Designed by NK Architects, the pediatric outpatient unit at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital has been named in Alex Rodriguez’s honor.  On June 30, the New York Yankee joined Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center President and CEO Miguel A. Fuentes, Jr. at  the dedication ceremony. Rodriguez contributed $250,000 to help fund construction and completion of the outpatient center.

“I am proud to support the children’s outpatient facility and Bronx-Lebanon’s efforts to care for the children of the Bronx community,” says Rodriguez.

Opened in June 2009, the state-of-the-art outpatient center offers treatment in a number of specialties including cardiac illnesses, asthma, diabetes, and neurological disorders, among other health problems.  The unit was configured in the third floor of the existing hospital through phased renovation.

The goal of NK’s design was to permeate the space with light and color to excite the imaginations of the children, while reflecting the cultural diversity of the surrounding neighborhood.  This was achieved through the use of vibrant color palettes, interactive learning areas, fiber optic celestial ceilings, tropical fish aquariums, and carefully selected artwork to decorate the hallways.

Each year, local professional offices receive dozens of requests from hopeful students seeking summer intern positions.  In past summers, NK Architects has hosted a selection of students in “traditional” intern programs – where the students gained experience by helping out staff on whichever projects needed extra attention in the office.  But Stephen Aluotto, NK’s president and principal-in-charge of the firm’s educational projects, saw opportunity for a rethinking of the program.

“Each year we get requests from many of our clients and colleagues to meet with potential summer interns,” says Aluotto.  “We thought it would be beneficial to compile a program that is more structured than the ‘traditional’ internship, and to enlist our younger staff in guiding the program.”

At NK, a group of young staff members, deemed the Young Professionals Forum (YPF), meets regularly to discuss the organization, projects, culture, and protocol of the firm.  Aluotto formed the YPF to gather insight on NK’s strengths and weaknesses from a fresh perspective.  “Our younger staff’s vision of our office environment isn’t as clouded as someone’s who has been working here 20 or 30 years and is used to the status quo,” he says.  “They provide thoughts and suggestions that can prove to be beneficial to our leadership.  One of my priorities has always been to monitor how we can improve our firm’s internal culture and ‘quality of life.’  I believe this group not only supports successful practice, but ultimately improves our product.  Sustaining professional fulfillment and enjoying what we do is part of our mission here at NK.”  Now, NK’s young professionals will share that insight with the firm’s summer interns.

These young professionals will get a chance to experience a leadership and mentor role by guiding NK’s 2010 Summer Intern Observation Program.  Offered to local high school students who are considering entrance to an accredited school of architecture, the program will be a mini-internship – a compressed, three-day introduction to the inner-workings of a real professional practice. 

“A lot of young students aren’t aware of exactly what practicing architecture as a profession involves,” says Jason Lee, a member of NK’s YPF.  “Now they’ll get a chance to experience real-world practices firsthand.”       

“Architecture is a diverse profession – part art, part science, and part diplomacy,” says Aluotto.  “Successful architects must be skilled in these facets and also responsible to their communities and the environment.” 

While some internships seem more like a crash-course in filing papers and preparing coffee, NK Architects’ program will immerse its high school participants in the professional world.  The program aims to provide a more holistic experience in the industry than in traditional internships – and in a fraction of the time.

The students will learn about the firm’s various disciplines, attend project design meetings, and visit some of the firm’s projects under construction – right alongside NK’s full-time staff.  The second day’s agenda calls for the students to complete a full design proposal and present it to the staff in a project pin-up meeting.  A member of the YPF will host each component of the schedule to gain leadership experience in guiding the students through each task.  The prospective architects will leave NK after three days with a better understanding of the full scale of the industry’s involvement in the design and construction process.

This is a program that not only benefits the participants in giving them a front-row view of an architectural practice.  “It also gives our firm’s younger professionals a chance to share their experiences in the profession,” says Aluotto.  “I think what these students will gain from this program is a better sense of the industry they’re entering – something traditional internships don’t always provide.  I am confident that the participants will leave the program with an increased enthusiasm for the profession, and we’d certainly like to continue offering that kind of positive experience in the future.”

CANstruction held its 14th Annual International Competition in Las Vegas this year as part of the Society for Design Administration’s annual convention. CANstruction is a community service project that promotes the design community and raises food for hunger relief efforts.  An esteemed jury declared seven winners from a field of hundreds of local winners that went on to compete via photography at the International level. 

A “Most Cans” award is given every year to the local winning structure that incorporates the largest number of canned foods.  NK was this year’s winner, with 12,394 cans — our enormous “Zamboni Ice Resurfacer ” was large enough to sit on and drive.

Paramus Veterans Memorial Home held a Groundbreaking Ceremony on June 28 for the Multi-Purpose Room Addition, designed by NK Architects. This addition will allow the entire Paramus Veterans Home community to gather together in one place for the first time. Community participation in events such as Memorial Day services and holiday celebrations will serve to enrich the lives of the Paramus residents. In addition, the space will be used on a daily basis for viewing movies and sporting events, playing bingo, and a variety of other activities. The high vaulted structure will create a grand space appropriate for the “living room” of a home for 336 residents. The exterior design will be sympathetic to the existing home’s architecture, while making a distinctive new statement to the community at large.

The Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders has recently awarded the Military Commemorative Medal for Distinguished Military Service to Michael Ferment, Project Architect at NK Architects. He has also been issued a Citation from Senator Anthony R. Bucco and the State of New Jersey’s Senate and General Assembly honoring his commitment and dedication.

Mike honed his construction and architectural skills while in the United States Army, 5th Special Forces Group where he served as Engineer Section Sergeant accountable for the training, development, and welfare of the Engineer Squad in the Iraqi Theatre of Operations. As a Combat Construction Foreman/Combat Engineer, he was responsible for project management for over 250 projects including design development, construction documents, cost estimating, detailed scope of work, and quality control.

On June 17, Allen Kopelson will be honored for his over 25 years of dedication by the Newark & Suburban Chapter of the AIA.  Allen’s years of service show that he is truly dedicated to this great profession, that he really cares and is proud to be an architect.

Congratulations to all who are being recognized for their many years of dedication to the AIA.

Construction has begun on NK Architects’ design for a new Landscape and Horticultural Technology building at the County College of Morris, located in Randolph, NJ. The building is part of the College’s efforts to support and enhance its nationally-recognized Landscape and Horticulture program for a growing population of students interested in green technology. The new 7,200-square-foot facility will house two horticulture exploration classrooms, a drafting room, computer classroom, conference room, and offices.

NK designed the facility to meet, at a minimum, USGBC LEED Silver standards. Scheduled to open in early 2011, the building reflects the LHT program’s commitment to conserving natural resources through sustainable landscape design and management. The building incorporates a number of sustainable features, many of which directly support the program’s curriculum, including a geothermal heating/cooling system, extensive use of recycled and sustainable materials, a vegetated roof, rainwater harvesting system, photovoltaic panels, and maximized use of natural daylighting.

Allen R. Kopelson, AIA and Daniel Topping, AIA, LEED AP will be moderating a panel discussion entitled, ‘Considerations for New Care Environments – Aligning Care with Physical Surroundings’ at the New Jersey Association for Homes and Services for the Aging annual conference in Atlantic City. The panel will also consist of Ms. Toni Lynn Davis, President and Executive Director of Green Hill, and Mr. Marshall Goldberg, President and CEO of the Village for Healthcare and Rehabilitation of the Workmen’s Circle of New Jersey.

The Longo Planetarium at the County College of Morris has re-opened to the public in 2010 following the facility’s first major renovation in 37 years. The 1,380-square-foot space was designed and outfitted to support the educational and entertainment programs the site offers as one of the few public planetariums in the state. The facility hosts 14,000 visitors annually and offers educational programs to thousands of local schoolchildren. With newly installed handicapped-accessible seating, ramps and doors, the facility can now accommodate all visitors. The space also received new theater-style seating, upgraded lighting, custom acoustical wall treatments, new flooring and a surround-sound system, all of which serve to improve the immersive experience.

The planetarium boasts a new state-of-the-art Digi-Star 4 projection system, which projects stunningly detailed and dynamic images of the universe on a 10-meter diameter dome. The renovation expanded the theater’s capacity to 91 seats, providing opportunity for more visitors than ever to speed through light-years of space without leaving their seats.

Construction is on schedule for the Center for Integrative Proteomics at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Proteomics integrates multi-discipline imaging to study the structures and functions of protein and is the next step after genomics in the study of cell biosystems.  Data retrieved may be used for biomarkers and research into Alzheimers and heart disease.

The 74,000 square foot Center for Integrative Proteomics Research will be the home for the Protein Data Bank and BioMaPS Institute for Quantitative Biology.  A combination of wet/dry labs, Mass Spectrometry, X-Ray Crystallization and NMR imaging suites will compliment the Protein Data Banks’ data modeling and processing of Bioinformatics.

The project is sited on the Great Lawn on the Busch Campus, connecting to other research facilities and creating a research nexus on campus and is scheduled to open in 2011.

Click here to view progress photos