Up-Close with Mega Construction



 NYC East Side Access Subway project.              (From right) Edward D'alba, Urban Engineers;

Jennifer Gould, Christopher Scarafile,  Meyer Design;

Ronald Swerdon, Urban Engineers.

It's not every day one gets an insider look at three of the largest (in budget, size, and scale) construction projects in the country.

Last month, Meyer Design, Inc.'s senior representatives Christopher Scarafile and Jennifer Gould attended an exclusive tour of three multi-billion dollar NYC construction projects managed by engineering and construction management company Urban Engineers, a recent client of Meyer Design.

The trip was an opportunity for Meyer to expand its knowledge on construction management best practices in order to continually best serve clients. It also provided an opportunity to further understand and support Urban Engineers as a client and industry partner, a standard business practice at Meyer Design.

The eight-hour New York City Mega Project Tour and Presentation brought Christopher and Jennifer into the heart of NYC's East Side Access and Second Avenue Subway projects for which Urban serves as the Program Management Oversight consultant for the Federal Transit Administration. The tour concluded with an on-site presentation of the One World Trade Center construction for which Urban serves on a team providing integrity monitoring for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

"Seeing these monumental projects in action, and having detailed commentary from our tour guides was an incredible experience. To manage each of these projects is an enormous undertaking requiring the highest level of organization, communication and technical expertise,” Christopher Scarafile, Senior Project Manager, Meyer Design, Inc.

 

Urban Engineers President Edward D’Alba and Vice President of Finance Ronald Swerdon were excited to provide this unique opportunity to their Meyer colleagues.

Mr. D'Alba: "Last April, we hired Meyer to design our new corporate headquarters and are thrilled with the outcome. Having them on this tour, we were able to share a special time in Urban's story as a growing planning, design and construction management company. We are excited about these projects and thrilled to share our experiences with other passionate professionals." Mr. D’Alba— who serves on several prominent Philadelphia area Boards of Directors including the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, The Fairmont Conservancy and the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation (CPDC)—and Mr. Swerdon personally accompanied the Meyer Design representatives on the tour.

The 3.5-mile East Side Access project connects the Long Island Railroad Mainline in Queens to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, providing commuter service to Manhattan's East Side through a new station 140 feet below the existing Grand Central Terminal. The Second Avenue Subway project involves two miles of new tunnels along Second Avenue from 96th Street to 63rd street. Eventually the line will be extended to the Financial District in Lower Manhattan. These projects, bored deep beneath Queens and Manhattan, never see the light of day.

Rising above ground to a height of 1776 feet, One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the western hemisphere. It will hold LEED Platinum status; provide 2.6 million SF of office space, restaurants, and an observation deck; and will have exit stairs twice as wide as required by Code, potentially inspiring a new trend in Safety Code standards.

Christopher Scarafile: “Under Ed D’Alba’s leadership, Urban Engineers has proven its status as a world-class engineering firm through their professional track record and through overseeing these monumental projects. It's beyond impressive; it's extraordinary."

Winners of Meyer Design's 6th Annual Chair Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                     Contact:

                                                                                                                       Lauren Hansen-Flaschen

                                                                                                                                610.649.8500x262

                                                                                              LHansen-Flaschen@meyerdesigninc.com

THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE

WINNERS of MEYER DESIGN’S 6^th ANNUAL CHAIR MONTH

Ardmore, PA – Greater Philadelphia architecture and interior design firm Meyer Design, Inc. is pleased to announce the winners of the sixth annual Meyer Design Chair Month.  Every year, during the month of October, Meyer Design, Inc. designers and staff test out and evaluate up to 75 different chair models provided by about a dozen national manufacturers and furniture suppliers. In the end, Chair Month provides a list of best-in-class chairs for the firm’s designers to consult when creating interior designs tailored to clients’ needs and preferences. 

This unique program identifies top quality chairs in terms of design, ergonomics, and construction by category of chair; specifically, task seating; collaborative seating; lounge and bar stools; and guest seating. By recognizing and honoring product excellence, Meyer Design, Inc. has helped raised the standard for chair manufacturers across the country.

This year Indiana Furniture dominated as the manufacturer of the top two ranked chairs. In first place with the highest overall ranking across all categories is Indiana’s Clutch Chair, an atypical task chair with exceptional back support and movability. Second place goes to Indiana’s Chat Chair, a deep-seated lounge chair with a swivel base. The Samba Arm Chair, ERG International's new guest chair, claims third place with its distinct design and impressive construction.

Each of these chairs received the highest overall scores as evaluated by all of Meyer Design, Inc.’s 41 person staff.  Designers, architects, support staff and business managers alike take a seat and score the chairs on their ergonomics, construction, design and ease of adjustment. The top-rated chairs are added to Meyer Design’s Valued Interior Product (VIP) Collection, an internal product catalogue that designers consult first by when selecting seating for clients.

“Chair Month is a fun and informative time to get first-hand knowledge of, and often a first-look at, new chair models by major manufacturers. No other firms that we know of do anything like this” states Laura Price, Meyer Design Resource Manager.

Chair Month continues Meyer Design, Inc.’s twenty year legacy of identifying excellence in office design products. This tradition began in 1992 with Meyer Design’s Awards for Excellence program which evaluated and honored products across multiple categories (seating, furniture, textiles, and more). Born from the realization that client satisfaction of design work is significantly impacted by the quality and delivery of office products— elements largely out of a design firm’s control— the Awards for Excellence program enhanced the ways in which Meyer Design, Inc. could serve its clients while also providing valuable feedback to manufacturers on ways to improve their product lines.

 
The Awards of Excellence program formally ended in 2005, but has continued on in various forms through Meyer Design, Inc.’s efforts to stay current with industry and marketplace trends.  Chair Month, a descendent of this special legacy, reflects this evolution and portrays Meyer Design’s ceaseless commitment to client-focused, top-of-the-line design services.

About Meyer Design, Inc.

Founded in 1976, Meyer Design provides award-winning architecture and interior design services, as well as sustainable design and furniture solutions. Our team holds professional registrations in 18 states, and specializes in corporate culture changes, workplace strategies and repositioning assets.

As a steadfast design force for more than 30 years, Meyer Design is a firm of experts in developing architectural and design solutions that address our clients' business challenges through design innovation and creativity. At Meyer Design, we believe in the power that a well-designed space has on every aspect of a company's success. www.meyerdesigninc.com

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