Democracy Tower, an ABC Metro Washington & Virginia Award Project

Lobby, MEP closets, and back-of-house offices were previously constructed with the parking garage; these spaces were required to be fit out with all required MEP system and finishes. The building framework consists of interior cast-in-place concrete shear walls, columns, and post-tensioned reinforced cast-in-place decks; the building enclosure system consists of precast concrete panels, aluminum panels, glass curtain walls and aluminum storefronts that complement the façade. The white roof system consists of rubberized asphalt and white insulated pavers. MEP equipment is located from the Penthouse level to the existing basement and includes two chillers, two roof mounted cooling towers, and a heat exchanger in the penthouse. Five traction elevators were installed during construction serving the 17th floor to the street level lobby. Typical floors include two restrooms, mechanical, electrical, fire alarm, phone, service elevator lobbies, and two staircases extending from the existing garage

One of the major challenges on the job was the location of the project, with the garage open to the public and open retail on the street level. HITT Contracting had to put in place a complete surround of overhead protection in order to protect pedestrian traffic and keep the businesses located below open. While keeping consideration for the open businesses, HITT also installed a man and material hoist up the existing garage and an additional one on the new structure. While having two hoists took additional assets to run and install, this ensured public walkways and parking would not be disturbed. With an almost nonexistent material lay down area, the majority of material had to be curb off-loaded and coordinated so that a minimum traffic disturbance was caused. With a 15-month schedule to complete the project, HITT had to find a few ways to accelerate trades so that the time frame was met. This challenge was met by unitizing all curtain wall and ribbon window units. The precast and glass was purchased and started into fabrication as soon as the project was awarded, so that there was no downtime between the structural concrete finishing up, and the skin installation onto the building. HITT had taken numerous measures to coordinate with the glass and precast subcontractor so that both would be complete with fabrication on time, and could both be working on-site at full capacity at the same time. Entering this project, Boston Properties (owner) sought a LEED certification only. During the construction process, five of the team members achieved their LEED® AP certifications, all gained a more thorough understanding of the LEED® process and eventually achieved a LEED® Gold rating for the construction.