Rhodes State Office Tower

Schooley Caldwell was selected to lead an exterior renovation of the entire facade of the Rhodes Tower in downtown Columbus, Ohio. At 41 stories and 629 feet tall, it is currently the tallest building in Columbus and the fifth tallest in Ohio.

This $65,000,000+ project involved replacing 3,144 windows in the Rhodes Tower above the 6th floor; inspecting and replacing defective granite anchors on 13,108 panels; and removing and replacing 28.5 miles of existing sealants. It also included analyzing and replacing any non-conforming existing roofing. As the largest state renovation project since 1999, the work was completed $5 million under budget, and the building remained occupied with 2,600 employees during construction.

Schooley Caldwell is also completing several renovation projects at Rhodes Tower as part of a Design/Build contract, including a renovation of the offices of the Department of Aging on the 27th floor, upgrades to the elevator lobby (new paint, wall finishes, signage, and carpet), security room workstation upgrades, and the removal of the trench drain at the loading dock.

The plumbing stacks were replaced on the north and east sides of the building from top to bottom. The piping was 50 years old and had begun to fail. Through coordination and collaboration with the maintenance staff, we concluded that replacing the piping with stainless steel was the best value solution. A logistics plan has been created to facilitate the installation of new pipes and the demolition of the existing ones to successfully overhaul the plumbing system.

‍

‍