Westin Completes Largest Hotel Window Replacement in the Western Hemisphere

October 19,2010

The Westin Peachtree Plaza has completed the restoration of all 6,350 windows on the 73-story hotel’s exterior. This was the largest hotel window replacement project in the Western Hemisphere and was completed ahead of schedule in 13 months. Following a safe construction process, which ensured minimal inconvenience to hotel guests, the building’s windows were brought up to today’s standards. In keeping with Starwood Hotel’s sustainability initiative, the Westin was able to recycle more than 600 tons of glass and replace them with more energy efficient ones.

“We’re thrilled that this process has been seamless,” said Ed Walls, general manager of the Westin Peachtree Plaza. “We’ve worked diligently to provide our guests with the best experience possible with no interruptions. The windows are now up to current building code standards and are also more energy efficient.”

The construction company Skanska USA replaced the windows at a pace of one floor per week, shutting down five floors at time so that guests were not impacted. Each hotel room has four window panels that were replaced and each window panel measures approximately four by nine feet.

Damage to the Westin Peachtree Plaza occurred Friday, March 14, 2008 when a 130 mile-per-hour tornado ripped through part of downtown Atlanta and snaked across a six-mile long, 200-yard wide stretch of the city with the Westin in its path. The storm initially disabled 320 of the hotel’s 1,068 rooms. All 2,000 guests were evacuated with no injuries reported.

Fun Facts
• If placed back-to-back, the windows that were replaced would total 58,150 feet or nearly 11 miles. They would take you back and forth to the Varsity 10 times and if you were really hungry, you could order the nearly 60,000 Varsity Naked Dogs which lined end-to-end would match the distance of the lined-up windows.

• The 600 tons of glass recycled equals the weight of 1.1 million 12-ounce Coca-Colas or about seven of Delta’s Boeing 737 jets.

• Each pane of hotel room glass weighs 270 pounds, about the average weight of an Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman.

• Myth: The hotel actually moved during the tornado.
Truth: Upon impact, the hotel swayed slightly in either direction, as it was designed to do.

• Myth: The glass that was replaced is curved.
Truth: The glass is flat.

• Myth: They no longer make the glass needed for replacement.
Truth: The new glass is actually thicker, stronger, more energy efficient and produced by Harmon Glass – right here in Georgia.