Culture. Nurture. Tincture. Enrapture.

The Empire State Building or how to get things done

Let‘s be frank: we all procrastinate. Moments of laziness. “I‘ll do it tomorrow“, “Not today“ and thoughts of that ilk. The truth is, if we want to achieve anything, continuous effort is the key, however big our ambitions are. Today, I want to tell the story of ludicrously large ambitions that actually paid off - the Empire State Building. While it is no longer the world‘s tallest building (since the 1970s when the World Trade Center was built), for 1931 the speed at which it was built was unparalleled. The observation is only more striking today. This 1,250-foot skyscraper took just a bit more than 15 months to rise (20 months if you count the design process). Today, even building a quarter of the size of the Empire State Building takes two or three years. No wonder the Empire State Building leaves most engineers speechless. Let‘s explore the history behind the construction of the Empire State Building and what tricks we can learn from it to become more efficient and productive.

A quick history

The Empire State Building is the brainchild of two brilliant brothers: William and Paul Starretts. Both were renowned for their planning skills, with the career records to support such claims. Then, they joined forces and went into business together in the 1920s. At that point, the question was not whether they would start an ambitious project but what would grasp their attention.

That would be New York‘s new zoning code. At that time, it restricted building heights according to the distance from the street. But there was a catch: the center 25% of any lot had no such height limits. With a lot large enough, you could build a building of staggering height. Former governor of New York Al Smith had such a lot (the site of the Waldorf - soon to be demolished). On August 29th, 1929, they announced a 1000-foot-high skyscraper.

But harsh competition would come in the form of the Chrysler Building. A few days after the Starret brother's announcement, the Chrysler Building (which was already under construction) announced the addition of a large steel spire - bringing its expected height to 1048 feet. Staller‘s financiers told the brothers to draft their plan again - they would have to go higher AND finish before the competition. The race was on. Let‘s see how they won.

Keeping things simple

Our first tip can be summed up no better than to say exactly that. In his history of the Empire State Building, John Tauranac said: “To the greatest extent possible, they opted for the tried and true“. It is not my first praise of simplicity but, when complexity isn‘t directly required by the goal, why not do things simply instead? The Starret brothers chose to replace some of the more complex (and usual) stone cladding for a steel beaming resting on the steel frame. Windows were simply sitting on the cladding instead of inset (allowing for thinner cladding). They also took the time to simplify structural elements further by reducing the number of variations of spandrels (for the exterior). Floor beams were set very low so that electrical cables could run over them without any adjustment. Such measures removed unnecessary building weight and building steps which reflected on the cost and, most of all, the time commitment. Keep in mind that something being “conventional “ doesn‘t mean it is efficient.

Taking some risks

Sometimes, the Starret brothers were bold… maybe too bold. They deliberately ignored some of New York‘s building code. They used a stronger steel than what was allowed at the time. The building was also designed with an elevator faster than what the same code would allow. Now, for both changes, the brothers found them unnecessary and lobbied successfully the mayor to change them. But that was only AFTER their plan was already used in the construction. What we should keep from that is that codes and regulations have legitimate reasons to exist. Yet, new opportunities and objectives bring forth their own context. Rules are not there to be immutable, but suitable. Keep that in mind.

Speed and efficiency

Last, but not least, speed and efficiency have to be built around literally. Here are a few examples of how the Starret brothers did. Their “fast track“ construction technique deserves a mention. In a word: they ditch the concept of one step at a time. Rather, every step began when the minimal requirements were met. So, for example, the foundation wasn‘t completely finished when the construction of the first floor began. The foundation itself began before the final design was chosen. Resources were also optimized to the extreme. A literal railroad was installed on each floor of the building to minimize the time needed to transport building materials (cost-effective only because of the size of the building itself). Only 80 hours were needed for steel beams to go from the foundry (in Pennsylvania) to their resting place on the construction site. Every beam came pre-marked with every notation the workers needed. Trucks arrived at a rate of one truck a minute to deliver the materials. If a truck missed its queue, it had to come back the next day.

Workers too were treated well. After all, a happy worker was more efficient. Still, measures were made to maximize their efficiency just a tad more. Cafeterias were set on multiple floors to minimize the time workers needed to spend to get food. The 3500 workers were split into 60 specialized trades, reminiscent of Ford industrial lines. The site was occupied 24/7 with a regular and smooth shift rotation.

Beauty killed the beast

In the end, the building was erected at roughly a rate of a floor per day for the upper floors. The grand opening came on May 1, 1931, just in time to beat the Chrysler Building on all accounts… for good. Well, except for the money. It would take two decades for the tower to soak up its cost. Of course, today, it is a mainstay for many corporate events and its observation deck is a tourist favourite. What should you learn from this skyscraper? Yes, I have pointed out some useful tricks and preparation steps for any project. But, let‘s be frank, the concept outlined above seems all obvious. The key is to push for innovative ways to exert these principles. I think that sometimes crazy ideas have merit… and can lead to results.

Keep that positivism close to heart and, as always, see you next time.

References

  • Building the Empire State, Donald Friedman & Carol Willis, W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.
  • https://archive.org/details/buildingempirest0000unse_p9h3/mode/2up
  • https://blog.bluebeam.com/empire-state-building-construction/
  • https://www.construction-physics.com/p/building-fast-and-slow-the-empire