coordinate a team of over a dozen top-notch design professional firms. Preserving the historic character of the building would not have been complete without completely restoring the Landmark Lobby including the dilapidated ceiling murals. Rapid changes in temperature and humidity, along with smoke and water damage, nearly destroyed the historic frescos beyond repair. 

To this day the building remains a cornerstone of Verizon’s real estate portfolio, ranking among the top 10 most critical buildings in their entire national footprint.