The General Motors World Headquarters Building is and has been one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Detroit skyline for nearly three quarters of a century. When GM decided to move into their new downtown location at the Renaissance Center it was not without reason. The GM headquarters building had become outdated badly and was in desperate need of renovation. The State of Michigan began the renovation of the newly titled Cadillac Place in September of 2000. The solution seemed simple. Completely gut the building to allow access for new Heating/Cooling, Plumbing, Electrical, and Communications systems. The most experienced project managers in the construction industry could not even fully predict the size and magnitude of this project.

The challenges involving the communications installation were as much with accessibility as they were with the shear volume of cable required for data and voice locations involved in the project. Space and Design issues were worked out on a floor, by floor basis with a project manager on site at all times for the course of the project. The demolition and reconstruction was done in several phases with each floor and sometimes even sections of floors having individual time lines and completion deadline requirements. While the building was beginning construction on some floors the completion of others was required, and WTC, despite the seemingly chaotic atmosphere at times, did not miss a single deadline, and remained under budget.

The number of Voice/Data cables installed was immense at over 13,300 locations totaling over 400 miles of wire. The fiber optic routes were designed with a redundant theme and all future requirements for additional locations were considered within the riser cable design.  Set in a two closet per floor system, 36 IDF's contained 24 MM and 12 SM strands of fiber and 300 copper riser pairs per closet.