RTKL's Applied Technology Group Completes $4.5 Million Renovation on Behalf of HRPT Properties Trust at the Candler Building; Historical 1912 Structure is Now a Magnet for High Technology Companies.

BALTIMORE -- RTKL Associates Inc. has completed a $4.5 million electrical upgrade program on behalf of HRPT Properties Trust, a Newton, Massachusetts based Real Estate Investment Trust, at the historical Candler Building located (111 Market Place) in Baltimore. The project was handled by RTKL's Applied Technology Group, which is responsible for providing the integrated architecture and engineering services demanded by mission critical technology intensive operations.

"The structural challenge on the Candler Building was to analyze the existing floor framing which was constructed of reinforced concrete," said Peter Malmquist, principal in RTKL's Baltimore office. "We needed to maintain the historic beauty of the building in addition to ensuring the safety of the structure."

Constructed in 1912 by Coca-Cola's founder, Asa Candler, the 13 floor, 580,000 SF structure served as one of the soft drink company's first bottling plants in the country. Located on the waterfront of the inner harbor near downtown Baltimore, the building was converted to an office building in the mid-1930s and then became a Social Security Building. Today, the building houses high tech and telecommunications companies such as Qwest and MCI; along with Fortune 500 companies such as Constellation Energy.

"While the structure is historical, the tenant mix is not. These high technology based firms require an extremely high level of 24/7 reliable power -- which is much more than a standard office building," said Rajan Battish P.E., principal in RTKL's Baltimore office. "As a result of its location on the inner harbor, the threat of flooding is always a possibility. In fact, in 2003, Hurricane Isabel swept through Baltimore, cutting all power in this building, among others, leaving approximately 54 inches of water in the basement. We were able to bring in temporary generators and substation transformers, bringing the entire building back on line within 24 hours; however, this upgrade will alleviate this concern in the future."

Previously located in the basement, the upgrade included replacement of all the redundant incoming service for the electrical equipment, which has been relocated to 7,000 square feet on the first floor, above flood levels. The upgrade program also included phased demolition of all the main feeds, emergency back up and replacing the entire electrical infrastructure of the building. The new infrastructure was installed in addition to operation of existing equipment in the basement. After service was introduced to the new switchgear, existing loads from the old equipment to the new equipment were phased out, providing uninterrupted service. The upgrade also replaced low and medium switch gears, transformers, an emergency generator and associated life safety and standby power sources to the tenants. A major concern was installing heavy electrical infrastructure on the first floor of the building.

RTKL was the lead in commissioning of the switchgear that incorporated redundant PLC with automatic throw over schemes for high reliability. The systems integrated with emergency power sources and tenant standby power sources.

The RTKL Applied Technology team includes Rajan Battish, PE, project manager; Hardeep Singh, PE, in charge of mechanical requirements; Peter Murr, architect; and Peter Malmquist, PE, Structural Engineer.

Part of RTKL Associates Inc., one of the of the world's leading architectural and engineering firms, the Applied Technology Group (ATG) is responsible for integrating the architecture and engineering services demanded by mission-critical technology intensive operations. Since its formal inception in 1999, the ATG has been responsible for the development of more than $500 million in mission critical construction. For more information, please visit www.RTKL.com.