Urban Outfitters Corporate Headquarters, PHILADELPHIA, PA

Facilities Services, HVAC, Building Automation Systems & Plumbing

FACILITIES SERVICES VALUE DELIVERED

More efficient corporate building operations, preservation of a historic site, up-scale employee facilities, more comfortable and productive environment.

FACILITIES SERVICES PROJECT OBJECTIVES

To centralize its headquarters staff, administrative employees and design personnel from multiple locations into a new corporate headquarters building.

HVAC, BAS & BUILDING SOLUTIONS

This fast-track project involved six buildings with a total of 1.5-million square feet of space. The buildings are part of the historic Philadelphia Naval Operations Center (the Navy Yard) in south Philadelphia. Because it is a historic site, contractors retained much of the building’s original materials and construction features, enhancing the historical aesthetics of the open spaces.

The centerpiece of the project is Building 543. It has a 60-foot high center bay and houses offices, the corporate data center and photography laboratories. There is also a gourmet employee cafeteria, which is open to the public, as well as expansive fern and bamboo gardens, two large 5,000-gallon koi ponds and a contemplation area with an oversized imported Buddha. In addition, this building contains the chiller plant, which has been designed and decorated as an art form that can be viewed by employees and visitors through a floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall. An exercise facility located above the chiller plant is viewable from the building’s ground floor.

Fluidics role in the project began in the fall of 2005, when it provided preliminary budgeting and value engineering services. The company then constructed and installed a new 3,400-ton central plant with three chillers, plus all associated equipment. The company also retrofitted and refurbished the heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and plumbing systems in the five additional buildings, and laid a new underground distribution system to connect the central plant with its neighboring facilities. Using the client’s information technology network, Fluidics interconnected all buildings with a 10,000-point building automation system. Finally, to provide both employee comfort and an attractive environment, the company installed a unique radiant heating and cooling system under the floor of Building 543’s central core, a task requiring 25,000 feet of plastic tubing.

The result is a new corporate office building that combines historic renovation with modern mechanical systems and advanced building automation control technology. This increases energy efficiency and employee productivity, while providing a pleasant and appealing space with contemporary amenities that can be enjoyed by company personnel and the public alike.

At the peak of the project, Fluidics staff consisted of 75 steamfitters and plumbers, plus numerous subcontractors and a full-time on-site safety manager.

CLIENT BACKGROUND

Founded in 1970, Urban Outfitters is a leading clothing, footwear and housewares retailer. With headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the site of its first store, the company has three major brands: Urban Oufitters, Anthropologie and Free People. It employs approximately 7,500 people at more than 140 locations in the United States, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

CLIENT:
Blue Rock Construction

MECHANICAL CONTRACTOR:
EMCOR Services Fluidics

		Design/Build
		Bid Build
		New Construction
		Retrofit
		Electrical Construction
		Mechanical Construction
		Facilities Services
		Consulting Services
		HVAC Services
		Energy Services