Ithaca Builds

Mapping, photos and information for Ithaca construction and development projects

Tag Archives: cornell

Klarman Hall Schedule & Goldwin Smith Roofing for March

March 26, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Cornell University’s Klarman Hall project has posted a schedule for the next six months, while LeChase Construction and Welliver have completed more roofing work throughout the month of march. The southern wing’s roof looks nearly complete, along with most of the southern portion of the main building, as the previous slate and metal roofing has been completely removed, re-surfaced with synthetic underlayment, and replaced with new slate and metal.

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Underpinnings for Goldwin Smith and Klarman’s foundation have begun installation as indicated on the schedule. They’re typically used to support an existing foundation by digging underneath section by section, and backfilling the trench with concrete to provide additional support and stabilization. The crews will be digging all along Klarman’s future footprint, and along East Avenue. The future weight of Klarman Hall would likely have an adverse affect on existing footings as the new building settles into the soil, so the work will ensure that the existing foundations are safe and sufficient. For certain situations (especially repairing unlevel settling), a building’s foundation is actually jacked up with hydraulics to fix the level.

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Photos from March 24th:

Photos from March 10th:

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Thurston Avenue Apartments Photo Update

March 2, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The RABCO Thurston Avenue Apartments project has shown some progress since mid-February. The ground level Fox Block walls have been filled with concrete, western foundation walls have been assembled, some additional grading work has been completed, and stud walls are beginning to take shape on the northern-most structure (Building C).

As shown on the construction fence sign, G.M. Crisalli Construction out of Syracuse is the general contractor on this project. They’ve managed and constructed a lot of projects, most notably within Ithaca: the Taughannock Boulevard Island Health and Fitness Center. The project is designed by all-local firms: architecture by HOLT Architects, whose recently completed projects include Seneca Way and Breckenridge Place Apartments, landscape plan by Trowbidge Wolf Michaels, and survey work by TG Miller.

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Carey Building VI: Ceiling Demo Done, ACM Removal

February 28, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The plaster ceiling demolition has been completed by Compass Builders, and asbestos-containing material (ACM) remediation began earlier this week, so the space is completely closed-off. There’s about 366 linear feet of pipe-wrap and sections of old 9×9 floor tile being removed on the second floor by Sunstream Corp, out of Binghamton, NY. The supply loop for the radiators runs up from the basement, then around the perimeter of the second floor roughly 12-13 feet off the floor, above where the plaster ceiling hung. The pipe was insulated wherever it was not exposed to finished space, so basically above the ceiling, and within exterior wall chases.

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The ACM assessment survey was done by Microbac Laboratories out of Cortland, NY, and they stay on-site during the remediation phase to monitor air quality. Here’s the second floor map, indicating materials found in the survey:

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John Snyder Architects is currently working on the details for the final incubator design in collaboration with the team from Cornell University. Here’s the demolition plan, showing all the walls that have been removed from the second floor:

 

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Goldwin Smith / Future Klarman Hall February Site Photos

February 24, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

A few more windows on the east side of Goldwin Smith Hall have been boarded-up, and roofing work as part of the enabling work scope for the Klarman Hall project has been proceeding (LeChase Construction), as the entire existing slate and metal roofing materials are replaced with new metal, flashing, and slate pieces. If I’m not mistaken, I believe by this point, the entire north wing, the northern-central section, and the southern and northern slopes of the south wing have new slate installed. The Cornell Chronicle posted an article about how the temperatures have been affecting the project.

The target completion for Klarman Hall is late 2015, with 33,250 square feet of new space going for LEED Platinum certification, a 350 seat auditorium, and a large inner-atrium space, opening-up the Goldwin Smith rotunda for cafe-service areas and entry/egress into Goldwin Smith. Embedded images for each of the four floor plan levels are here in the previous post. Welliver is the general contractor on this project.

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Carey Building V: Plaster Ceiling Demo

February 23, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Throughout past week, Compass Builders have made quick work of the old plaster ceiling demolition, and now that the ceiling is exposed, Sunstream Corp will be commencing remediation on the pipe wrap material starting mid-week. The current piping above the former plaster ceiling provides the supply loop for the radiators, which are returned via separate runs to each unit from below. We found an old heating system drawing from the 1926 installation- the second floor sketch is below.
Once the ceiling was exposed, it confirmed the design intent for the finished space, which would be to leave the concrete ceiling slab, beam and column work exposed in the finished space. One of the more popular renovation (especially office & residential space) trends is to leave old structural elements exposed- the leasing term thrown around is called “brick and beam” space, which implies leaving brick walls, and typically, reinforced concrete columns, beams, and floor slabs exposed. In addition to adding a characteristic style, there are some practical advantages as well: electrical conduit runs and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) ductwork are visible, providing a transparent view of where services lead, and eliminating the additional time, materials, and complexity of working around finished walls or drop ceilings. There’s about 14 feet of headspace on this level, so the high ceilings provide another desirable advantage.

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Thurston Ave Apartments Block Work

February 18, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

The RABCO Thurston Ave Apartments project has begun wall assembly work for the ground stories of Buildings 1, 2 and 3, as the foundations were dug, formed, and poured over the course of late November to early February. As corrected in the previous post, this project is obviously going to be framed on-site, rather than modular, which comes as a surprise to me, since the floor layouts have the dimensions for truck transport, and would lend themselves quite well to that form of assembly. Also, given the timeline (leased for August occupancy), this may be cutting it close, but I imagine with a big enough crew, this can get done.

The walls are being constructed with Fox Blocks, which are an insulated concrete form (ICF) product made of recycled plastic. The walls are assembled block-by-block on top of the foundation walls, then concrete is poured on the inside gap. The tarps on top are covering the gaps so that snow doesn’t make its way in there.

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Carey Building IV: More Demolition Photos

February 18, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Here are some more photos, taken near the end of last week, when the remainder of the walls had been demolished. The old plaster ceiling is coming out these next few days, so I’ll post photos of that later on this week and next. One of the interior (formerly an exterior, see photo of piece below) walls was a combination of cinder block, then terra cotta block, with steel rebar rods run all the way through, then filled with concrete- I guess with older buildings, you never really know what you’re going to run into. The concrete has been quite a challenge as well; it’s probably 5,000 to 7,000 PSI based on how it has behaved with a power chisel. Most foundation, slab, and wall concrete mixes are now typically in the range of 3,000 to 5,000 PSI, so the pours done here in 1922 are probably portland cement with a coarse stone aggregate, which is commonly used for applications where the concrete is exposed to freeze-thaw cycles, so in this case, it would make sense for the exterior walls and structural elements.
Interesting fact- the concrete mix for One World Trade Center’s supporting columns and walls (the building has a central concrete tower, like a vertical bunker) was invented solely for the project, and the higher-range pours have a tested strength of 14,000 PSI.

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Gates Hall Move-ins Begun & Lobby Photos

February 12, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Cornell’s Gates Hall is just about complete, and move-ins for the Information Science Department have begun for faculty, staff, and a few classrooms/workspaces are set up. It’s pretty wild on the inside, and the entryway cantilever provides an interesting preview of that (plus, when the weather is nicer, I think it would provide a nice assembly space). The lobby features semi-transparent glass, through which you can see the stairs up to each level, and clear glass panels for glimpses of each floor.

Many of the rooms are still being put together, but much of the common area furniture is already setup for use. Besides the concrete features on the outside, I didn’t see any finishes on the inside that aren’t completed, although I bet there’s much work to be done moving everything over, hooking up computers and networks, etc. Moving an entire department must be challenging. Floors are concrete, much like Milstein Hall, and there’s a bold amount of glass and steel everywhere. I’ll surely be coming back soon to explore much more- especially to walk around on the transparent floor at the end of the cantilever- vertigo anyone?

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Carey Building III: Demolition Photos

February 10, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Just a fun little pack of demolition photos here from the Carey Building project, the future home of the business incubator space, a joint effort by Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College.

Interior demolition work is being done by Compass Builders, and after a couple weeks, they should have all the interior walls down, along with the plaster ceiling. The walls are a combination of metal studs with sheetrock facing and sprayed-in cellulose cavity fill, along with original walls, which were built with cellular gypsum block coated in plaster, but also cinder block and terra cotta block. The original plaster ceiling is quite heavy, containing a layer of plaster coating on top of metal lath, then another thick coat of plaster, and then ceiling tiles glued underneath, all hanging from heavy metal hangers attached to the ceiling deck.

Sparks Electric Company started last week, demoing and capping electric lines for the wall and ceiling demo to proceed safely, and HALCO took care of the old cooling system ductwork today, as well as capping a few water supply lines that will be in the way of wall demo.

 
Friday, the 7th:
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Monday, the 10th:
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Klarman Hall, Goldwin Smith Project Photos & Updated Floor Plans

February 3, 2014 // by Jason Henderson

Goldwin Smith Hall’s windows are completely boarded-up on the east sides facing East Ave, which has been closed to vehicular traffic minus bikes and busses starting a couple weeks ago. Construction fencing has been bumped-out into the western lane, and temporary lights have been installed to manage the traffic flow across the one lane. Roofing work on Goldwin as part of the enabling project is still progressing, but once that’s complete, we should see some further excavation work towards the very edge of East Ave, in order to install the retaining wall for the the eastern side of Klarman Hall that will be below ground level.
Cornell has setup a project page here with newly released floor plans, an FAQ section, and some additional information. Floor plan images posted below.

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New final floor plans released:

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