In the case of 200 Clarendon, formerly known as the “John Hancock Tower,” CoxGomyl took on the challenge of installing a new window washing system for the 60-storey skyscraper located in Boston, Massachusetts.
The newly renamed 200 Clarendon tower was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the firm I.M. Pei & Partners in 1976 and stands 60 storeys tall in the heart of downtown Boston. It remains the tallest building in New England. This building has presented engineering challenges since its inception, from warping walls to the replacement of thousands of reflective glass panels upon completion of the original tower in 1976.
CoxGomyl was recently hired to make sure the building had a system in place to meet the demands of long-term cleaning and routine care of the glass panels and to provide solutions for easy access throughout the entire exterior of the building. With access to the rooftop being particularly limited, the building expertise of CoxGomyl engineers paired with ECM’s 3D surveying experience and technology know-how made for a valuable turnkey solution.
3D surveying experience alone will not guarantee the best results when it comes to applications in the AEC industry. Experience and technique will only go so far before the technology itself becomes critical. Understanding and applying the science of measurement, otherwise known as metrology, to construction, architecture, facility planning and infrastructure becomes a vital part of the process.
Using industry-leading technology such as the FARO Focus3D X 330 Laser Scanner, ECM can provide full facility mapping surveys, as-built documentation and 3D digital modelling layouts for a variety of applications. These model-based solutions help contractors like CoxGomyl plan, design, construct and manage building projects. The 3D laser scanners used by ECM capture digital images of their surroundings along with highly accurate scan points. These digital images are then matched to the corresponding scan to create a detailed view of the project site.
Using high-quality technical solutions, CoxGomyl partnered with ECM to assist with scanning the top of the “Hancock Tower” and its surroundings. This was accomplished by taking dimensions with the FARO Focus3D X 330 Laser Scanner to verify the existing conditions of the current window-washing system, originally built in 1976.
Working together, ECM and CoxGomyl were able to provide a comprehensive analysis of the entire rooftop and surrounding areas in order to perform a complete retrofit, matching the replacement parts of the new system with the existing parts of the old one. The report also included a point cloud organised into layers to help differentiate between areas of the window washing system and better organise the data set.
Fairly new to the capabilities of laser scanning technology, CoxGomyl was looking for a team of experienced engineers to help guide them through the process. “After working with ECM, we now see the true benefits to laser scanning in our field of work,” stated Mile Damjanovski, Project Engineer for CoxGomyl.
Damjanovski explained that it can be extremely time-consuming to send engineers on site to take manual measurements when engineering large structures for buildings such as 200 Clarendon Tower, sometimes taking several days to gather all the data necessary to complete the job. With the help of ECM engineers and laser scanning technology, the team successfully captured the image of the entire rooftop in a matter of hours and obtained the data they needed with just one scan. “This saved us so much time, money and resources,” said Damjanovski.
CoxGomyl found that by using laser scanning technology, coupled with the experience of ECM engineers, they were able to capture and validate valuable information they had previously measured by hand. By transforming this data into 3D point clouds with the help of Autodesk® software, they were able to analyse results from the as-built model that had shifted over the years, providing the information needed to build the system to the appropriate specifications.
Additionally, they were able to capture various obstructions on the rooftop to determine how they would work around them. “A key piece of information CoxGomyl wanted us to capture was the number of electrical outlets placed throughout the building, the size of those outlets and the locations, along with the specific dimensions telling their engineers how long they needed to make their cables for the window washing system,” stated Eric Rosenberg, Project Engineer for ECM.
The newfound ability to use laser scanning technology in everyday work has been extremely beneficial for CoxGomyl. It has since been implemented at a number of locations around the world, including Spain, Australia and the UAE.
“The greatest benefit to hiring a company like ECM to help with this type of job is that it not only saved us time and money, but ECM did all the laser scanning work and reporting for us so that all we had to do was analyse the data and validate the results,” stated Damjanovski. With the success of this project, ECM looks forward to assisting more teams like CoxGomyl with their 3D laser scanning and Building Information Modeling needs.
ECM – Global Measurement Solutions is a leading metrology solutions contractor specialising in 3D Surveying and Building Information Modeling (BIM) services. Using the latest laser scanning technology, ECM can create a digital record of a customer’s facility before or after installation.
Back to News
