Park City Plaza (also known as 10 Middle Street) is an office building in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

. The building serves as the headquarters of the Trefz Corporation and their

subsidiary company A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company (law), company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company ...

, Trefz Properties. It was designed by architect Victor Bisharat and finished construction in 1973. This 18-story

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

style building, at tall, is the 2nd tallest building in Bridgeport. It was the tallest in the city upon completion. The building was renovated through 2016–2019 by Hoffmann Architects.https://www.hoffarch.com/projects/park-city-plaza/

Design

Park City Plaza's base consists almost entirely of a

parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

which serves tenants and the public. The tower has two thin rectangular pieces that jut out from the southern and western faces of the building, extending upwards to the roof. Floor 18, the top floor, has a greater floor area than the rest of the building as it extends outward from the rest of the building below. The roof of the building has two digital signs on its east and western faces that display the current time and temperature at all times. The signs are mounted on the side of a

mechanical penthouse A mechanical floor, mechanical penthouse, mechanical layer or mechanical level is a story of a high-rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. "Mechanical" is the most commonly used term, but words such as ''utility ...

History

The tower was built by the F.D. Rich Company in 1973 with plans to construct a second, identical tower near the building, but the project was ultimately canceled due to financial issues. The building was bought by Trefz Properties in the 1980s.

Renovation

In 2016, Trefz Properties was looking to improve the appearance and energy efficiency of the building and its attached garage. The building's original facade, consisting of bronze

anodized aluminum Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called ''anodizing'' because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electr ...

curtain wall with dark-tinted spandrel glass, some operable windows, and vertical

precast Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples include precast beam ...

panels, were exhibiting signs of deterioration. In 2006, facade recaulking and recoating of the building's precast was performed. While water infiltration was not a primary issue, leaks were reported during periods of wind-driven rain. Trefz Properties chose Hoffmann Architects to investigate the existing curtain wall system and recommend options to renovate the facade. On-site evaluation uncovered evidence of failed window

gasket Some seals and gaskets A gasket is a mechanical seal which fills the space between two or more mating surfaces, generally to prevent leakage from or into the joined objects while under compression. It is a deformable material that is used to c ...

s, failed or dried

sealant Sealant is a substance used to block the passage of fluids through openings in materials, a type of mechanical seal. In building construction ''sealant'' is sometimes synonymous with ''caulking'' and also serve the purposes of blocking dust, s ...

, and faded or stained finishes at aluminum components. Hoffmann Architects presented Trefz Properties with a few schematic design options to achieve their renovation objectives and address the intermittent leak issues. Trefz Properties chose to replace the existing windows with new blue-tinted reflective glass and replace the spandrel glass covers with new complementary colored panels. Replacement of the windows produced greater savings in energy costs going forward. To withstand the weight of the thicker

insulated glazing Insulating glass (IG) consists of two or more glass window panes separated by a space to reduce heat transfer across a part of the building envelope. A window with insulating glass is commonly known as double glazing or a double-paned window, ...

and meet current building code for

wind resistance In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding flu ...

, Hoffmann Architects recommended new exterior metal trim to be installed over the existing

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s. The renovation project also included stabilization of the

soffit A soffit is an exterior or interior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of any construction element. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of beams, is the underside of eaves (to ...

at the top level of the building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Park City Plaza (Bridgeport, Connecticut) Office buildings in Connecticut Office buildings completed in 1973

Design

History

Renovation

See also

References