IBM Building Rehabilitation Will Be Recognized At The 2014 Historic Hawaii Foundation Honor Awards

The project is being awarded for the Rehabilitation of the IBM Building. The historic IBM Building was designed by Vladimir Ossipoff and completed in 1962. The building’s iconic precast concrete brise-soleil referenced the IBM computer punch cards of the time and help shade the building interiors from sun. A recent master plan by the property’s prior owners called for the building to be demolished for redevelopment. Upon acquiring the property, The Howard Hughes Corporation revised the master plan and abandoned the demolition scheme in favor of a new purpose for the IBM Building as an information center and sales gallery for the Ward Village as well as their Honolulu headquarters. The rehabilitation consists of the 1st floor information center with interactive displays to educate the public about the past, present, and future of Ward Village; and extensive upgrades to the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and roofing systems. Care was taken to preserve major character-defining features, including the bris soleil, the overall form and massing, the ground-level fenestration, and the iconic IBM sign. Adaptations included changes to the setting by modifying a parking lot to provide handicapped accessibility and serve as a courtyard. The new program determined that exterior building additions were necessary at the existing 1st and 7th floors to accommodate the needs of the sales and marketing operations. The folded, curved surfaces of the 1st and 7th floor building additions allude to the undulating concrete forms of the brise-soleil but are still clearly differentiated from the existing construction, and were designed to be reversible.

The 40th Annual Preservation Honor Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 30, 2014 at the Pomaikai Ballrooms at Dole Cannery in Iwilei in the Hokulei Room at 5:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.