MacKenzie Painters finish painting New Connecticut State Office Building project, Hartford, CT.

admin — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 09:23:20 +0000

Hartford’s State Office Building: Where history meets modern workspace in $205M makeover

In an office that will be occupied by the secretary of the state staff, Eni Demiraj, left, and Garrett Graham paint the ceiling. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

As hundreds of state workers move into the renovated State Office Building in Hartford, they are relocating into an edifice with a stately, even monumental, 1930s exterior but with workspaces now outfitted for the 2020s and beyond.

Inside, the six-story structure at 165 Capitol Ave. has open floor plans, a mechanized “sit-and-stand” desk for each employee and sleek break rooms with stainless steel appliances and pendant lighting.

“For me, having worked in this building, it’s a much smarter use of space,” Carol O’Shea, facilities planning manager for the state, said during a recent tour. “It was a rabbit warren. It was offices within offices within offices.”

Renovation work is nearing completion in and around the State Office Building at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Washington Street in Hartford. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

Notably, the 750 air conditioners that once jutted out from almost every possible window are now gone, replaced by a centralized cooling system.

[Business] West Hartford’s Puritan Furniture is closing after 88 years in Elmwood

State employees started relocating just after Thanksgiving, and by the end of January, the building will become the workplace for about 700. The renovated space will primarily be the domain of the state’s constitutional officers, including the attorney general, comptroller, treasurer and secretary of the state. The structure also will house the state auditors and later this year, the teachers’ retirement board.

The majority are moving from leased space at nearby 55 Elm St., built in the same era as the State Office Building. The structure, on Pulaski Circle, is now under contract to be sold for possible conversion to apartments or other uses.

In an office that will be occupied by the secretary of the state staff, Eni Demiraj, left, and Garrett Graham paint the ceiling. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

The state faces a deadline of March 31 to move all personnel and equipment out of 55 Elm St. or be hit with a higher month-to-month lease.

The State Office Building renovation is part of a larger plan to consolidate state workers into buildings the state owns to save on leasing costs. At 55 Elm St., the lease cost $6 million a year.

The makeover of the State Office Building was controversial for its $205 million price tag, including a $34 million, 1,007-space parking garage on nearby Buckingham Street.

The majority of state office workers are relocating to the State Office Building from leased space at 55 Elm St., shown here, on nearby Pulaski Circle. (Hartford Courant)

Anthony J. Amenta, principal of Amenta Emma Architects, the architectural firm hired for the project, said demolishing the building would have been difficult because it stands in the Elm Street Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Even with replacing everything, it’s still much less expensive than building a building of the same size, regardless of what we have done here,” Amenta said, on the tour.

So far, the project has come under budget by about $3 million, officials said.

Architect for the renovation of the State Office Building Anthony Amenta of Amenta Emma Architects in Hartford examines one of the completed employee break rooms. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

The project also is seen as a catalyst to the redevelopment of the expanse of parking lots that stretch east of the State Office Building.

Amenta said the renovation balances historical restoration of the building’s neoclassical Indiana limestone exterior and historic elements on the first floor with modernized workspaces designed with exposed duct work, brick and beams.

New state parking garage first piece of Bushnell area redevelopment puzzle »

In office areas, gone are the heavy oak moldings, cast-iron radiators and a layout — offices opening off narrow corridors — popular when the building was constructed 90 years ago.

They have been replaced by open banks of workstations, which initially caused some concern.

O’Shea said the floors are equipped with noise-masking systems that can be turned up, sounding like a low hum of an HVAC system or traffic.

Painter Carlos Palacios touches up window and door frames as renovation work is nearing completion on a lower floor of the State Office Building. Offices on upper floors are already occupied. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

“It’s funny, though, the people that we moved in yesterday, their manager said, ‘This is a noisy group of people. I don’t know how this is going to work,’” O’Shea said. “All of a sudden, they are whispering. There’s something called the ‘library effect.’ If you see people working, you tend to lower your voice.”

Matt Larock, an assistant attorney general and department head for employment, said workspaces at 55 Elm St. were outdated, and the attorney general’s staff was scattered over several floors and in an annex.

[Business] Connecticut’s insurance industry draws hundreds of college students to career fair intended to find young workers and replace retirees heading for the exit

At 165 Capitol Ave., the staff is on just two floors.

The biggest thing is that the new building is very vibrant and modern.

– MATT LAROCK, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT HEAD FOR EMPLOYMENT

Share quote & link :

“The biggest thing is that the new building is very vibrant and modern,” Larock said. “It just opens the door for a more collegial setting, more openness, communication. All the folks are accessible to each other, there’s more camaraderie.”

Each of the constitutional officers is getting an office in the northwest corner of building with a view of the state Capitol. Their offices include a bathroom, a closet and conference table and monitor.

The attorney general and his staff have already moved into the renovated State Office Building from their previous quarters at nearby 55 Elm St. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

Attorney General William Tong snags the top floor; Comptroller Kevin Lembo, the third; Treasurer Shawn Wooden, the second; and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, the first floor. Merrill was placed on the first floor because her office is most often accessed by the public, O’Shea said.

The main entrance to the building has been shifted from the north to the east, and is marked by a two-story glass foyer with a footbridge traversing the space.

[Business] Shares of Connecticut’s dominant defense companies rise following US air strike that killed Iranian general

“When you add to a building that’s on the historic register, they don’t want the addition to mimic in any way the historic structure,” Amenta said. “So the more contemporary you can make it, the better.”

This rendering shows the exterior of the State Office Building in Hartford after a $205 million renovation. The renovations include a new entrance on the east side of the building and the addition of a landscaped plaza, about the size of a football field. (Amenta/Emma Architects, Hartford/HANDOUT)

The entrance will border a park nearly the size of a football field, running between Capitol Avenue and Buckingham Street. Sycamore hybrid trees already have been planted, and landscaping is expected to be completed in the spring.

The two interior courtyards have been raised 6 feet, allowing a new cafeteria and the front lobby to open directly on them.

This 2015 file photo shows the interior courtyards of the State Office Building on Capitol Avenue in Hartford. (MICHAEL McANDREWS/Hartford Courant)

The courtyard walls — once heavily stained with rust — have been covered with alternating panels of black and white terra cotta.

“When you looked out on what the courtyard used to be, it was like the Shawshank Redemption,” said Bryan Chervenak, senior general superintendent at Gilbane Building Co., which is overseeing the renovations. “It was quite ugly. It looked like a prison yard.”

The interior courtyard of the State Office Building after the $205 million renovation has terra cotta panels covering walls that had been stained with rust. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

The building’s historic designation demanded the renovation preserve critical architectural elements. Many of the steel casement windows with cast iron mullions were beyond repair, but a compromise was struck to replace them with exact — but more energy efficient — replicas rendered by the original manufacturer.

The historic first floor hall with marble colonnade has been restored. Paint was removed from sandstone walls. A decorative ceiling was replaced in the same style after asbestos was discovered. And worn treads on limestone staircases leading up into the building were either resurfaced or replaced.

The historic colonnade on the first floor has been restored, including the removal of paint from sandstone walls. (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant)

The tour wraps up on the secretary of the state’s floor. Painters are spraying the ceiling and walls.

“Don’t lean on anything,” O’Shea cautions. “The paint might still be wet.”

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.

The post MacKenzie Painters finish painting New Connecticut State Office Building project, Hartford, CT. appeared first on Mackenzie.

Uncategorized Archives - Mackenzie

MacKenzie Painters finish painting New Connecticut State Office Building project, Hartford, CT.

Hartford’s State Office Building: Where history meets modern workspace in $205M makeover

The biggest thing is that the new building is very vibrant and modern.