Harmon Installs Glass Exterior for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' New Headquarters

Golden Valley, Minn.-based Harmon Inc. recently engineered, manufactured and installed more than 30,000 square feet of unitized curtainwall and custom strip window systems to clad the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' new headquarters in Chicago.

The architect on the project was Solomon, Cordwell and Buenz and the construction manager was Ragnar Benson, with whom Harmon says it met early in the process to ensure that the design aesthetics were achieved on time and within budget.

The facility is 90,000 square feet and has a 40-foot high glass atrium. To accommodate the atrium's transparent design, the company used Viracon's VE12M glass with low-E coating.

"We provided a customized curtainwall design modifying our proprietary SMU6000 system and reinforced it to support the curtainwall's own weight," said Harmon project manager Bill Anderson. "The 40-foot clear story curtainwall was erected three frames modules high with typical unglazed frame units as big as 90 by 20 inches."