Western Specialty Contractors’ NYC Metro-Ridgefield Branch has completed a challenging façade restoration and waterproofing project on New York City’s iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.
Officially named the Comcast Building after its current owner, 30 Rockefeller Plaza (nicknamed 30 Rock) was the third tallest building in the world when it opened in 1933. The 66-story building was designed in the Art Deco style and is known for its primary tenant, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), from its opening in 1933 until 1988. The building currently serves as the headquarters and New York studios of the television network NBC. It is the tallest structure in Rockefeller Center and the 28th tallest in New York City.
Western was contracted in July 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, to perform routine maintenance on the building’s façade, which included the following scope of work:
- Sealant replacement around window perimeters and metal-to-stone
- Cast iron decorative panel metal patching
- Limestone patching
- Limestone façade pinning/stabilization
- Limestone joint repointing
- Coping resetting
Western’s façade restoration experts followed all social distancing protocols while working on the project, which included daily temperature screenings and wearing masks. To minimize distractions to the building’s tenants, all of Western’s work was performed in the evenings after most of the building’s tenants and personnel had left for the day; this required an extra focus on safety due to the limited visibility.
Access to the building’s façade was logistically challenging and required Western’s crews to access some parts of the building via the tenant spaces. In other areas, rigging scaffolds were used off small roofs that were sometimes over 50 stories in the air. At a height of 880 feet, building swing stages were susceptible to wind and required pre-planning and alternate work areas if the wind was too strong to safely perform work on taller building locations.
YC The building’s “Top of the Rock” observation deck is a huge revenue generator, so any impact on the space would not only be an eyesore but a potential deterrent to visitors to the popular destination.
Traditional access methods require outrigger scaffolds with beams, counterweights, and scaffold towers built directly on the observation deck roof. To avoid an equipment presence on the roof for multiple months, Western hired a rope access subcontractor to perform any work required on the observation deck. This team installed and removed all of their equipment after each shift, leaving the deck free of any sign of construction during the daytime.
Western completed the project on time and within budget in July 2021.
Have a project you need completed? Contact the NYC Metro branch today https://westernspecialtycontractors.com/nyc/
About Western Specialty Contractors
Family-owned and operated for more than 100 years, Western Specialty Contractors is the nation’s largest specialty contractor in masonry and concrete restoration, waterproofing, and specialty roofing. Western offers a nationwide network of expertise that building owners, engineers, architects, and property managers can count on to develop cost-effective, corrective measures that can add years of useful life to a variety of structures, including industrial, commercial, healthcare, historic, educational and government buildings, parking structures, and sports stadiums. Western is headquartered in St. Louis, MO, with 30 branch offices nationwide and employs more than 1,200 salaried and hourly professionals who offer the best, time-tested techniques and innovative technology. For more information about Western Specialty Contractors, visit https://westernspecialtycontractors.com.