For over 150 years, The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, Inc., a member of the Munich Re Risk Solutions family, has been a leading specialty insurer providing equipment breakdown and other specialty coverages, inspection services and engineering-based risk management. A fixture in the Hartford business community, the company bought its 24-story, multitenant office building in 2014 in part to upgrade the space into an inspiring workplace. Meeting that goal began with renovating the public cafeteria.
project
Hartford Steam Boiler
Pavarini Northeast led the construction effort, which involved not only renovating the 14,000sf of cafeteria space, including kitchen, servery and general seating space, but also replacing the lobby’s former sundry store with a new coffee bar and café. The new cafeteria also now serves as a meeting and event space, requiring the team to devise strategies for blending AV equipment into the room.
With its location on the fifth floor of a fully occupied building, managing the construction of the new café meant constantly communicating and coordinating with the building operators. What’s more, the popular cafeteria was many tenants’ key destination for lunch. To minimize the inconvenience of construction, the plan called for first building the coffee bar, which could offer food options while the cafeteria was under construction as well as serve as a mock-up for the full build out. With a daycare and health club surrounding the coffee bar and cafeteria, the team worked with the building managers to make sure the children’s schedules, the health club’s water lines and MEP systems and other building functions were accounted for in the construction plan.
The new, modern cafeteria space was an instant hit, and the improvements to both the dining space and the lobby coffee bar have enlivened the building, creating a workplace that better reflects HSB’s global reputation.
©Woodruff_Brown Architectural Photography
COMPANY
sectors
services
Architect
id3 Architecture
Client
The Hartford Steam Boiler
Location
Hartford, CT
SF
14,000sf
Architect
id3A Architects
Owner's Rep
Munich Reinsurance
Contract
CM
Awards
Award of Merit 2017 Project Team Awards, Small Projects, Connecticut Building Congress