Entuitive Wins At The SEAoNY Structural Engineering Excellence Awards

Photo courtesy of Michael Young.

Earlier this month, Entuitive’s work on the redevelopment of St. John’s Terminal in NYC was recognized by the SEAoNY Structural Engineering Excellence Awards at their annual gala.   The redevelopment at 550 Washington Street resulted in a new, high-performance health and wellness commercial office building, and is now the home of Google’s NYC headquarters. Its structure features an innovative first-of-its-kind application of precast segmental bridge design technique.  

Winning in the Forensic Analysis/Renovation/Retrofit & Rehabilitation of Structures category at the SEE Awards, Entuitive was responsible for Structural Engineering, Special Inspections, and acted as the Temporary Works Peer Review Consultant.  

   The 1.3 million ft² building is designed as a single-tenant leased office building clad in curtain wall. A nine-level addition was constructed on top of the existing renovated three-story podium, for a total of 12 stories plus a penthouse plant and service space. The innovative use of precast segmental bridge design techniques for vertical core construction in buildings helped separate this project from other nominees.

Photo courtesy of Michael Young.

From the level of efficiency and utilization of precast concrete in a former rail terminal (effectively quadrupling the building’s height from three to 12 stories), all while preserving a nearly 100-year-old structure to bring it through future centuries, St. John’s Terminal serves to inspire the design of future tall buildings (both new and old).    NYC is full of historic structures and buildings in general that are reaching the end of their service life terms but still have more life in them. Engineering can be challenged to keep these existing structures, strengthening them while repurposing for the functions required in the present times, keeping in mind that they may change and thus introducing a versatility to structures to adapt with the times.  Entuitive's project team and collaborators included Mike Hillcoat, David Stevenson, Stephanie Berrios, Dave Douglas, Barry Charnish, Ian Trudeau, Raj Thavarajah, Saleem Haq, Agha Hasan, Moustafa Mohamed, Fernando Pabelico, Chris Fitzpatrick, Paul Tomasik, Jason Jelinek, and Ivy Liang. 

If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Berrios.