SAF, Inc.

Scope Of Work

PRODUCTS USED
M-1000 Series Column Covers

CUSTOM FABRICATED COLUMN COVERS COMPLETE COMPANY’S HEADQUARTERS SKYSCRAPER

For nearly a century, Bridgestone has been a global leader and innovator in auto and truck supplies and is currently the largest manufacturer of tires across the globe. Customers have come to expect longevity and dependability from the company’s products. When top architecture firm Perkins+Will was tapped to design Bridgestone’s new corporate headquarters in Nashville, TN, LEED® Gold certification was an objective from the start. Architects knew they needed to deliver a modern, vibrant design for the building that would be fit for a growing corporation.

Bridgestone’s corporate philosophy – The Bridgestone Essence – touts the importance of “foundation” to demonstrate a sustained commitment of delivering world-class products and services to customers.

Southern Aluminum Finishing (SAF) helped to deliver key elements of the “foundation” of the Bridgestone Tower by designing and fabricating column covers, which lent to the tower’s modern appearance while also delivering on endurance and dependability.

NOT A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL APPROACH

Bridgestone Tower is a 30-story, 514,000-square-foot building located on 4th Avenue South. The street features a slight downward grade, requiring a custom approach when fabricating the column covers to accommodate this vertical change.

SAF provided covers for the 21 visible columns on the structure. 18 of those columns surround the building on the street level and another three can be seen at an exposed outdoor area located on the 14th floor.

The slight grade of the street required SAF to manufacture the column covers to different heights, ranging from 4’ to 3’ 4”. The width of the cylindrical column covers needed to vary as well to include seven different diameters.

The installer, Alexander Metals, had worked with SAF on previous projects and selected them again for their quality and expertise.

“The installation went fantastic,” said Moose Atib, project manager at Alexander Metals. “It took a lot of early work to make sure that all of the sizes were correct since we could not cut the material in the field. They had to be fabricated with precision.”

PERFECTLY PRE-ENGINEERED

Alexander Metals selected SAF’s M-1000 Series column covers in #4 stainless steel. The M-1000 system uses a butt joint attachment to the secure the covers to the columns using a keyhole effect. Teardrop-shaped eyeholes on the stainless steel covers are lowered onto a bolt attachment on the column, and gravity locks the system in place.

By using a pre-engineered system approach, SAF can design and fabricate column covers that are much easier to install. For contractors and installers like Alexander Metals, this saves time by eliminating the need for field fabrication and provides a necessary solution for projects where field fabrication is not an option.

“The column covers came out perfect,” added Atib. “Once again, SAF delivered. They did an excellent job.”

DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE

Bridgestone consolidated many of its business units into its Nashville headquarters, and nearly 2,000 employees come to work each day at the Bridgestone Tower. Needless to say, the building is symbolic of the company’s future. It needed to be sustainable, and it needed to last.

In 2018, Bridgestone Tower received LEED® Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The tower received certification for a host of reasons, including choosing materials manufactured within 500 miles of the project site and using recycled content in materials.

SAF column covers met the needs for installers seeking a pre-engineered product. For decades to come, those column covers will also serve as the shining foundation of a high-performance, LEED-certified building and a welcome addition to the Nashville skyline.