The IASS 60th Anniversary Symposium (IASS SYMPOSIUM 2019) and 9th International Conference on Textile Composites and Inflatable Structures (STRUCTURAL MEMBRANES 2019) have merged into a joint international conference, FORM and FORCE 2019, aiming to provide a forum for state-of-the-art contributions and fruitful discussion in the broad fields of shell, spatial, tension and inflatable structures. The 2019 conference was held in October in Barcelona, Spain and it covered concepts related to material, design, computation, construction, maintenance, history, environmental impact and sustainability of shell, spatial, tension and inflatable structures in all fields of application.

Miguel Lopez of GMS presented a paper, Lateral Load Resisting Facades, co-authored jointly by the GMS Structural Engineers and Building Envelope consultants Miguel Lopez, Joseph Blanchfield, Philip Murray, David Kazibwe, Carolyn Bai, Ramon Gilsanz. The paper’s abstract follows:

Simple modifications to traditional curtain wall slab anchors allow designers to incorporate a structure’s building envelope system into its lateral system, leading not only to improved structural performance, but a reduction in the building construction’s carbon footprint. This approach of integrating architecture with structural design to optimize building performance and construction embodies the principles of efficiency, economy, and elegance championed by the late Princeton Professor David Billington. In this paper, the potential benefits of utilizing façade members to contribute to the building stiffness is studied by reanalyzing 510 Madison Avenue, a 2012 Class-A steel high-rise office building in Manhattan. The building’s lateral system is comprised of moment and braced frames. The building’s façade is a unitized aluminum curtain wall system that utilizes traditional curtain wall anchors designed to prevent the transfer of loads between the façade and the structure.

GMS Partners Philip Murray,  Ramon Gilsanz and colleagues Zoe Champion and Helena Ariza also attended the conference, noting the networking opportunities and planned workshops to learn about new software applications, among other things. For more information, click here.

Last Tuesday, September 24  SEAoNY celebrated their Annual Meeting of 2019.

GMS Partner Jonathan Hernandez  hosted the evening as the immediate Past President. At the evening’s conclusion, he awarded  Vicki Arbitrio with life membership as the 2019 SEAoNY Honorary Member and gave two scholarships in her name. Kamil Pisula of City College and Carol Shlyakhova of NYU are each studying structural engineering; their winning essays will be published in an upcoming issue of Cross-Sections, the SEAoNY publication.

Current SEAoNY Treasurer and GMS Associate Partner Eugene Kim was also in attendance.

For more information, click here https://seaony.org/event-3508398

Fairfield University and Centerbrook Architects and Planners have shared new images of the #Stags new Convocation Center. Have a first look here  https://fairfieldstags.com/feature/ConvocationCenter

This new 85,000 sf facility will include a 3,500 seat multi-use space for basketball, volleyball or university events and concerts. The seating can be reconfigured to allow two practice courts, or infilled to create an event or dining space. The venue includes a state-of-the-art broadcast and media center, as well as spaces devoted to the student athletes. The GMS team includes: Gary Steficek, Eugene Kim, John Hinchcliffe, Nam Hee Kim, Khaoula Msaaf, Nicolas Gomez, Phoebe Wang, Kristina Zarrella, Juan Escobar, Arkadi Goldin, Irina Goldin and Miryam Varona.

Image courtesy of Centerbrook Architects and Planners

Whether you’re shopping for a home or planning your next vacation stay, take a look at these homes GMS has engineered…

Among GMS’ extensive portfolio, we bring vast experience with single-family residences in New York and throughout the Americas.  Many of our projects are located on inland, mountain and coastal properties including eastern beachfront homes in hurricane prone regions within high velocity wave zones in the flood plain, and pacific beach properties where landslides and earthquakes pose additional hazards.  These homes are constructed using timber, steel, architecturally exposed concrete and extensive glass facades. Contact Phil Murray if you are thinking of building your own dream.

Courtesy of Restoration Hardware

The intersection of Ninth Avenue, Gansevoort Street and Little West 12th Street in Manhattan’s Gansevoort Market Historic District, has been in active use for over 150 years. It has served as an open air market, stables, a meatpacking warehouse and, as possibly it’s most notable incarnation, the home of the much loved bistro, Pastis. It is now the new 90,000 square foot home of Restoration Hardware’s Manhattan flagship.

The transformation from 19th century, 2 story warehouse space to 5 story, 21st century retail and design showcase, complete with a central atrium and glass elevator, was no easy task. The project involved gutting the interior of the original structure while carefully preserving the original brick enclosure and building a new glass and steel structure within.

To complicate matters, the building is located close to the flood plain and excavation was required to build a new basement and foundations to support the new construction.

The new structure is steel framed, using moment frames with composite concrete and metal deck floor slabs. This system was designed to provide flexibility in the retail layouts and provide support for the original brick exterior walls and the new awning along Ninth Avenue and Little West 12^th Street. Beams accommodate stone floor finish throughout the retail spaces and were designed to minimize foot-fall vibration.

The building, designed by Wormser + Associates Architects with façade by BKSK Architects, artfully melds old and new, retaining the original base and preserving the charm and character of the authentic brick facades. RH collaborated with Backen Gillen Kroeger Architects for the RH tenant design. The new glass and steel structure rises out of the base creating an open plan for retail including a rug showroom, a materials library, a coffee bar and a rooftop restaurant with panoramic views of the area.

GMS is well versed in the challenges of converting existing historic structures for re-use – click here to see some other projects or call Phil Murray or Carl Zanier to see how we can help you.

Courtesy of Restoration Hardware

Courtesy of Restoration Hardware

Courtesy of Restoration Hardware

©Michael Moran OTTO

The Manhattan Class Company (MCC) began 32 years ago as a collective of young actors, writers and directors with the mission of re-defining the NYC theater scene. Finally, after years of renting and relocating, this Off-Broadway non-profit now has a permanent space of their own!

Located on 52nd street in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen, their new 27,000 square foot space has two state of the art theaters with 45 foot ceilings, rehearsal space, offices and a bar. The theaters, one with proscenium-style seating for 245 and the other with a flexible layout to seat up to 100 people, are designed by Andrew Berman Architects to, as the theater website touts, ‘do what they do best: promote conversations’.

The space was delivered in white box condition and the architect wished to maintain the exposed concrete aesthetic. In the large theater, GMS designed a new exposed concrete balcony, a new control room level, exposed structural steel catwalks, flying grid supports and technical balconies. In the smaller theater, GMS designed new cold-formed steel control room and control room ceiling, and structural steel catwalks and lighting supports. There are two large rehearsal studios, theater administrative spaces as well as the bar, pantries, a green room and box office. Additional floor space was created at an intermediate level for dressing rooms and wardrobe. Both theaters are acoustically isolated, as the facility is situated in the lower levels of an apartment building which is located over the Amtrak train tunnels.

GMS has extensive experience with NYC theaters – building out new spaces, moving existing and historic theaters, preserving historic features and supporting restorations of all kinds. Give Jessica Mandrick or Ramon Gilsanz a call to see how we can help you build, modify or renovate your theater space.

©Michael Moran OTTO

©Michael Moran OTTO

©Michael Moran OTTO

©Michael Moran OTTO

The team at GMS are so saddened to learn that Eugene G. Mui, GMS’s first employee, passed away on June 19, 2019. Eugene’s wisdom and patience helped shape the firm that we have become. He is fondly remembered and will be missed by all who knew him.

We are happy to announce GMS is joining Queer Advocacy and Knowledge Exchange (Qu-AKE) in the 2019 World Pride March on June 30th!

With our sponsorship, we will have 20 GMS employees march with Qu-AKE. Come join us!

The Queer Advocacy and Knowledge Exchange (Qu-AKE) is a national, nonprofit, inclusive network for professionals working in the fields of civil engineering, architecture, urban planning, geosciences and construction. We exist to ensure visibility and protection of LGBTQ+ professionals in our fields, by facilitating networking opportunities, providing a forum for mentorship, and fighting discrimination against members of our community in the workplace.

For more information, email info@qu-ake.org

The partners of GMS are proud to announce the following promotions effective June 1, 2019:

Tele Gonzalez to Principal,

David Hoy, David Shea and Jeff Stratton to Associate Partner,

Mark Beltramello, Aaron Doliber, Carmen Garavi, John Hinchcliffe and Alvaro Martinez to Associate,

Hannah Garfield, Patxi Goicolea, Ruilong Han, Teodor Ispirski and Dana Saba to Project Engineer and

Jean Laurent and Matt Hong to Senior Engineer.

“These promotions are a testament to their hard work and efforts to learn and grow as professionals. We are very happy that they are working with us, and we hope that they will continue to grow with us for many years!”, said Ramon Gilsanz as he made the announcement.

Left to right in back row, Teodor Ispirski, Jeff Stratton, Aaron Doliber, Mark Beltramello, Alvaro Martinez, John Hinchcliffe and in front row: Jean Laurent, Tele Gonzalez, Carmen Garavi, Dana Saba, Hannah Garfield.