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Home > Issue by Date > August 2007

Ready To Respond

The design of this mission critical facility in New York City centers on reliability and flexibility.

By Anne Vazquez

The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) in New York City is the central point of coordination for emergencies and other events that occur in the city. With its roots going back to 1941 (when President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the federal Office of Civilian Defense with New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia as director), OEM has had numerous incarnations. In 1996, it was given its current name and established as a mayoral office. Presently, OEM is a city department, a status granted in November 2001 after the tragic events of 9/11.

At that time, OEM was headquartered at 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan, and its facility was a casualty that day when its offices on the 23rd floor were destroyed. OEM immediately established operations in a temporary facility, and the department then operated from locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn for five years while planning for a new, permanent headquarters.

In October 2006, OEM personnel moved into a newly renovated 62,000 square foot facility in Brooklyn. Henry Jackson, deputy commissioner for technology and facilities with OEM, recalls the sense of renewal: “It meant a lot to our agency. We were literally bombed out of our own building and were homeless for a number of years. It was part of the agency’s recovery process to really get back in business.”

Seeking A Site
The search for a new location began almost immediately after 9/11. “We looked at locations that were accessible, securable, and sited away from any potential natural hazards,” says Jackson. A larger space was also required, because staff had increased by about 30% since 2001.

“We conducted an extensive search around the city,” explains Jackson. “Eventually, the American Red Cross, which is a close partner of ours, let us know about a facility it had in Brooklyn. The site was underutilized, and the Red Cross was considering various options for its use.” As it turns out, the building was located on city land, and the Red Cross’ lease had provisions for OEM to use the property.

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With the site decision made, OEM and the architects and engineers met to identify the goals of the project. Having designed the OEM headquarters previously for the World Trade Center 7 location, the New York City office of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA) was retained by the city’s Department of Design and Construction to create the new facility.

Joseph Aliotta, AIA, managing principal at SHCA, says, “Once we determined the needs of OEM and the budget, we turned our attention to the site. We wanted to determine the best approach in terms of building orientation, security, and whether the existing building should be demolished or if it could be adaptively re-used to meet the program requirements.”

The existing structure had been built in 1954, and extensive work was required to transform it into a facility equipped for the intensive operations of OEM.

“A two-part decision was made—one on the basis of economics and the other on the basis of sustainable design,” explains Aliotta. “It was decided that we would strip the building to its existing concrete structure and modify it as opposed to demolishing the entire building. This accomplished two things; it allowed us to save money, and it enabled us to use less landfill space.”

The Facility In Focus
In planning the building program, the team decided to move the existing core from its central location to the south side of the structure. The core contained stairwells and other necessities, and this set up would not be ideal for OEM.

As Aliotta explains, “It wasn’t workable for the large emergency operations center OEM needed. The proposal was to demolish the core and create a side core.” The 8,000 square foot addition would contain fire stairs, elevators, and restrooms, while the mechanical equipment would be located in the basement.

Situated on the third floor, the emergency operations center (EOC) is the hub of OEM activity during an emergency event. The open space contains 136 seats from which workers coordinate services and communication. Equipped with technology linking it to television, radio, and Internet channels, the EOC provides access to information as it develops.

In order to bring the structure up to par with OEM requirements, the space needed an overhaul. “The existing building had a relatively low floor to floor height at a little over 11',” says Aliotta. “This was not sufficient for the needs of an emergency operations center. So the next step was figuring out ‘how to raise the roof,’ so to speak. We demolished a portion of the roof and built a new structure on top. This raised the roof to about 21' above floor level.”

Maximizing the space of the EOC and providing an accommodating environment was very important. At any given time, approximately 60 staff members could be working in the EOC; this number might increase to about 100 people during emergency conditions and up to 300 during an extreme crisis.

“We wanted to maximize the number of seats in the EOC, given the space and what is reasonable for a person to work in during a 12-hour shift,” says Jackson. “We were able to increase seats [compared to the previous facility] by 30%, with 116 seats on the floor and 20 on the podium.”

Also located on the third floor of the facility is a conference “situation room” for the mayor to use during an emergency, as well as a Watch Command Center, which operates 24/7. (In July of this year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg worked from his dedicated space at OEM for two weeks while City Hall underwent some renovation work.)

Below the EOC, the administrative headquarters of OEM are located on the second floor. The department’s commissioner and deputy commissioners have their offices there. Additionally, conference rooms and other administrative spaces are on the second floor.

The first floor of the building houses public spaces. The main entrance opens into a daylit lobby where reception and security staff are located. There is also a press briefing room on that level, along with a training room and conference room.

To make the most of the facility space, the mechanical rooms were relocated from the central core to the basement. Storage, an exercise area, and a reprographics room were also sited underground.

Linked Up And Powered Up
Millions of people depend on OEM, so the quality of its communication and planning resources are crucial. With the support of city government and collaboration with the architects and engineers on the job, Jackson and his team aimed to create a state of the art facility upon which city residents could depend. Secure and redundant power and data systems were central to this mission.

Jackson notes that designing the facility from the ground up enabled his team to implement the best technology available. “The ability to upgrade the technology was a great advantage,” he says. “A lot of the capabilities had changed since we built 7 World Trade Center.”

Redundancies in power supply were crucial to the planning. “That’s a core requirement for us,” says Jackson. “It is always crucial in the design of our facilities to have generation capabilities throughout. We test our backup power system every week to make sure it’s operational at all times. During the blackout of 2003, for instance, our facility was lit up like a Christmas tree.”

To achieve the level of dependability required, building systems were designed with 2N and N+2 design redundancies. These approaches were applied to services and utilities; uninterrupted power supply; emergency generators; and electrical and telecommunication distribution systems.

A 2N system is comprised of two independent systems to provide two sources of power to each piece of equipment. The N+2 design architecture consists of the “main” piece of equipment, as well as two back up sources. This approach means that when one item (i.e. a generator) is down for service, its duplicate can take up normal operations, while the third piece stands by in case of a failure.

Going For Green
In March 2007, the building was certified LEED for New Construction 2.1 Silver and is the first headquarters building in the city to earn the designation. “It was an interesting process,” says Jackson of his first LEED endeavor, “not just for OEM, but for the city as a whole to go through the process and understand its requirements and the nuances involved.”

The decision to pursue LEED was made after some design work had been completed. Therefore, some strategies used were necessarily those that had minimal impact on the earlier design.

The sustainable approach included energy and water conservation measures. Indoor air quality was addressed by specifying low off-gassing materials and preventing contamination of the air during construction. Carbon monoxide sensors were installed throughout, which could also provide the benefit of increasing occupant alertness when many people are working in the facility due to more fresh air being provided by the HVAC system.

The project also earned credits toward certification through material conservation. This was achieved by avoiding demolition of the existing Red Cross building and using many of its floors and column structures. Additionally, 90% of demolition and construction waste was recycled.

At The Ready
Moving into a new facility successfully takes careful planning and coordination. The 24/7 operating requirement of OEM required no less.

Jackson explains, “We needed to shift about 150 people into the facility without allowing any downtime. We moved on a Friday night and kept the Watch Command Center in the old space operating. At 8:00 a.m. the next day, the next shift began operations in the new building. Switching the phones was the most complicated thing...to get the ring to go from one location to the other. It was a long weekend, but it worked out well.”

In reflecting on the project, Aliotta remarks, “It was the Phoenix rising from the ashes. Taking a building that was obsolete and turning it into this state of the art operations center was very satisfying. I think it is a pretty impressive achievement for everyone that was involved.”

As they have since 9/11 and before, OEM staff members continue to work around the clock to monitor potential threats to New York City and its occupants. The difference from the past five years is that they are located in a permanent, modern facility designed to allow them to work as effectively as possible in identifying and mitigating whatever event may come their way.

This article was based on an interview with Aliotta (aliotta.j@shca.com) and Jackson (hjackson@oem.nyc.gov).

To share your new construction or renovation story, send an e-mail to avazquez@groupc.com. Past Showcase features can be found on the Web at www.TodaysFacilityManager.com.

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