The story of a remarkable project to construct the tallest elevator test tower in the Western Hemisphere. Ben Norton explains the innovative slipform construction process which was employed to ensure the accelerated pace of the tower construction. Hear about how this project team overcame multiple obstacles and challenges to achieve project success.

Table of Contents

01:21 … Meet Ben02:48 … Project Vision and Purpose04:03 … The Battery in Atlanta05:38 … A Unique Construction Project06:27 … TK Elevator Headquarters08:22 … First Thoughts about the Job09:02 … Slipform Construction Process12:45 … Speed of Construction14:00 … Project Timeline15:24 … Scope, Time, and Cost16:34 … Challenges on the Project18:28 … Slipform and Steel Challenges19:30 … Weather Challenges20:51 … Pandemic Challenges24:46 … Biggest Surprises on the Project27:05 … In Retrospect29:50 … Social Connectivity30:46 … Advice for Project Managers32:16 … Get in Touch with Ben32:54 … Closing

BEN NORTON: ...anybody getting into their career should just be ambitious and have a drive to learn as much as you can.  Always have humility and eagerness to learn and hunger to learn, but also be gracious and always a positive attitude, always respect their team. 

WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  And we’re so glad you joined us today.  We have a really cool story to tell you.  I am Wendy Grounds, and in the studio with me is Bill Yates.  So today we’re going to be talking about the tallest elevator test tower in the Western hemisphere.  This is TK Elevator’s new North American headquarters at The Battery in Atlanta.  It’s a 420-foot-tall Innovation and Qualification Center.  This three-building headquarters complex which includes the tower will eventually be occupied by more than 900 employees.  And I’ve driven by this tower, and it is phenomenal.  It’s really big.

BILL YATES:  Yeah, it’s so exciting.  You could see it going up.  And for those who are not familiar with TK Elevator, this company is one of the four largest elevator companies in the world.  They have 50,000 employees globally.  They do 8 billion in annual sales.  That’s euro.  So it’s a large company.  We’re delighted to discuss that with Ben today.

Meet Ben

WENDY GROUNDS:  Ben Norton is the Vice President and Division Manager for Brasfield & Gorrie, which is the general contractor for this construction project.  Ben, welcome to Manage This.  We’re excited to have you in the studio today.

BEN NORTON:  Thank you for having me.

WENDY GROUNDS:  First of all I wanted to find out, how long have you been with Brasfield & Gorrie?  And just tell us some of the projects that you’ve worked on.

BEN NORTON:  Sure.  So this January will make 20 years with Brasfield & Gorrie.  It’s gone by very fast.  Some of the projects that I’ve worked on:  the Georgia Aquarium, most recently completed the Predator exhibit, and the Sea Lion exhibit that was completed about five years ago.  The Emory Health Science Research Building.  Also Marriott and a SpringHill Suites down at the GICC, convention center down by the airport.  St. George Village in Roswell is a large retirement facility.  A lot of work at Agnes Scott through the years, and University of Georgia.  And also recently wrapped up Passion City Church.  So a lot of different market sectors there to talk about.

WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah, yeah.

BILL YATES:  Now, you mentioned University of Georgia.  But you actually went to Clemson University; is that correct?

BEN NORTON:  That’s correct.

BILL YATES:  Do you care for their football team, or you don’t really follow them?  They’re not very good; right?

BEN NORTON:  Clemson’s or Georgia’s?

BILL YATES:  Well played.  Yup.  All right.  We could dedicate a whole podcast just to college football and rivalries. 

WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah, yeah, but I’m going to move you along.

BILL YATES:  Okay.

BEN NORTON:  There’s no real rivalry there.  It ended a long time ago.

Project Vision and Purpose

WENDY GROUNDS:  All right.  Ben, we want to jump right in and hear about the project with TK Elevator Tower.  Can you tell us the vision for the project and the purpose behind this tower?

BEN NORTON:  The Test Tower has 18 elevator shafts in it.  And it’ll be used to try trials for new concepts and product pilots, including their high-speed elevator technology, as well as their twin system, which is basically two elevator cabins in the same shaft.  Now, the Test Tower will also conduct robust tests to ensure compliance with stringent safety requirements on standard elevators, and different compliance, different state regulations throughout the country.  To showcase the elevators in the Test Tower, what’s really cool is the IQC will feature a complete glass exterior façade that faces The Battery in Atlanta.

BILL YATES:  Oh, cool.

BEN NORTON:  It will allow all visitors annually to see kind of all the operations of an elevator that’s normally behind the scenes, behind the concrete or drywall shafts.  In addition to the elevator Test Tower, the IQC has an event and meeting space at the top of the lower part of the building and at the top of the building.  So really breathtaking views up there, looking at the whole region.  It’s going to have a high-tech digital showroom, software labs, engineering offices, and training facilities, as well.

The Battery in Atlanta

BILL YATES:  For those who are not familiar with the Atlanta area, describe The Battery.  Of course the Atlanta Braves play at Truist Park.  So describe where this building kind of fits into that.

BEN NORTON:  So I would say that The Battery Atlanta is really a mixed-use facility, anchored by the stadium, from residential to retail to office to hospitality between the Omni Comcast Building there.  This parcel of land was owned by the Braves Development Company.  And so this is really a partnership that made sense, that TK Elevator had looked at a lot of different sites for this type facility.  The thing that was always interesting to me is if you look at their other test towers in Germany and China, they’re typically in rural areas, not in a urban entertainment district, and usually separate from other functions.

So I think they were pretty innovative in their thought process to be leaders in the market of combining meeting space, engineering, training, along with this Test Tower, along with their corporate headquarters; and consolidating all these parts and pieces of their company that were spaced out throughout the country into one place to enhance their synergy and collaboration.  But also, what a marketing tool.  What a landmark to bring clients, designers, people who had probably never heard of TK Elevator, the layperson not in the construction industry, who’ll probably get very familiar with that brand just from seeing the building.  So I think it was pretty creative and will pay dividends in the long run. 

A Unique Construction Project

BILL YATES:  Yeah.  Now, Brasfield & Gorrie, huge construction firm.  But you guys don’t do elevator shafts, these kinds of projects every day.  Was that a little bit different for you?

BEN NORTON:  It was different.  We do do elevator shafts all the time.

BILL YATES:  Yeah, just not...

BEN NORTON:  Yeah, just not a shaft by itself up in the air.  Yeah, this was definitely a different building, unique building. You know, Brasfield & Gorrie, we work in many different markets.  But I think sometimes people’s perceptions is, man, if that’s a complicated, unique job, that’s something that Brasfield will be interested in.  And that’s definitely the case.  And so this one definitely fit the bill.  You know, The Battery Atlanta was important to us with relationships, and it’s within walking distance of our office.  Cobb County’s our home, and so anything we can do to success of that area is top of our list.  And so this was definitely a unique job to be a part of.

TK Elevator Headquarters

BILL YATES:  I want to back up for a second.  So TK Elevator, my understanding is they’re one of the four largest elevator manufacturers in the world.  And this is their North American headquarter building that you guys are constructing here.  Is that correct?

BEN NORTON:  It’s actually, there’s two on this lot at The Battery.  There is Three Ballpark Center, which is an office building developed by and owned by Braves Development Company.  TK Elevator as anchor client has leased the floors there for their corporate headquarters office space.  Across the drive, kind of the plaza, is what they call the IQC and Test Tower.  So that’s the Innovation Qualification Center and Test Tower.  And so that’s all those functions I was stating earlier.  So that is their North American headquarter location, but it is right there with all their other functions of R&D, testing, and training.

BILL YATES:  One reason I bring it up is so we’re based out of Atlanta, Georgia.  The Home Depot is headquartered here.  We’ve done a lot of project management training down at their corporate facility.  And I’ve always felt sorry for the people that worked in the store just across the highway, the retail store, because I’m like, man, there’s corporate right there.  So you’re doing this massive important project for the company, while their headquarters and the very important people are right there.

BEN NORTON:  That’s correct.

BILL YATES:  So it’s just extra pressure for you as a project manager.

BEN NORTON:  I think, you know, our company culture was more of support than pressure.  I mean, that’s always in the back of the mind that there’s a lot of people looking at this.  But it’s also, from crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s and planning and all those good things, it got tons of attention for being a unique job.  But it also,