5 East 57th Street is an existing 22-storey 49,000 SF commercial high rise building. The stretch of East 57th Street was once an exclusive residential neighborhood with opulent mansions owned by bankers and industrialists. But by early century, most of the millionaires moved further uptown and the area greatly changed. Number 5 was among 14 sites acquired by William Randolph Hearst and Arthur Brisbane in 1925 with a view to erect a group of commercial structures along east 57th and east 54th streets. The plans for a 247-foot-tall tower were drawn up in 1926 by a prolific New York city architect Emery Roth. The building was designed as of a mix of Gothic and Art Deco style with exaggerated setbacks.

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In June 2004, the 1968 NYC Building Code was amended with the signing of Local Law 26 of 2004. The new law mandated retroactive requirements for a full system of automatic sprinklers to be installed in office buildings 100 feet or more in height and buildings classified in occupancy group E 100 feet or more in height.

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Morozov was retained by the owners of 5 East 57th Street to retrofit the building with a modern fire protection system pursuant to Local Law 26 requirements. The first challenge had to do with an interpretation of the mandate in a way as to not burden the owners with onerous system design. In other words, any proposed system had to be right-sized for the project and in accordance with NFPA 13 and NFPA 20. Another- greater- challenge was in fitting a new fire pump, all new sprinkler risers, piping, and heads into the existing shafts, ceilings and walls, while carrying out the work around the existing rent paying tenants. Following a comprehensive survey, Morozov engineers worked with the property manager to develop a floor-by-floor phasing schedule. Fire pump and main riser were installed in phase I. Floor fit outs were carried out in subsequent phases as the floors became accessible.

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