New 555 Fifth facade nearly complete.

This week, as the culmination of nearly eight years of renovations, tenants at 555 Fifth Avenue will be getting new windows as the final element of a totally new curtain wall encapsulation and building renovation. And for the top nine floors of the 20 story tower, these will not be just any windows but special greenhouse type structures that will extend their offices an additional 2.5 feet.

Designed by Der Scutt, the granite, glass and aluminum curtain wall will present a new look to the brick building that was constructed some forty years ago.

While renovations on the interior elements of the office tower - including the lobby, bathrooms, and air conditioning - began in the 1980s, it still looks fresh and new today.

"One of our hallmarks," explained Peter L. DiCapua, senior vice president of Atco Properties & Management who was in charge of the project, "is that when we do something, we do it with our own designers and in-house construction crews. We do it for the long term with a lot of forethought. This facade is the conclusion of that program."

One of the things Atco worked extremely hard to achieve was to have the tenants think of this renovation as a benefit. "Sometimes the turmoil you create creates bad will and a hard relationship between the landlord and tenant." observed DiCapua. "We're extremely sensitive to that, so when a tenant makes any sort of reasonable request, we are looking to find ways to say, 'yes.' That's something we pride ourselves on."

Dale H. Hemmerdinger, president of the Hemmerdinger Corporation, of which Atco Properties & Management is a subsidiary, credited DiCapua with doing a great job for the company and added, "We are grateful to our tenants for the consideration they have shown us and hope they are grateful to us and are pleased with what we've done."

Hemmerdinger said his father, the late Monroe Hemmerdinger, built 555 Fifth Avenue in 1955 and the company has owned and managed the property since that time. The Hemmerdinger Company itself was founded in 1922 and owns and manages several million square feet in New York and Phoenix, Arizona.

The lobby was renovated four years ago and with its grey marble, DiCapua said it still looks very current. "It's not something that loses its luster," he added. "The waterfall is always operating. We learned our lessons to recirculate and go through a series of purifications and additives so the algae type smells and evaporations wouldn't be detected."

The multi-million dollar renovation included elevator cabs adorned with marble and bronze panels, and public corridors containing marble flooring and energy efficient lighting. There is also a card-access security system.

As for the new windows, because tenants object to inoperable windows, one of the new casement panels will be operable, which is not typical of these new facades, noted DiCapua. Additionally, the windows conform to city residential window guard requirements and have stops so they cannot be opened wider than about four inches.

Atco Properties had a prototype of the greenhouse windows installed in their own 16th floor offices eight years ago to see if they would like the look and design and get an idea about maintenance requirements. They refined the design and that is what is being installed for tenants today.

For safety, the greenhouses do not have a glass bottom but a structural shelf that can support the weight of a person, said DiCapua, as well as sizable trees and shrubs. "It will be very much like a solarium," he explained.

Additionally, there are 16 outside corner offices that are generally occupied by presidents and CEO's of tenant companies and those offices will have special corner elements.

The windows, designed by Glassalum, have been rigorously tested by an independent lab chosen by Atco to ensure against leakage. "I was down in Miami, Florida and I witnessed a test of these corner elements in a wind tunnel that blows the rain on with an aircraft engine," said an impressed DiCapua. Additionally, the windowsills will be covered with baked-on aluminum.

DiCapua had been impressed with Glassalum when he observed another of the firm's curtain wall jobs proceed. "I was impressed by the way they produced the job and the way they got the panels onto the building," he said. So while they took bids from four different manufacturers, Glassalum had a favorable bid and the right means and methods to make this installation.

But one of the things Atco demanded is that they would only inconvenience their tenants for one day, a tall order for such a large project. The entire facade is being constructed only on the outside of the building and they are not using the inside at all. As of last week, there were pins set into the entire elevation of the building. The curtain wall panels are currently being hung over the current windows and interlock with each other and completely seal the outside of the building.

"The existing windows remain in place," explained DiCapua. "Then in one day, we go in from the inside, take out the old window and put in the new window and new prefabricated trim places to match the interior of the wall to meet the new facade. So in one day we trim."

DiCapua said they developed the nearly uniform ivory interior trim with extreme care. "We identified each and every one of the tenant's interior designs and developed a standard package so we can join a new element and their existing element together," he said. "We have one installation that is a dark wood and we will be able to use a veneer to match that, so they will have a continuous look."

Once the windows and curtain wall are completely installed, the comfort levels will be better, he said, because the swings in temperature will not be as radical as before, as the systems cope with the winds in winter and the solar gains in the summer. "We'll have to recalibrate the AC and heating controls," he added, noting the building also has zoned controls.

The noise aspect is also going to be cut down tremendously. "The street noise that one hears today will be cut down to nil," noted DiCapua. "One thing our building is renowned for is the St. Paddie's Day Parade that begins with bagpipers at a staging area across the street around 10 o'clock in the morning. After the second and third hours it's enough," he added. The new windows will considerably attenuate the sounds, and those who delight in bagpipers all day can merely open their new windows.

One thing that Atco knew might be annoying was when the installers had to drill the steel to put the hanging pins into place. "It's like ringing the Liberty Bell," said DiCapua. "We recognized that would be annoying and scheduled this work early in the morning and during lunch hours."

While DiCapua thought they might have many tenant problems and disruptions, in actuality there was only one tenant employee that was annoyed. He shrugged, "You can't satisfy all the people all the time. All the senior people in his firm thought we were handling the work well."