HBINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY SCIENCE IV RENOVATION, DEEP ENERGY RETROFIT

Binghamton, New York

The first building that visitors encounter when entering the Binghamton University campus was a tired, partially vacant 1970’s structure known as Science IV. The masonry façade was failing, the interiors were dated and nonfunctional, and campus noted that the architecture gave a foreboding first impression to visitors. Binghamton University, in conjunction with the State University Construction Fund, commissioned our firm to re-envision the building as a new campus icon that welcomes visitors to the campus and sciences complex, in a modern, cohesive and energy efficient way.

Through detailed visioning and programming exercises involving the design team and stakeholders from the campus, a clear direction and aspirations for the building and its future were formulated. The aspirations were carried through to create a vibrant, dynamic series of spaces housed within a modernized, reclad building—a formerly underutilized, underperforming building now a shining example of excellence for a future generation of learning.

The entire building was reclad, enclosed in a continuous blanket of spray foam insulation, with R-values ranging from twenty to twenty-seven. The original building was introverted, with no defined entrance and little reason for people to interact with it unless they had business there. Now, with dynamic cladding, large expanses of glazing, and a new grand entrance, the entire community is invited inside.

New and reimagined entry points create more effective wayfinding, enhanced by the interior design and finish strategy to highlight each research suite and help users navigate the building. Collaboration nooks and lounge spaces with comfortable and flexible seating and plenty of places to plug in along the corridors activate the building’s common spaces and provide opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. These corridor interventions also open up the spaces to bring natural light deep into the interior of the building. l

Merit

Submitting Firm: CannonDesign

Contractor: Consigli Construction Company

Structural Engineer: Ryan Biggs Clark Davis

Civil Engineer: MJ Engineering and Land Surveying

Landscape Architect: Supermass Studio

Photo Credit © Laura Peters, Scott@scottfrances.com

New Construction | Merit Award

Etec

MState University of New York at Albany

ETEC is a center for innovation, scholarship, applied research and commercial development designed to foster cross-disciplinary collaborations to confront complex problems. Inside, students and faculty work together with entrepreneurs to translate new knowledge into creative solutions that fuel economic growth and create jobs.

The building has the capacity to house more than two hundred full-time faculty and researchers, one hundred research and industry partners and as many as eight hundred students. It includes classroom and office space, research labs, specialty instrumentation facilities, an emergency preparedness situation room, weather research and instruction map rooms and observation facilities, business and technology transfer services offices, and conference facilities.

The conceptual development of the building’s design comes directly from the three-dimensional characteristics of the site’s landscape. Located on the Harriman State Office Campus, the site was distinguished by an S-shaped ridge line that curves from a high point on the Northwest corner and wraps around a meadow which faces back towards the UAlbany Campus. The architectural language was designed to respect, acknowledge, and play off the existing Edward Durrell Stone Campus vocabulary.

The building is organized around a pair of centrally located, stacked, two story spaces, which are flanked by two parallel curved volumes. The program is distributed over four floors and a partial lower level. An East West corridor connects the two building volumes in the middle, allowing views into the two-story spaces and connection to the vertical transportation systems. Various honorific program spaces are aligned along this East West axis. A West facing observation space is located on the mechanical level within the topmost space of the West stair tower.

Certified LEED Platinum, the building is heated and cooled by a field of one hundred and ninety geothermal wells and gets electricity from a nearby field of solar panels. These measures offset energy costs by approximately seventy percent. l

Merit

Submitting Firm: Dattner Architects

General Contractor: Monadnock Construction

Structural Engineer: De Nardis Engineering

MEP Engineer: Skyline Engineering

Landscape Architect: Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects & Planners

Photo Credit © Pavel Bendov/ArchExplorer

New Construction | Merit Award

Mvital Brookdale

Brooklyn, New York

An exemplary model of affordable Passive House and community-based housing, Vital Brookdale brings one hundred and sixty units of affordable housing and 25,000 square feet of health-focused community space to the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. Alongside deeply affordable apartments, Vital Brookdale provides resources that promote health and wellness, job training, outdoor green space, and opportunities for recreation, supporting residents and the surrounding community. Tenants have access to a 2nd floor terrace, and front and rear-courtyards, which includes landscaping, a dog run, play area as well as passive recreation and seating areas. Additional amenities include complimentary building-wide wireless-internet access, a multi-purpose community room, game room, library, co-working space, fitness room, laundry room, cold-storage locker and package rooms, and a bike storage room.

Community facility spaces on the ground floor include an outpatient medical office associated with the adjacent Brookdale Hospital, job training space, and a food training program that will be integrated with the outdoor gardening area on-site. Additionally, The New York Foundling— one of New York City’s oldest and largest child welfare agencies—has an office suite in the building in support of the supportive units, targeted to children aging out of foster care and people with developmental disabilities.

This Passive House project has a 100 kilowatt roof-mounted solar photovoltaic system, green roof, high-performance mechanical systems, insulation and windows, LED lighting, low-flow water fixtures, and several other energy-efficient measures to ensure the comfort and affordability for residents as well as sustainability of the building. The design team also carefully selected interior materials while keeping in mind the ease of install, cost of material, maintenance, and impact on resident health. The end result is a project that is a model of affordable, community-based, sustainable multifamily housing in New York City. l

The University at Buffalo One World Café is an international eatery that fosters a centralized nexus of multicultural university life.

As a globally inspired, full-service dining center, the campus hub honors UB’s commitment to delivering excellence to its diverse student population by housing a variety of culinary offerings with menus and scheduling all built on student input. The project was informed by extensive student engagement: One World Café’s name, its design, the menus and food offerings, the public art inside—all of it was impacted by UB students. The café is purposely located on the intersection of UB’s Capen and Norton Halls to capitalize on a key campus thoroughfare. The building fills previous gaps and slides past voids in this specific corner of the campus to create new front doors to UB on both its north and south sides. One World Café is a hub for student activity with group seating and dynamic campus settings that encourage community interaction.

The design sits in contrast to the existing context of the campus while still feeling at home by borrowing similar material units and proportioning. The building exudes energy and elevates the institution’s wellness culture through messaging, socialization and menus.

The Café’s interior environments spark joy and connectivity through intentional public art, color, abundant natural lighting and views to the campus. A central dining area serves as a hearth and connectivity point for the campus spine while a stunning stair helps students move through the building and offers internal views.

Interior spaces were designed intentionally with neutral colors and natural materials to allow for public art to shine. Much of the art comes directly from past or current UB students, allowing them to celebrate the uniqueness of UB and its community through their personal experiences and perspectives. l

Submitting Firm: Bergmann

Construction Contractor: Crane Hogan

Construction Inspection: Popli Design Group

Photo Credit © Ted Liddell, RLA

Landscape Architecture | Merit Award

MSTATE STREET PLAZA City of Auburn, New York

Located in the heart of downtown Auburn, the State Street Plaza is the site of the former Kalet’s department store, which was demolished in 2015 creating a void in the downtown urban fabric. Through a community-driven downtown planning effort, the City determined an urban gathering space would be the best use for the site and would create a unique destination celebrating Auburn’s legacy of arts and culture. The goal of the new urban plaza was to create a flexible space for all members of the community to enjoy, relax, and socialize. Constructed in 2022, the approximately 650 square foot space is carefully and thoughtfully divided into a series of rooms that accommodate a variety of different needs, uses, and users. There are small, intimate seating areas surrounded by lush vegetation providing a source of personal solace, rest, and relaxation amid the bustling urban environment. There are open spaces that are designed to function as a stage or impromptu performance space. And, there are playful areas animated with moveable furniture and a human-sized chess set. This new plaza provides a democratic space for the Auburn community to gather, socialize, and temporarily escape the bustle of the urban environment. Surrounded by several restaurants, local businesses, and adjacent to the main downtown corridor, State Street Plaza serves as a public square for downtown Auburn. Not only does it transform what was once a vacant lot into a public space, it is one of the few downtown spaces in Auburn and the only downtown park that supports larger public events and gathering. l www.pikecs.com 1.800.264.PIKE pike@pikecs.com

With increasing demand for health services, Rochester Regional Health looked to expand and update its facilities and technology. In 2016, the decision was made to build a new Critical Care Center at its Rochester General Hospital location.

Designed for aesthetics and functionality, the 33,000 square foot Center was a major, multi-year undertaking. Not just for RRH, but also for the project team who had to build adjacent to the existing hospital with minimal disruption to ongoing operations; incorporate a unique curved, three element façade while maximizing space needed for patients, staff and operating rooms; efficiently place the immense amount of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing elements needed throughout the facility; and ensure the facility was flexible enough—from both a space and technology perspective—to provide state-of-the-art care when it opened and into the future.

During the project, the team was hit with an additional and unexpected challenge: COVID-19. As with many projects, this required adding extra precautions to keep workers safe. For this project, it also prompted RRH—seeing a sudden rise in demand for acute, inpatient care. Understanding the need, the project team stepped up to engage workers who had been displaced from non-essential projects and added shifts to keep progress moving while socially distancing.

As a result of their collective efforts, the team delivered the Sands-Constellation Center for Critical Care in October 2020—two months ahead of the original schedule.

The addition provides Rochester General Hospital with 20 operating rooms, 28 PACU bays, 108 acuity-adaptable single-bed inpatient rooms, 20 postpartum rooms, 14 NICU rooms and a new sterilization department.

As the Center neared completion in fall of 2020, the owner realized that COVID restrictions would prevent holding a public opening event. Instead, they came up with a unique way to show the new space. They commissioned a virtual model of the Center in the game Minecraft. The condensed schedule provided the hospital with access to additional patient space during the height of COVID. Although the interactive Minecraft model and a virtual open house replaced a more typical ribbon cutting, the Center was quickly recognized as an important addition to the local healthcare landscape. Because of the many team members who contributed their talents and commitment to the project, today the Center provides advanced healthcare services across the greater Rochester area. l

MLB Construction Services transformed the former National Biscuit Company building to become the new home of the Capital Repertory Theatre, also known as “the Rep.” MLB Construction was honored to be selected as the General Contractor for this amazing project bringing a dream to life for Proctors Collaborative and the greater Capital Region. With MLB’s experience in historical building renovation and well-built labor forces, they were able to successfully complete this difficult project.

The REP was designed by a local historic preservation architect, CSArch of Albany, New York. This project was designed and constructed to preserve the historic landscape of the original National Biscuit Company built in the early 1900’s. MLB Construction was awarded the contract to complete the proposed two-year project in just sixteen months while working through the challenging peaks of Covid. The new 28,000 square foot state of the art theatre houses a welcoming lobby, a

300-seat main stage and auditorium with new sound and lighting technologies, a VIP lounge for avid show-goers and a 100-seat black box theatre. Newly added behind-the-scenes perks include wardrobe and prop shops, full dressing rooms, ample bathrooms with showers, prep space for actors/actresses and a full office space. MLB was also able to give the theatre a loading dock to allow for easy loading and unloading of props to and from the main stage. MLB was also able to restore the original hardwood floors, expose old brick walls and keep the original wooden timber beams through the building.

MLB had to be sure to keep certain parts of the building preserved to make sure we met all requirements of the Restore New York Communities Initiative grant through the Empire State Development. One example was preserving the original basement ovens that were used by Nabisco in the early 1900’s. Other unique requirements included modifying a sprinkler system in the penthouse, preserving the original hardwood floors, beams, and columns, preserving the exterior back wall that supported the building and successfully remove half of the first floor while keeping the second floor intact keeping its full integrity.

It was a beautifully joined effort by a team of people using historic preservation to build stronger neighborhoods, create local jobs, provide affordable housing, open our eyes to overlooked history, and save the places that are special to all of us. l

Construction Contractor: Welliver

Owner: Cornell University

Architect: Ikon.5 Architects

Structural Engineer: Thornton Tomasetti

Civil Engineer/Surveyor: T.G. Miller P.C. Engineers and Surveyors

Photo Credit | © Van Zandbergen Photography

Jeffrey J. Zogg Build New York Award CORNELL UNIVERSITY

NORTH CAMPUS RESIDENTIAL EXPANSION (NCRE)

Ithaca, New York

The Cornell University North Campus

Residential Expansion was developed in anticipation of the University’s growing class size, coupled with Cornell’s commitment to provide undergraduates with quality housing options on campus. Welliver provided preconstruction and construction services for this two-phase, LEED Gold, 776,000 square foot expansion of the student life residential complex.

The fast-tracked project provides over 2,000 new beds for first year and sophomore students on Cornell’s residential North Campus. Phase 1 included the construction of two residence halls offering over 800 beds and a centrally located, attached dining hall.

Phase 2 included the construction of three residence halls with over 1,200 beds. Both sites are composed of three to five story courtyard buildings that are sited and arranged to engage and respond to the adjacent campus, as well as enhance the student life experience.

Students can collaborate and socialize in numerous lounges, meeting spaces, classrooms and kitchens found throughout all five buildings.

Essential to growing North Campus is a 1,000 seat dining hall that offers a variety of micro restaurant style serveries. The dining hall includes state-of-the-art equipment, sloping wood and plaster ceilings, modern lighting, and an allglass Discovery Kitchen with 24 teaching stations used for academic classes and Cornell dining.

This project was conceived with the goal of turning over two buildings in August of 2021 and three buildings in August of 2022 2021. Despite many obstacles such as a COVID-19 shutdown, supply chain uncertainty, and work force constraints, the project was delivered ahead of schedule and under budget. The first phase was turned over two months early and the second phase was turned over four months early.

Despite the pace of the project, quality and cost were not forgotten. The NCRE was completed as a pending LEED Gold project where 95% of construction waste was recycled. The $25 million dollar Morrison Dining was named by Food Management as the best new facility in 2022. Working with Cornell to understand changes and cost, Welliver was able to deliver the project under budget which allowed them to upgrade finishes and use excess to further enhance the campus. l

General Contractor: Consigli Construction Company

Owner: University at Albany

Project Architect: Cannon Design

Structural Engineer: Ryan, Biggs, Clark, Davis

Civil Engineer: M.J. Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C.

M.E.P. Engineer: Cannon Design

Photo Credit | © Lindon Paul

Jeffrey J. Zogg Build New York Award | Honorable Mention ETEC

State University of New York at Albany

ETEC combines the University at Albany’s research strengths with some of its fastest-growing new programs and innovative entrepreneurial resources into a state-of- the-art facility, fostering teaching, research, and business collaborations. In addition to The New York State Mesonet, the most advanced weather observation system in the nation, the complex houses the first-in-the-nation College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, as well as space for the University’s existing Departments of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, and the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center. ETEC provides educational space for 800 students and has the capacity to house over 200 full-time faculty, and 100 research and industry partners. The build- ing features classroom and office space; research labs; specialty instrumentation facilities; an emergency preparedness situation room; weather research and instruction map rooms; observation facilities; business and technology transfer services offices and conference rooms. ETEC is an all-electric facility built to achieve LEED Platinum certification and projected to lower annual energy costs by as much as 70 percent compared to a similar baseline building. With 190 geothermal wells, and 4,800 solar panels, ETEC is one of the University’s largest and most energy-efficient buildings, representing a significant milestone in SUNY’s commitment to sustainability. l

The Olympic Jumping Complex Outrun Reconstruction Project, also known as ‘the Project,’ is part of a 70-million dollar capital improvement by the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority. The Project is in preparation for the upcoming 2023 Winter World University Games. Reconstructed in multiple phases, the Project included the renovation of the glass-enclosed elevator on the existing 120-meter jump, including replacement of the elevator and curtainwall; structural steel improvements and frost rail installation on the 90-meter and 120-meter jumps; construction of new 10-meter, 20-meter, and 40-meter jumps; installation of summer jumping surface on the existing and new jumps; installation of a new eight-person gondola that is ADA-compliant for transporting people and equipment from the base lodge to the jump tower and zipline launch deck; construction of the zipline park, design for all skill levels including a course that is anticipated to reach speeds of 60-miles-per-hour with a 30-degree decline; and site work and site improvements, including re-grading the outrun landing hills and underground infrastructure.

Gilbane’s project team coordinated with multiple contractors as ORDA had two concurrent projects on the same site, snowmaking systems and electrical installations, as the Project. Due to the congestion of all trades working on a very steep slope, our project team implemented and conducted regular site-wide coordination meetings to ensure the successful completion of all ORDA’s projects with a focus on safety and communication.

Having worked on the original facilities for the 1980 Winter Olympics, Gilbane has a long history with ORDA and understands its goals. Gilbane is proud of the opportunity to work with ORDA again to revitalize the Project to provide athletes, spectators and visitors with modern facilities and amenities that can be used year-round. l