Thornton Tomasetti

Capital One Financial Corp.’s McLean, Virginia, headquarters continues to grow. A topping out ceremony was held recently for the two towers that comprise the 1.6-million-square-foot Block A. We are providing structural engineering services to Gensler for the mixed-use building, our fourth project at the financial services giant’s Capital One Center campus. The two towers, one 23 stories and the other 30 stories, are joined by a 12-story enclosed atrium. The cast-in-place, pos...t-tensioned concrete towers are connected by two steel-framed bridges, which also enclose the atrium. The steel framing that ties the buildings together was designed and detailed to accommodate large construction tolerances, while also being able to transfer large lateral wind and seismic forces from tower to tower. This eliminated the need for costly expansion joints and allowed for more structural efficiency by having both towers work together to resist lateral loads. Pictured at the May topping out are Senior Project Engineer Nathan McGraw, left, and Vice President Chris Crilly. Once completed, Capital One Center master-planned development will contain over 5 million square feet, including a 1.2-acre public skypark, hotel, 1,600-seat performing arts center and residential, retail and restaurant space. See more

Massachusetts is no stranger to monumental firsts. The Bay State is the home of America’s first public park, library, basketball game and computer. More recently, it was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. That trailblazing streak continues with New England’s first LGBTQ-friendly senior housing complex. The Pryde, Hyde Park will offer 74 apartments to those aged 62 and above and of mixed-income levels. We are providing sustainability consulting to Pennrose Companie...s, which is developing the complex with nonprofit LGBTQ Senior Housing Inc. Designed by DiMella Shaffer architects, the project is an adaptive reuse of the former William Barton Rogers School, a three-story brick building built in 1902. Our work entails energy modeling, a Fitwel feasibility study, Article 37 consulting, which promotes sustainable and resilient design for Boston projects, and benchmarking toward the requirements of LEED Silver certification. In addition to outdoor gathering spaces, tenants and neighbors of the complex will enjoy a 10,000-square-foot community space with artwork and artifacts from the 54th Infantry Regiment, a Civil War African-American unit whose base was located in Hyde Park. It is hoped that the project will serve as a template for future LGBTQ-friendly senior housing. #TTfunfactFriday See more

As June gets into full swing, so do the Pride Month celebrations. Thornton Tomasetti staff, along with family and friends, are marking the annual observance of LGBTQIA+ activism, culture and accomplishments in a number of ways. Our employees are participating in pride runs, walks and parades, both virtually and in-person, and volunteering in their communities. We are hosting barbecues and picnics, attending concerts and movie nights and showing our Pride and support by displaying the rainbow flag at home and in the office. In addition, Thornton Tomasetti’s employee network group Spectrum (https://bit.ly/3pE9zpI) is sponsoring several firm-wide events, including a trivia contest and virtual walk, and we’ll be sharing more about those as Pride Month progresses. #pridemonth2021 #pridemonth #pride

Opened in January 2020, the David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on Manhattan’s Upper East Side was designed with the patient experience at front and center. The 25-story, 750,000-square-foot building, located along the East River and within the FEMA 100-year flood plain, is also one of the most resilient medical facilities anywhere. In an article for Structure Magazine, Thornton Tomasetti Associate Andrew Altamirano discusses our structural engineering work for the project (https://bit.ly/3gCwMVt), designed by Perkins Eastman and Ennead Architects, and its holistic approach to resiliency, which employs multiple flood-resistance strategies and lessons learned in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Read the article: https://www.structuremag.org/?p=17823

An expert in engineering risk analysis and safety management, Vice President Mahesh Bailakanavar will take part in a June 11 Demolition Engineering Panel as part of the The National Demolition Association’s Summer Leadership Forum. With an introduction by the NDA’s Jeffrey Lambert, and moderated by James Milburn of MILBURN LLC, the panel, joined by Ahmed Khalil of Applied Science International, will focus on the importance of using engineering analysis to manage risks and saf...ety for demolition projects. Mahesh will touch on Thornton Tomasetti demolition projects, such as One James River Plaza (https://bit.ly/3eDU7F9) in Richmond, Virginia, and the challenges associated with performing demolitions in dense urban locations. The discussion will take place from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time, and will include a 60-minute Q&A session. Registration is required. https://www.demolitionassociation.com//Summer-Leadership-F See more

Augmented reality isn’t just revolutionizing gaming, it is becoming a game-changer for the AEC industry. Associate Vladimir Gluzov explains how AR is being used to improve design team collaboration in this Constructor Magazine article.

With 13 years of diverse professional experience ranging from landscape design to developing innovative skins for NFL stadiums, Senior Project Director Alex Worden brings a unique perspective to each project he works on. His creativity and passion for exploring new ideas helped land him on Engineering News-Record Mountain States’ list of Top Young Professionals of 2021. Based in Thornton Tomasetti’s Denver office (https://bit.ly/37ULDGj), Alex is a leader in the local Façade ...Engineering practice and specializes in digital modeling and fabrication. He is currently serving as a façade consultant on a landmark tower in Manhattan, assisting in the geometry optimization and fabrication for an arts pavilion in Aalborg, Denmark, and providing façade engineering for the exterior scrim at the new Colorado State University Spur campus in Denver. Outside of work, Alex is an active member of AIA Colorado, Facade Tectonics and a local Rhino 3D group and is an advisor to students around the world with interests in architecture and textiles. Additionally, he and his wife have a design studio where they create custom art pieces using macro textiles, some of which have been displayed at the Denver Art Museum. Congratulations, Alex! https://www.enr.com//50562-enr-mountain-states-announces-2 See more

As the structural engineer of some of the world’s tallest towers, Thornton Tomasetti has helped push steel and concrete to new heights. Now it’s time for mass timber. In this installment of our video series (https://bit.ly/37Eqjo8) around this versatile material, Senior Principals Paul Becker and John Peronto discuss our tall building expertise as applied to structures like Ascent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. John is leading our design team for the project, which when completed will be the tallest mass timber building in the world. With a design that features welcoming shades of wood and a reduced carbon footprint, Ascent is moving the timber industry forward with a range of innovations. #ThorntonTomasettiTimberTuesday #timber #masstimber #sustainability #structuralengineering #engineering

Some projects can be child’s play. Such is the case with the Louisiana Children's Museum at New Orleans City Park, which opened last year with 30,000 square feet of interactive exhibits for youngsters. We provided structural design services to Seattle-based architect Mithun for the 56,000-square-foot facility (https://bit.ly/39IQLjm). Nestled over a lagoon on a raised concrete structure to increase flood resistance, the two-story museum, which recently received an AIA Seattle... Award of Merit, features a range of educational exhibits. It consists of two buildings angled in plan that share an outdoor courtyard and connecting hallway, and are covered by double-sloped roofs. We also designed the supporting piles and bracing for a footbridge leading to a labyrinth and the details connecting the bridge to the museum structure. While children can improve their literacy and learn about the environment, health/wellness, STEM, art and culture at the museum, they also have a chance to get their heads in the clouds. An installation by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya underneath the footbridge emits a fog cloud every hour, enveloping the bridge and those who are on it. #TTfunfactFriday See more

Busy streets in cities around the world are being closed to traffic to make way for pedestrians, diners, cyclists and others looking for fresh air and exercise while remaining socially distant. In an article in The American Society of Civil Engineers' Civil Engineering magazine, Principal and Sustainability Practice Leader Gunnar Hubbard and Principal Jim Quinn talk about the rise of open streets and whether the trend will continue post-pandemic.

Colleges and universities are often on the cutting edge of building green. In two on-demand videos as part of this week’s AASHE Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education, members of our Sustainability practice discuss some of their latest work in this market sector. Piloting, Scaling and Committing to Healthier Materials (https://bit.ly/35lRnHJ) features Senior Associate Amanda Garvey, who is joined by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Nicole Imbergamo a...nd Sandy Beauregard of Colby College for a look at ways that institutions can be change agents to create healthier and more sustainable building materials. Vice President Michael Pulaski, Jennifer deHart and Erika Latty of Unity College, and Scott Simons Architects' Ryan Kanteres take part in the talk The Challenge and Promise of a Living Building Project in a Dynamic Urban Ecosystem (https://bit.ly/3jkfYBy). The discussion focuses on the Center for Urban Ecology project, located on Portland, Maine's, historic waterfront, as a case study of what’s possible in a sustainable future. The videos will be available to conference attendees until November 22. Registration is required. https://www.cvent.com//registration-7bf7c38a865c45cda33a78 #GCSHE See more

The New York Islanders are a step closer to having a permanent home as the ceremonial last structural steel beam was recently hoisted into place at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. The milestone puts the 675,000-square-foot project on track to welcome fans at the start of the 2021-22 NHL season. Thornton Tomasetti, which is providing structural and construction engineering services for the arena, attended the socially distant ceremony. Also on hand were representatives from the... project’s developers, New York Islanders, Oak View Group and Sterling Project Development, and architect Populous. AECOM Hunt, in association with Barton Malow, is the general contractor. Since leaving Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2015, the Islanders have split its home games between Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and the revitalized, but smaller, Coliseum, both of which were also our projects. UBS Arena will seat 17,000 for hockey games and 19,000 for concerts and events. It will feature an expansive locker room and team training facility and incorporate a range of sanitization, health and safety technologies. At the ceremony are Project Engineer Athina Spyridaki, Michael Tortorella and Alex Horowitz of MEP firm ME Engineers, John Luciani of Populous and Sterling Project Development’s Ed Shinnick. #structuralengineering #stadiumdesign See more

Speaker Spotlight! Colin Schless of Thornton Tomasetti will co-lead a discussion on Boston's path to carbon neutral and touch on some examples of how carbon neutral can be achieved for large buildings at marginal cost premiums. #phMEFF20 Learn more here: https://buff.ly/34Yn8X2

Engineering News-Record spoke to Thornton Tomasetti’s Managing Principal and Applied Science Practice Leader Najib Abboud about our contributions to the recently released Performance-Based Structural Fire Design: Exemplar Designs of Four Regionally Diverse Buildings using ASCE 7-16, Appendix E. We were one of four firms to contribute to the publication, which was released by The American Society of Civil Engineers' Structural Engineering Institute, with support from the Charles Pankow Foundation. The work demonstrates how to use engineering principles and modeling to design buildings that are safer in fires as well as reduce project cost and allow for greater design flexibility. #structuralengineering #buildingdesign #fireprotection

Building Design+Construction’s The Weekly Show talks to Director of CORE AI Badri Hiriyur and Grant McCullagh, Thornton Tomasetti director and managing director of its TTWiiN Accelerator LLC, about T2D2, a new AI tool that makes it easier, faster and less costly to inspect structures. Developed by Thornton Tomasetti using data from more than 50 years of our building inspection and forensic investigation work, the software as a service platform relies on artificial intelligence to identify and assess damage to building envelopes and structures. T2D2 is able to analyze images or videos taken by any type of camera to pinpoint current or potential condition issues. #AI

A great park is more than just green space. It also features elements that connect it to the community. Principal Robert Kornfeld will talk about our work to restore and reconstruct the historic Fire Watchtower at Marcus Garvey Park, the last remaining structure of its kind in New York City, as part of the The Municipal Art Society of New York’s MASterworks Awards presentation on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The watchtower, one of America’s early cast iron structures, is this year’s recipient of the best restoration award. The session, Design for Park Amenities, will also feature Sari Chang of JACOBSCHANG Architecture and Susannah Drake of DLANDstudio as the moderator.

We, too, are excited to see the Residences at RiNo underway in Denver’s up-and-coming River North Arts district. Thornton Tomasetti is providing structural engineering services for the project and is pleased to be collaborating with Hines, Ziegler Cooper Architects and the rest of the team.

Thornton Tomasetti has awarded scholarships to two students at the The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering for the 2020-21 academic year. The Lee Petrella Memorial Scholarship, established in honor of the longtime vice president, was presented to Karissa Collins. Karissa, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with a multidisciplinary specialization, received a $5,000 award. Inzamamdeen Kassim is the winner of the Daniel A. Cuoco Endowed Memorial Scholarship, named for the firm’s former president and CEO. Inzamamdeen is majoring in civil engineering with a focus on structural engineering. He was also awarded $5,000. We are pleased to support the educational and career goals of these talented students.

From designing airplanes to timber buildings and cutting-edge structures, New York-based Senior Project Engineer Jamie Kirkland continues to take her career to new heights. Jamie has been named one of Commercial Observer’s 20 Architects, Engineers and Construction Pros Under 35. The Seattle native was an aerospace engineer with Boeing before joining Thornton Tomasetti in 2014. Since then, she has applied her versatile skillset to big name projects such as The Shed (https://ww...w.thorntontomasetti.com/project/shed) and Vessel (https://www.thorntontomasetti.com/project/vessel) at Hudson Yards. Jamie is currently helping to design a new training and playing facility for the Carolina Panthers in South Carolina, the rigging for the renovation of New York City’s David Geffen Hall, an amusement ride in Las Vegas, and an innovative mass timber health services center at New Jersey’s Princeton University. In her free time, Jamie gives back to the profession and her community by volunteering with the ACE Mentor Program, teaching high school students about the architecture, engineering and construction industry and its careers. Congratulations, Jamie! See more

Here’s a project with a unique track record. Rolling Stock Yard (https://www.thorntontomasetti.com/proje/rolling-stock-yards), a new development in London’s King’s Cross, was designed inside and out with a nod to the neighbourhood’s historic railway and freight industry. Thornton Tomasetti provided façade engineering services to Squire & Partners for the nine-story office building, which was completed earlier this year. It features a stacked container design and a façade com...posed of horizontal black aluminium beams and vertical solid oak fins, emulating rail tracks and sleepers. Perforated metal screens in the façade, evoking the look of freight train cars, provide privacy and shade. In case you’re curious, or of a one-track mind, if the 57,500-square-foot building was a real freight train, it would span approximately 101 cars in length. #TTfunfactFriday See more

Performance-based structural fire design allows for the evaluation of structural performance under realistic fire conditions, which can lead to increased safety, reduced costs and greater design flexibility. The newly released publication Performance-Based Structural Fire Design: Exemplar Designs of Four Regionally Diverse Buildings using ASCE 7-16, Appendix E demonstrates how to use engineering principles to design buildings that are safer in fires. Thornton Tomasetti was on...e of four firms that contributed to the book, which was released by The American Society of Civil Engineers’ Structural Engineering Institute with support from the Charles Pankow Foundation. The design teams worked closely with academic advisors from the University at Buffalo, Oregon State University, Johns Hopkins University and UCL to identify key structural system vulnerabilities under fire exposure, which should be addressed to achieve performance objectives. Available for free download below, the work demonstrates methods and benefits of PBSFD as an alternative to traditional prescriptive approaches as well as the value that structural engineering can bring to building fire design. https://ascelibrary.org/doi/book/10.1061/9780784482698 See more

GoGuide, a comprehensive technology solution for the safe, secure reentry to public spaces, is in the customer trial phase nationwide. Developed by Thornton Tomasetti in partnership with PMY Group, Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, GoGuide utilizes existing technologies for virtual queuing social distancing and contact tracing, while preserving individuals’ privacy. The solution can be used in all types of gathering places, such as sports and performance venues, museums, tourist attractions and educational facilities.

Buildings are among the biggest producers of carbon emissions, and much of that occurs early in the lifecycle. During the UK Construction Week 2020 virtual conference on Friday, 9 October, Duncan Cox of our Sustainability practice will join Paul Astle of Ramboll and Joseph Daniels of Project Etopia to discuss lifecycle assessments, digital tools and other strategies to measure and reduce embodied carbon. The session, titled Achieving Net Zero: Advanced Materials & Embodied Carbon, will be moderated by UK Construction Week’s Nathan Garnett. Registration is required for the free event. https://www.ukconstructionweek.com//achieving-net-zero-adv #UKCWVirtual #buildingsustainability #sustainability