News From Professional Firms

Beardsley Architects + Engineers News Beardsley Project Receives Prestigious AIA New York State Excelsior Award

Beardsley Architects + Engineers announced that the Environmental Education Center at Green Lakes State Park in Fayetteville, NY, has been selected by AIA New York State to receive a 2020 Excelsior Award, Award of Merit, in the Historic Preservation category. The awards program recognizes public architecture projects throughout New York State. “We are very proud of our many accomplishments working in close partnership with the team at the Central New York State Parks Region in service to Park visitors and our community,” says Barry Halperin, AIA, NCARB, architect for the project. “Their passion for making Park visits great for everyone makes the work we do with them very special.”

Originally constructed in 1942, the historic boathouse at Green Lakes State Park is an iconic structure to anyone who has visited the beach at the north end of Green Lake. The building had been in use since its construction but lacked an adequate foundation due to poor soils. The NYS Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRPH) selected Beardsley to design the restoration and conversion of the building into a new environmental education center. As a registered historic structure, renovations also required coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office.

To create the new environmental education center and alleviate structural issues, the existing structure was meticulously dismantled and re-built on an entirely new foundation system. Special care was given to preserving as much of the building as possible. Following relocation, the building was restored and renovated to provide fourseason usage. The central exhibit space, anchored by preserved stone columns, includes educational kiosks and displays about the Park’s unique meromictic lakes, wildlife and habitats, and history. The building also includes restrooms, a small kitchenette, offices for Park educators, and generous storage space on the main floor and in the full basement. An outdoor education space was created for use by Park educators for school groups or other interpretive presentations. A small boat rental building was also relocated and renovated for continued use. Visitors can now enjoy the lakefront boardwalk or launch their kayak or canoe from new docks that connect to the boardwalk.

An interpretive center like this one did not previously exist in the Park and has allowed Park educators to vastly expand and enhance their programming. The interior and exterior spaces provide an array of learning opportunities to students and the public through the use of interactive displays within the exhibit space as well as outdoor signage along the boardwalk. In addition, opportunities for school groups to visit the Park have expanded, particularly through the Connect-Kids-to-Parks Field Trip Grant Program, which provides the financial assistance necessary to connect kids throughout New York with history and nature. q

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| The ROCHESTER ENGINEER AUGUST 2020 news from professional firms

SWBR Architects News DePaul Upper Falls Square Recognized with 2020 Excelsior Awards Honor Award

SWBR announced that DePaul Upper Falls Square Apartments has been recognized with the 2020 Excelsior Awards Honor Award from the New York State American Institute of Architects. This prestigious award recognizes the project’s overall performance, how it impacts the user, the community, and design excellence, all within the context of a publicly funded project.

At 143,000 square feet, Upper Falls Square brings quality affordable housing to Rochester’s Upper Falls neighborhood, while serving DePaul’s mission of improving people’s lives and their community ties by offering clean, safe homes, and an array of support services. It spans two city blocks and is one of the largest single developments ever undertaken by DePaul.

“The DePaul Upper Falls Square Apartments are an example of partnership and progress in action, providing the highest quality housing and supportive services to people in need while creating a sense of community and contributing toward the neighborhood revitalization of Rochester's Hudson Avenue corridor,” said DePaul President Mark Fuller. “We are so very proud, along with our project partners and funders, to be recognized as a recipient of a 2020 Excelsior Awards Honor Award.”

The Excelsior Awards, an AIA New York State partnership with New York State contracting agencies, provides a model of excellence for state-funded building design, professional practice, and advocacy. The projects reflect the collaborative efficacy of the design and construction team.

SWBR provided architectural, structural engineering, landscape architecture, and interior design services for the project.

“SWBR is proud to have partnered with DePaul on this amazing and transformative project,” says SWBR Principal Joe Gibbons, AIA. “Upper Falls Square will truly provide a positive impact for many residents in the CONEA neighborhood of Rochester for many years to come. This project also demonstrates DePaul’s tremendous continued commitment to sustainability in affordable housing as it was recently certified by the US EPA as an Energy Star multifamily project and exceeded the requirements of the NYS Housing Finance Agency’s Climate Bond Initiative.” q

news from professional firms AUGUST 2020 The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | 23