STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AWARDS

New Buildings

Bethany Terraces - Modular + Passive House Senior Housing - Murray Engineering

Bethany Terraces is NYC’s first steel modular Passive House senior housing, delivering 57 energy efficient, all-electric affordable apartments in Brooklyn. Utilizing 47 steel-framed modules atop a site-built cast-in-place concrete foundation, the structure was erected in eleven days. The building integrates a 130-kW solar array, high-performance envelopes, and systems to achieve Passive House, DOE Zero Energy Ready, and Enterprise Green Communities certifications. Designed by Paul Castrucci Architects and developed by RiseBoro Community Partnership, with additional support from a NYSERDA Blue Ribbon Award, Bethany Terraces exemplifies how architecture, structural engineering creativity, modular construction, and sustainability can converge to create equitable, replicable urban housing.

JP Morgan Chase HQ - 270 Park Avenue - Severud 

Constructing a 60-story, 2.5 million sq ft high-rise office building in the dense urban landscape of New York City is challenging even in ideal conditions. Replacing an existing tower with a new one adds another layer of complexity. Attempting such a feat directly above active railroad tracks seems nearly impossible. Yet, through meticulous planning, comprehensive analysis, and strong collaboration, JPMorgan Chase and its design and construction team have managed to do just that at 270 Park Avenue— without causing major disruptions to the train operations below.

Johns Hopkins Student Center - knippershelbig

The Johns Hopkins Student Center acts as a new gateway to the campus, with a series of highly transparent, timber- framed volumes with 29 stepped mass timber roof planes cascading down the sloped site. The mass timber roof structure is made from dowel laminated timber panels, Glulam beams spanning up to 70 ft as well as glulam columns.The horizontal bracing of the roofs is achieved through the interaction of reinforced concrete cores, cross- laminated timber wall panels, and cross-bracings made of steel tension rods. knippershelbig was structural engineer of record and provided structural design and full envelope consultation for the project for all design phases and construction.

University of Pennsylvania - Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology - knippershelbig

The Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST) is an energy research facility at the University of Pennsylvania’s Philadelphia campus. The 112,000 sqft structural steel framed building includes 7 floors of research laboratories, workstations, collaborative spaces, and offices. This exciting project posed a number of unique challenges including a dynamic shape of the building of shifted floorplates, vibration requirements of the structure at the lab spaces, five monumental stairs requiring vibration analysis, and unique ETFE sun shades design on the east and west elevations which the lower energy needs and diffuse daylight.

Forensic Analysis/ Renovation/ Retrofit & Rehabilitation of Structures

PENN 2 Redevelopment - Severud

The newly redeveloped PENN 2 office building revitalizes its PENN DISTRICT neighborhood with inviting public spaces, improved office facilities, modern worker amenities, and updated aesthetics. Located on a double-wide block on Seventh Avenue, the original 32-story building was constructed in 1968 after demolition of Penn Station, replacing what had been a monumental public space. With multi-story additions, an expansive public plaza, a relocated lobby, several landscaped terraces, corner loggias, rooftop pavilion, and high-performance curtain wall, PENN 2 Redevelopment reconnects the building with street life and restores some of the grandeur of the former Penn Station.

Terminal Warehouse - Desimone 

Originally built in 1891, the redevelopment and conversion of Terminal Warehouse, a 1.3 MSF industrial building in New York’s West Chelsea Historic District, blends 19th- craftsmanship with 21st-century engineering. Featuring bold interventions—a six-story over build, super columns, and lightweight slab systems—the structural team reinforced the original structure while transforming it into a high-performance, sustainable mixed-use building. The landmarked, masonry facades were stabilized with 350 tons of steel bracing, t imber columns strengthened and left exposed, and new concrete carefully integrated into a complex timber, steel and concrete struc ture. With LEED Platinum, WELL Gold, and WiredScore Platinum certifications pending, the result is a vibrant, future-ready hub.

The Frick Collection - Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

 The Frick Collection, an iconic cultural institution of New York City, recently completed a transformative renovation and expansion of its buildings on the Upper East Side. Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) was the structural engineer of record for the project that expanded the 179,000 sq ft facility, increased accessibility, provided better visitor circulation and amenities, added gallery and conservation spaces, and upgraded MEP infrastructure for increased energy efficiency. SGH documented the existing buildings, addressed unforeseen field conditions, strengthened and repaired the existing structure, removed and replaced lateral-load-resisting systems, and integrated new construction with archaic structural systems.

Other Structures

Williams Crossing Pedestrian Bridge - schlaich bergermann partner 

Jithu Alexander, PE

Prateek Srivastava

Riya Maniar 

Bradford Kiefer, PE