U.S. Department of Treasury - Main Building Renovation
Washington, D.C.
The Treasury Building is a nearly 220-year-old structure that was erected in the era of the country’s first president, George Washington, and its first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Heery International was retained by the Treasury Department to oversee the phased renovation of this 485,000 SF historic structure. The four-phased renovation demanded both an acute sensitivity to the unique challenges presented by an historic preservation of this scale and a depth of expertise from which to offer the appropriate solutions. The renovation spanned six years and included utilities, interior construction and vertical transportation.
The project also involved decorative landscape renovations to the building’s historic plaza, including new landscaping, pavers, stonework and statue restoration. While the Treasury renovation involved much in preserving and restoring the historical elements of the building, a number of new features were also put in place during the renovation, such as a new high-voltage electric vault, six “new” elevators from shifting the location of two and adding a floor to two others, 10 new bathrooms, a modern cafeteria, kitchen/dining area for the Secretary of the Treasury, two new emergency stairways, three restored skylights and a new network operations center.
Myriad challenges arose almost from the beginning of construction in 2000 and continued through the project’s successful completion in 2006. Special care was required due to: limited staging areas; large numbers of tourist pedestrians; phased construction with swing space to house existing occupants; special protocols for working in or around historic areas; escorts for all roof-top workers due to proximity to the White House; and enhanced security features such as classified spaces, ballistic glass, exterior guard booths, and fixed vehicle access limitation systems. One particular scheduling and security challenge was unique to projects in downtown Washington, DC: President George W. Bush’s inaugural parade proceeded past the project on both 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue during the middle of Phase 1 construction.