Macy’s Historic Façade in Brooklyn is Refreshed with Windows Finished by Linetec

by Katie Lee

Brooklyn — A refreshed, renovated, historic, four-story façade greets visitors to the redesigned and reopened Macy’s department store at 422 Fulton St. in Brooklyn, N.Y. The nine-story building’s top five levels have been converted to Class A offices. Macy’s occupies approximately 300,000 square feet of retail space on the lower floors, retaining its street-level prominence, architectural heritage and community connection.

The windows on the second, third and fourth floors were replaced to improve the exterior appearance of the ornate, cast-iron façade. The previous window units had aged throughout the decades. The new windows present an exterior worthy of the building’s legacy. In total, 63 aluminum-framed windows were supplied with panning by Winco Windows. All of Winco’s aluminum material was finished by Linetec in a key lime soft green color to complement the historic façade’s palette.

Each window’s dimensions span approximately 4 by 9 feet and 15 were manufactured with arched tops. Winco’s 1450H Series window systems are fixed with offset lites to replicate the historic look of traditional, operable hung units. “The systems were standard, but utilized in innovative combinations to meet the historic requirements,” says Marty Colby, Winco’s sales representative.

The window systems’ modern construction meets the Architectural AW-100 Performance Class designation per the North American Fenestration Standard (NAFS). Supporting the windows’ performance and durability, Linetec finished the aluminum framing and panning using a 70% PVDF resin-based architectural coating. To retain the project’s unique color and to withstand New York’s climate and high-traffic conditions, the windows’ painted finishes meet the industry-leading AAMA 2605 coatings specification for high resistance to corrosion, weathering, pollution, salt spray, humidity and abrasion.

Long before Brooklyn’s transit-rich neighborhood became home to Macy’s Downtown Brooklyn store in 1995, it originally was constructed in 1865 when horse-drawn carriages were the primary transportation in New York. It became the flagship department shore of Wechsler & Abraham, forerunner to becoming the better known Abraham & Straus stores.

The building was designed in the French Second Empire architectural style capped with a mansard roof and clad in a cast-iron façade consisting of thousands of interconnected pieces. The building underwent several renovations and expansions through the decades. “While the original building never received landmark status, it was too beautiful to destroy,” says Kurtis Suellentrop, Winco’s vice president of sales and marketing,.

By 2015, the iron cladding remained up to the fourth story and stretched 98 feet wide. More than 1,000 pieces weighing 69 tons were cataloged and shipped to restoration and window replacement specialty contractor Allen Architectural Metals in Alabama.

Winco worked closely with Allen Architectural Metals to provide the window system design, engineering and isometric details to suit the façade system’s punched openings. The original windows were replicated using Winco’s 1450H Series windows. Adds Colby: “The restored historic façade was reinstalled over a concrete weather wall that is Macy’s portion of the new building. Monolithic spandrel glass with a tinted, reflective infill hides the contemporary building from passersby, while presenting the façade’s original sightlines.”

Additional renovation project team members included architectural firm Perkins Eastman and general contractor JRM Construction Management. Construction costs for the total five-floor renovation are estimated at $100 million.

“Brooklyn has emerged as one of the most dynamic, diverse and vibrant communities in America. This is a place we know well and have served with a highly successful downtown store on Fulton Street since 1865,” said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s, Inc. former chairman and chief executive officer, at the beginning of the project’s 3-year renovation.

Macy’s celebrated its revitalized retail space at a grand reopening on Nov. 9, 2018.

Updated entrances and windows, high ceilings and dramatic rooms on the Brooklyn location’s main floor now house Macy’s signature cosmetics, fragrances, shoes, handbags and accessories as well as a LensCrafters and “At Your Service” customer center. The lower level, below ground, showcases furniture and housewares. The three upper stories display fashionable apparel and a more welcoming shopping environment thanks in part to the new windows.

 

 

Linetec is one of the nation’s largest paint and anodize finishers, and the largest independent architectural finisher. Located in Wisconsin, Linetec serves customers across the country, finishing such products as aluminum windows, wall systems, doors, hardware and other architectural metal components, as well as automotive, marine and manufactured consumer goods. The company is a subsidiary of Apogee Enterprises, Inc. Linetec is a member of the Aluminum Anodizers Council (AAC), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Association of Licensed Architects (ALA), the Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA), the National Glass Association (NGA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). For more information, visit https://linetec.com.

 

SOURCE: Linetec

 

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