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Accenture Tower, an award-winning,
1.46-million-square-foot, 42-story
Class A office and retail property
at 500 West Madison Street,
Chicago, IL |
Chicago, IL -- Western Specialty Contractors – Chicago Facades Branch and KBS, one of the
largest owners and operators of premier commercial real estate buildings in the
nation, are completing the restoration of a curtain wall at Accenture Tower, an award-winning,
1.46-million-square-foot, 42-story Class A office and retail property at 500
West Madison Street in Chicago, Illinois.
The tower, completed in 1987 and formerly known as 500 West
Madison, has twice earned The Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award
Internationally by The Building Owner and Managers Association.
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Debbie Kalck
|
The building, which features numerous
top-tier amenities, contains 40 stories of office space and 80,000 square feet
of retail space over two levels.
Sitting
above the Ogilvie Transportation Center, the sixth-busiest railway commuter station/terminal
in North America, Accenture Tower has earned a UL Verified Healthy Building
verification and is LEED Gold and WiredScore Gold certified.
KBS contracted Western Specialty Contractors – Chicago Facades
Branch in 2021 to completely restore the existing curtain wall at the property.
The
project, which is expected to continue through 2025, includes the removal and
replacement of the original 35-year-old sealants on the entire 588-foot-tall
building’s curtain wall and bridge over Canal Street.
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Luke Hamagiwa
|
“This restoration demonstrates KBS’ ongoing dedication to
delivering the highest-quality amenities at its office properties and
highlights its partnerships with service providers like Western Specialty
Contractors,” says Luke Hamagiwa, Asset Manager for Accenture Tower and
Vice President at KBS.
“The
curtain wall system will help prevent leaks which is extremely important given
the area’s inclement weather.”
According to Debbie Kalck, Branch Manager for Western’s
Chicago Facades Branch, a curtain wall system on a building’s façade plays an
important role in protecting the building and its occupants by keeping the
weather out while allowing extra natural light deeper into a building’s
interior space.
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| Ogilvie Transportation Center, Chicago, IL |
Kalck adds that the restoration’s long completion schedule is due
to Accenture Tower being equipped with two maintenance house rigs—working
platforms attached to the curtain wall’s structural tube members and internal
track system that are similar to swing stages and operated remotely—which allow
Western’s crews to access approximately 80% of the exterior.
The
house rigs limit the number of crews able to work on the building at one time
and do not provide access to the base of the building or the Canal Street
bridge.
Areas of Accenture Tower’s that are not accessible with the house
rig or aerial man lift include the 42nd-floor rollback at the center
of the south elevation and the lower rollbacks on floors 4-6 and 6-9 of the
north elevation.
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| Chuck Schreiber |
Western
determined that the most cost-effective way to perform the work at these
locations would be via an extensive rope access/controlled descent.
Western employees performing this work have received Society
of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT) training from certified SPRAT
evaluators Elevated Safety and are certified as SPRAT Level 1: Rope Access
Workers.
This training ensures safe work-at-height
practices and progresses into the specifics of working on a two-rope system,
ascending, descending, transfers, controlled descent devices, and rescue.
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Canal Street bridge, Chicago, IL
|
In addition, workers were trained on
anchoring basics, awareness and job hazard analysis. Work at times is performed
on a Bosun chair if workers are not able to position themselves elsewhere to
perform the work.
“I am so proud of our crews who continue to take on the most
challenging projects and are committed to providing our clients with the most
cost-effective solutions to safely perform those projects,” says Kalck.
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| Peter Bren |
KBS is one of the largest investors of
premier commercial real estate in the nation. As a private equity real estate
company and an SEC-registered investment adviser, KBS and its affiliated
companies have completed transactional activity of more than $44.5 billion on
behalf of private and institutional investors globally.
Founded
in 1992 by Peter Bren and Chuck Schreiber, KBS acquires and operates
premier commercial real estate in some of the most successful epicenters in the
country.
Contacts:
Jennifer Beidle
Jennifer Beidle Communications
314-607-9459
jennifer@jbeidlepr.com
Lexi Astfalk or Jenn Quader
The Smart Agency for KBS
949-438-6262
KBS@thesmartagency.com
Ginny Walker
KBS Public Relations Director
949-417-6535
gwalker@kbs.com
www.westernspecialtycontractors.com.
www.kbs.com.
