The Thornton Tomasetti Board of Directors announces the following promotions in the firm’s Chicago, Denver and Kansas City, Missouri, offices:

Chicago
To Associate Principal: Jonathan R. Block
To Vice President: Kevin J. Jackson and John Peronto
To Senior Associate: Ken R. Maschke and Todd Whisenhunt
To Associate: Geoffrey Dauksas, Lee Fritz, Matthew Huizinga, Rachel Autenrieth Jackson, Rachel Michelin, Andrew Murray and Nate Sosin
To Senior Project Engineer: Christian DeFazio, Mike Gannon, Harrison Garo, Benjamin Pavlich and Mary Williams
To Senior Project Director: Tara Toren-Rudisill
To Project Engineer: Justin Cline, Christopher Hart, Alloy Kemp, Jordan Komp, Andrew McMorrow, Alberto Mena Jr. and Julia Seitchik
To Senior Engineer: Mark Ackmann, Anthony Alessi, Kathleen Fogarty, Diarmuid Kelleher, Cassandra Lutz, Laura Meissner, Michael Murphy, Nam Nguyen, Elaine Shapiro and Abhiram Tammana
To Senior Building Information Modeler: Maria Salas

Denver
To Senior Associate: Jeffrey D’Andrea
To Associate: Benjamin Kaan
To Senior Project Engineer: Carole Rusch
To Project Engineer: Joseph Camilleri and Jacob Hoffman
To Senior Engineer: Timothy Gilchrist and Devin Mitchell

Kansas City
To Managing Principal: W. Steven Hofmeister
To Vice President: Kevin Legenza
To Associate: Gregory Johnston
To Senior Project Engineer: Andrew Lack
To Senior Engineer: Raymond Chou and Walter Hicks

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About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. We fulfill the needs of our clients at every stage in the building life cycle through seven integrated practices in Structural Engineering, Façade Engineering, Forensics, Renewal, Construction Engineering, Property Loss Consulting and Sustainability. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is an 850-person organization of engineering, architecture, sustainability and support professionals collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

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Contact
Great Ink Communications – 212.741.2977
Eric Gerard/Lindsay Church/Tom Nolan

Thornton Tomasetti – 917.661.7800
James M. Kent, JKent@ThorntonTomasetti.com

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Managing Principal Joe Burns will give the presentation “Soldier Field: Past, Present & Future,” focusing on engineering and construction innovations at the historic Chicago stadium, at the Deep Foundation Institute’s Thomas Wysockey Civil Engineering Scholarship Fundraising Dinner. The event is from 6-10 p.m. at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL. Registration is required.

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© BEN RAHN / A-FRAME

To help welcome the sporting world and celebrate the 2015 Toronto Pan Am / Parapan Am Games in Ontario, the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation (OTMPC), an agency of the Government of Ontario, rolled out Ontario’s Celebration Zone at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. Hariri Pontarini Architects, along with Thornton Tomasetti, Blackwell Structural Engineers and fabricator Tectoniks, helped design the pavilion’s signature structure.

Courtesy Hariri Pontarini Architects

Our façade engineering team assisted with the form-finding, structural analysis and foundation design for the pavilion’s roof, a pneumatic vault design measuring 60m long x 16m wide x 14m high. Curvilinear openings along the sides provide a ‘lightness’ and help facilitate access and circulation. Early in the design process we focused on form-finding with wind and gravity in mind while the structural analysis – including pneumatic analysis – was performed at multiple scales to help guide the design process along.

Thornton Tomasetti

Roof test installation. Hauke Jungjohann / Thornton Tomasetti.

The Toronto Pan-Am Games will be held from July 10 – July 26 and the Parapan Am Games will be on August 7 – August 15. Please contact Vice President Hauke Jungjohann with any questions.

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The Thornton Tomasetti Board of Directors announces the following promotions in the firm’s Washington, D.C., Fort Lauderdale, Dallas and Philadelphia offices:

Washington, D.C.
To Project Engineer: Henry Clouting
To Senior Engineer: Stephen Kijak, Nathan McGraw, Douglas Schweizer, Amber Shoals and Bradley Toellner

Fort Lauderdale
To Senior Designer: Vanessa Da Rocha and Patrick St. Louis
To Senior Engineer: Humberto Estevez and Lynn Itani

Dallas
To Vice President: Nicolas Saenz
To Senior Project Engineer: Dustin Swart
To Senior Engineer: Garrett Jones

Philadelphia
To Senior Principal: Mark Coggin
To Associate: Marguerite Pinto and Jason Reither
To Senior Project Engineer: Angela Heinze and Damian Moser
To Senior Engineer: Trevor Bertin and Louis Ross
To Lead Computational Designer: Matthew Naugle

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About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. We fulfill the needs of our clients at every stage in the building life cycle through seven integrated practices in Structural Engineering, Façade Engineering, Forensics, Renewal, Construction Engineering, Property Loss Consulting and Sustainability. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is an 850-person organization of engineering, architecture, sustainability and support professionals collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Follow us on:
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Contact
Great Ink Communications – 212.741.2977
Eric Gerard/Lindsay Church/Tom Nolan

Thornton Tomasetti – 917.661.7800
James M. Kent, JKent@ThorntonTomasetti.com

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The Thornton Tomasetti Board of Directors announces the following promotions in the firm’s Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, California, offices:

Los Angeles
To Principal: Ola J. Johansson
To Vice President: Chuan Do
To Senior Associate: Brian Guerrero, Benjamin John and David Kirschenbaum
To Project Engineer: Justin Schwaiger and Kenzo Singer
To Senior Engineer: Jose Hernandez and Chelsea Kemmerrer

San Diego
To Vice President: Aaron Beebe
To Project Engineer: Dean Schoenberg

San Francisco
To Vice President: Justin Fahey, Steve Ratchye and Brian Shen
To Senior Associate: Stacy Gaddini and Mark Koenigs
To Associate: Gokhan Akalan and Graeme Ballantyne
To Senior Project Engineer: Tsz Kin (Jimmy) Lau
To Project Engineer: Aleeta Dene and Chester Gatdula
To Project Director: Karl Wakelin
To Senior Engineer: Matthew Cummins, Tian Gao, Lyndsey Lyrenmann, and Sipan Yavarian
To Senior IT Support Technician: Michael Zhao

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About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. We fulfill the needs of our clients at every stage in the building life cycle through seven integrated practices in Structural Engineering, Façade Engineering, Forensics, Renewal, Construction Engineering, Property Loss Consulting and Sustainability. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is an 850-person organization of engineering, architecture, sustainability and support professionals collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Follow us on:
» Facebook
» Twitter
» YouTube
» LinkedIn

Contact
Great Ink Communications – 212.741.2977
Eric Gerard/Lindsay Church/Tom Nolan

Thornton Tomasetti – 917.661.7800
James M. Kent, JKent@ThorntonTomasetti.com

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The Thornton Tomasetti Board of Directors announces the following promotions in the firm’s London and Mumbai offices:

London
To Associate Director: Lee Earl and Michael Roberts
To Senior Associate: Claudia Farabegoli and Adam Miller
To Senior Project Consultant: Duncan Cox
To Senior Façade Engineer: Teresa Farina
To Senior Engineer: Anna Zhang
To Executive Assistant: Rachael Harding

Mumbai
To Project Engineer: Sanjay Gohil
To Senior Engineer: Parija Khandekar, Sayyed Miyan, Shivang Pathak and Rahul Raman
To Senior Building Information Modeler: Sawli Chavan

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About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. We fulfill the needs of our clients at every stage in the building life cycle through seven integrated practices in Structural Engineering, Façade Engineering, Forensics, Renewal, Construction Engineering, Property Loss Consulting and Sustainability. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is an 850-person organization of engineering, architecture, sustainability and support professionals collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Follow us on:
» Facebook
» Twitter
» YouTube
» LinkedIn

Contact
Great Ink Communications – 212.741.2977
Eric Gerard/Lindsay Church/Tom Nolan

Thornton Tomasetti – 917.661.7800
James M. Kent, JKent@ThorntonTomasetti.com

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From the world’s tallest buildings, to a desert yurt structure, Thornton Tomasetti’s influence can be found in the most unexpected and far-flung places. Last year, the Thornton Tomasetti Foundation presented $12,500 in grants to the Cooper Union’s Center for Sustainable Engineering, Architecture and Art – Materials, Manufacturing and Minimalism (SEA²M³) for project RAMESSES. The project, which stands for “Reuse of Available Material, Energy, Structures and Supplies for Emergency Shelter,” consisted of a group of students designing a sustainable structure to provide shelter for disaster victims.

“We wanted to do something about the appalling conditions endured by the endless streams of refugees across sub-Saharan Africa,” electrical engineering professor Toby Cumberbatch, who led the team, said. “We set out to design a shelter that could be locally sourced in large quantities on short notice and be self-built by those on the move.” The students traveled to Ghana and Burkina Faso to research materials and test their designs. “Thanks to the generosity of the Thornton Tomasetti Foundation, we have an opportunity to take our ideas to the end user and start a conversation,” professor Cumberbatch said.

A presentation on the completed project along with all of its design iterations can be viewed below.

The video below shows the final design withstand an intense wind storm, which is common of the region.

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​Façade Engineering practice Vice President Edward Peck is quoted in an article about the use of ethylene-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (ETFE) for the roof of U.S. Bank Stadium, the new home of the Minnesota Vikings NFL team in Minneapolis.

-The news was also picked up by FOX Sports, CBS Minnesota, New Haven Register, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Globe and Mail, El Paso Times, La Crosse Tribune and San Luis Obispo Tribune.

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Thornton Tomasetti, the international engineering firm, announces that Derek A. Wassink, P.E., R.A., LEED AP, has joined its Fort Lauderdale, Florida, office as a vice president in the Structural Engineering practice. Wassink has more than 25 years of experience in structural design, project management and coordination, as well as business development. Having spent the majority of his career in Florida, Wassink will use his local knowledge to showcase the Fort Lauderdale office’s capabilities and strengths.

Key Points

• Prior to joining Thornton Tomasetti, Wassink was president of the structural engineering group at TRC Worldwide Engineering, Inc. in Fort Lauderdale. He was responsible for leading and managing the firm’s largest division across the U.S. and in India.

• Wassink’s structural experience spans all sectors, including office, residential, healthcare, education, hospitality, recreation and parking. He has worked on the 950,000-square-foot, 18-story Margaritaville Beach Resort in Hollywood Beach, Florida, the Lucky Street parking garage at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and the Tradition Medical Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

• Wassink is a licensed professional engineer in Pennsylvania and Florida; a licensed architect in New York; a licensed special inspector in Florida; and a structures specialist with FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force One.

• Wassink holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and engineering from Princeton University, and a master’s degree in structural engineering from Villanova University.

• He is an adjunct faculty member at Florida International University, and a member of the National Council of Structural Engineers Association, Florida Structural Engineers Association and the Leadership Broward Foundation. In his free time Wassink plays competitive croquet, and has won tournaments in Palm Beach, the Hamptons, New York, and the West Indies.

Executive Quotes

Matthew Olender, vice president and Fort Lauderdale office leader, Thornton Tomasetti
“During this time of rapid growth for our Florida office, Derek will be a strong asset in the areas of business development, design diversification, quality control and technical staff training. We’re very excited to have him join our team.”

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» Thornton Tomasetti
» Structural Engineering Practice
» Ft. Lauderdale Office
» Derek Wassink Bio

About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. We fulfill the needs of our clients at every stage in the building life cycle through seven integrated practices in Structural Engineering, Façade Engineering, Forensics, Renewal, Construction Engineering, Property Loss Consulting and Sustainability. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is an 850-person organization of engineering, architecture, sustainability and support professionals collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Follow us on:
» Facebook
» Twitter
» YouTube
» LinkedIn

Contact
Great Ink Communications – 212.741.2977
Eric Gerard/Lindsay Church/Tom Nolan

Thornton Tomasetti – 917.661.7800
James M. Kent, JKent@ThorntonTomasetti.com

The post Derek A. Wassink Joins Thornton Tomasetti’s Fort Lauderdale Office as Vice President in Structural Engineering appeared first on Thornton Tomasetti.

At the Façade Tectonics Forum Denver on July 28, Vice President Edward Peck is participating in a discussion on innovative building skins for a naturally lit built environment. The session, “Modeling Light: Analytic and Graphic Tools for Modeling Daylight and Performance,” begins at 9:35 a.m. at the Denver Art Museum, 100 W. 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, Colorado. Registration is required.

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An article on the Public Square at Hudson Yards notes that Thornton Tomasetti engineered the $750-million, 10-acre, steel-and-concrete platform on which the massive Manhattan development is being built. We are also providing structural engineering services 10 Hudson Yards, 30 Hudson Yards, the Culture Shed and other components of the project.

The post New York Times: A Hudson Yards Garden Will Grow With Concrete, Coolant and High-Power Fans appeared first on Thornton Tomasetti.

Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandela and our own Áine Brazil share a significant distinction; they have all been conferred honorary doctorate degrees from the National University of Ireland Galway.

On June 12, the vice chairman was presented with a Degree of Doctor of Engineering from the university, from which she earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. “I feel very humbled to be joining such an amazing group and to be honored with a doctorate degree from my alma mater,” Áine said.

Áine was notified of her honorary degree in March. She had been nominated by the president of the university, Dr. Jim Browne, for her collective work throughout her 30-year career as an engineer. Browne also recommended her for the 2014 International Engineer of the Year award given by Engineers Ireland.

“Áine has pushed the boundaries of possibility, enhancing our living, working and visual environments,” Professor Michael Harnett of NUIG’s engineering department, who presented Áine’s citation at the ceremony, said. “Tall buildings, withstanding storm and earthquake, remain standing tall due to the efforts, dedication and encouragement of gifted engineers such as Áine.”

After the ceremony, Áine and members of her family attended a dinner at the university. Engineering is a very popular profession within her family, especially for the women. Her two nieces, Aine NiBrreasail and Bairbre O’Breasail, both have bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering and have previously interned with Thornton Tomasetti. Áine NiBrreasail holds a Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering from Imperial College in London, from which the vice chairman earned her master’s degree in structural engineering.

Aine’s family met her at NUIG to share in the momentous occasion.

Áine is an active alumna at NUIG. She serves as a board member of the Galway University Foundation, which has been raising capital for school projects and scholarships, with its primary focus shifting to the latter in the previous few years.

Áine has always been, and continues to be, passionate about encouraging women to join the engineering professon. To help young women establish a strong footing in engineering, she started a scholarship within the Galway University Foundation to provide financial support to young women pursuing a degree in the field, selecting one recipient each year.

To Áine, education was one of the most important influences in her decision to become an engineer. While attending her secondary school, she enrolled in honors math classes on the weekends to prepare for the advanced exams for placement in an engineering program. “You sense your strengths. I felt it was something I was good at,” she said. “Once I started engineering courses, I realized that I had made the right choice.”

Áine also has a family connection to NUIG. Her mother was employed by the university for 44 years, retiring the same year that Áine graduated. She worked in the bursar’s office, handling student grants and tuition billing, and was known for helping students with financial problems in school by advancing grant money or extending billing periods.

At the conferment ceremony, Áine was not only touched by the honorary degree, but also by the number of alumni who remembered her mother. “About 12 to 14 people came up to me at Galway and said, ‘I wouldn’t have made it through the university if it were not for your mother,” she said. “There was one professor who told me that he was late on his bills one year and my mother figured out a way for him to pay.”

During her acceptance speech, Áine focused on three key points that have resonated with her throughout her career: encouragement, support and opportunity. “Life is full of opportunities,” she said. “Without the opportunities that Thornton Tomasetti has given me, I know I would not have received this honorary degree.”

The firm’s purpose and core values are the same ideals that have guided Áine in her work and have helped her develop her career. “I am certainly passionate about the work I do,” she said. “The firm has always challenged me to grow and take on the next big project. And every day I come into work, I learn something new.”

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Thornton Tomasetti, the international engineering firm, announces that two of its projects have been selected to receive Engineering News-Record’s (ENR) 2015 Global Best Projects Awards. The Baku National Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, won in the Sports and Entertainment category, while the Florida Polytechnic University Innovation, Science, and Technology Building in Lakeland was recognized in the Specialty Contracting category. The awards will be presented to the project teams on September 10, 2015, at the ENR Global Construction Summit at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York City.

The annual competition highlights the best global projects and the teams behind their design and construction. Five independent judges rated the projects across 20 categories using criteria such as safety, innovation, contribution to the community, design/construction excellence, how well the project team overcame challenges and teamwork.

Courtesy Tekfen Construction

Baku National Stadium

• Thornton Tomasetti provided structural design services for the stadium’s structure, while its Façade Engineering practice provided design and engineering peer review of the ETFE façade and roof systems.

• The 68,000-seat, 225,000-square-meter stadium was completed in February 2015, and in June it hosted the first-ever European Games.

• To meet an aggressive 18-month design and build schedule, the project team performed design and construction simultaneously. An advanced modeling approach also supported the accelerated schedule.

• To maximize flexibility, the structural design incorporated piled raft foundations, a system more typical of high-rise buildings than stadiums.

• The project team included Socar, the owner, Heerim Architects & Planners, the design architect, and Tefken Construction, the design-build contractor.

Jeane H. Vincent photo

Florida Polytechnic University Innovation, Science, and Technology Building

• Thornton Tomasetti was the structural engineer for the 160,000-square-foot academic building designed by Santiago Calatrava. Alfonso Architects was architect of record.

• The two-story teaching facility, which opened in 2014, contains interdisciplinary classrooms, laboratories, offices, meeting rooms and a large amphitheater.

• As one of the first buildings constructed on the new campus site, the IST building helped establish the design scheme for all future structures within the first phase of the master plan.

• It features a prominent glass and steel cupola with an operable louver system, and a continuous pergola defined by 84 arched aluminum “leaves” that shade the upper-level terraces and ground-level arcades.

• Working with the project team, Thornton Tomasetti’s structural engineers developed an alternative operable louver system that allowed for a lighter less-expensive support structure and minimized the need for custom parts.

Supporting Materials

» Thornton Tomasetti
» Baku National Stadium
» Florida Polytechnic University Innovation, Science and Technology Building
» ENR Best Project Winners 2015/a>

About Thornton Tomasetti (www.ThorntonTomasetti.com)
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. We fulfill the needs of our clients at every stage in the building life cycle through seven integrated practices in Structural Engineering, Façade Engineering, Forensics, Renewal, Construction Engineering, Property Loss Consulting and Sustainability. Founded in 1956, today Thornton Tomasetti is an 850-person organization of engineering, architecture, sustainability and support professionals collaborating from offices across the United States and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Follow us on:
» Facebook
» Twitter
» YouTube
» LinkedIn

Contact
Great Ink Communications – 212.741.2977
Eric Gerard/Lindsay Church/Tom Nolan

Thornton Tomasetti – 917.661.7800
James M. Kent, JKent@ThorntonTomasetti.com

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Principal Bob Kornfeld discussed the reconstruction plans for the historic Watch Tower in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park at a recent New York Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing. The commission approved the proposal.

The post Cityland: Reconstruction of 19th century Fire Lookout Tower Approved appeared first on Thornton Tomasetti.

Courtesy United States Environmental Protection Agency

Thornton Tomasetti joined 300 companies and investors by adding our signature to a letter to U.S. Governors to adopt policies supporting EPA’s Proposed Clean Power Plan. The EPA’s Clean Power Plan is the first national effort to curb carbon pollution from electric power plants and is critical for moving the country toward a clean energy economy. The EPA projects that by 2030, when states meet their individual goals, the U.S. power sector will emit 30% less carbon pollution than it did in 2005.

We support this effort in demonstration of the firm’s commitment to sustainability and to mitigate climate change. Thornton Tomasetti is a reporting member of the AIA 2030 Commitment and shares in the Architecture 2030 vision of carbon-neutral buildings by 2030. We also strive to reach carbon neutral business operations by 2030 and purchase carbon offsets to neutralize all of our business travel emissions.

For more information, please visit ceres.org.

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Two Thornton Tomasetti projects have been shortlisted for the Institution of Structural Engineers’ 2015 ISTRUCTE Awards:

• Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) in the Infrastructure or Transportation Structures category.

• Florida Polytechnic University Innovation Science and Technology Building in the Education or Healthcare Structures category

The awards ceremony is on November 13 in London. Congratulations to all project team members!

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Rogers Place Arena, future home of the Edmonton Oilers NHL team in Alberta, Canada, has reached 50 percent completion. The $600-million project is slated for completion in fall 2016. Thornton Tomasetti, 360 Architecture (now HOK) and ME Engineers Inc. are the design team.

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The groundbreaking ceremony for Google’s new Boulder, Colorado, campus took place yesterday, marking the start of construction for one of the tech company’s largest campuses. Thornton Tomasetti is the engineer of record, working with Tryba Architects, for phase one of Pearl Place – Google Boulder Campus, which consists of two interconnected buildings totaling 200,000 square feet. Located on a 4.29-acre redevelopment at the intersection of 30th and Pearl streets, the class A core and shell build-to-suit complex will enable Google to increase its Boulder workforce from 340 to nearly 1,500 employees. The four-story, post-tensioned concrete structures will feature low floor-to-floor heights to stay within the city’s height restrictions, outdoor and indoor event space and two and a half levels of underground parking with 620 spaces. The project includes a public area with an integrated bike path, and the conversion of a ditch into a flood-control zone. Roof setbacks for outdoor terraces on the fourth floor required shallow post-tensioned transfer beams, which were notched to allow for mechanical ductwork. Phase two will add an additional 130,000-square-foot office building. Construction on phase one is expected to take 18 months. Mark Upton is the project manager and Stan Welton the project principal. LEED Gold certification is planned for the complex.

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Instead of overspending on a flimsy dining table from IKEA, Property Loss Consulting Associate Austin Allcot decided to build something that was longer lasting using materials from one of his deconstruction projects. Austin, along with Principal and Property Loss Consulting Practice Leader Charlie Meade, both from the New York office, used reclaimed wood to build a 3-by-6-foot table for Austin’s new apartment.

The pine wood was cut into 4×14 planks, which were used as floor joists in the old building dating back to approximately 1921.

After moving to Brooklyn in November 2010, Austin still needed a kitchen table and was inspired by the usage of old materials for new purposes, namely reclaimed wood being remade into furniture. “I was at a Shake Shack in Brooklyn and noticed a stamp on the tables indicating that they were once part of a bowling lane,” he said.

Austin drafted engineering plans for the table to get a visual representation before the project was finished.

The pine wood, which has great structural properties according to Austin, came from the floor joists of a building slated for demolition. “The earliest records of the building date back to 1921 and indicate that the structure is older than that. It was originally used as a garage and a machine shop,” Austin said. Austin kept the wood in his apartment for several months before he was able to find the time and space to work on the table.

Although he had some experience in woodworking, such as building a coatrack for his sister and rebuilding a bench for his parents, Austin did not have the necessary tools or know-how to build a table. When approached with the idea of the DIY table, Charlie offered his workshop and extensive knowledge and experience in woodworking to help with the task. “I thought it was an interesting idea, but I cautioned him because it was a leap of faith. This wood could reveal itself to be less than ideal after you cut it,” Charlie said.

The finished planks look as good as new after Charlie and Austin removed the surface by planning.

Austin drew up plans for the table, and had steel legs fabricated and painted at a local artisan metalworking business. He and Charlie set to work on bringing the boards, which weighed between 40 and 50 pounds each, back to a useable condition. “When it came to my house, it was terrible,” Charlie said. “It was filled with 100-year-old nails that we had to take out by hand.”

To bring new life to the boards, they removed the outermost layers of the planks using a table saw, by a process called planing. After the planing was completed, the planks were bonded with wood glue and clamped together to keep pressure on them as the glue dried. Austin said one of the most time-consuming aspects of the build involved applying the oil, which serves as a protective sealant and also stains the wood. Each coat took about a day to dry, and with 15 coats of oil on top and six on the bottom of the table, there was no rushing this project.

Austin and Charlie applied glue and clamps to the wood to seal the planks together.

Austin spent eight hours each weekend over the course of a month at Charlie’s workshop. All told, it took about 50 hours of work to complete the table. “Friends and family have generally been impressed by the table,” Austin said. “Some have made it clear that they would like me to make something similar for them.” With some spare wood left from the table, Austin was able to build a matching bench for his apartment. “It was cool to take garbage and make it into something special.”

Austin had steels legs custom-made for the project. Once he received them, he was able to finish the table after screwing them into the base.

Austin is already thinking about his next project. He is considering using reclaimed wood to build a wine rack for home or perhaps a conference table for the New York office. “It would be a great way to promote the firm’s commitment to sustainability when clients that come here for meetings,” he said.

— John Feinberg, Communcations Intern

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Senior Principal Eli Gottlieb talks about the use of dampening systems in skyscrapers to reduce swaying during high winds.

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