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Project Spotlight: USDA Forage-Animal Production Research Unit at the University of Kentucky

CTDG is celebrating the momentous groundbreaking of the new $65.9 million Forage-Animal Production Research Unit (FAPRU) at the University of Kentucky (UK) on May 23, 2023. The mission of the lab is to support forage-based livestock enterprises within the commonwealth which is the eighth largest beef producer in the United States. The FAPRL aims to improve sustainability among pasture-based operations that raise cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. The beef, equine and small ruminant industries have two important features in common: 1) They depend on forage and 2) they are industries made up of small, often family-owned, businesses. Although they are often small businesses, these forage-dependent industries are both collectively economically critical and well-organized.

The new FAPRU building will encompass approximately 52,600 total square feet of office, supporting a research laboratory space, as well as a collaborative area, office spaces, headhouse and eight-bay greenhouses. It will be staffed by ARS scientists and university researchers, along with laboratory technicians and administrative personnel. We are honored to work on this project with Perkins + Will to provide Telecommunications Cabling, Audiovisual, and Access Control/Video Surveillance Design Services.

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Project Highlight: National Institutes of Health – Building 10 E-Wing Renovation

CTDG would like to take a moment to highlight the incredible work being done on the National Institutes of Health Building 10 E-Wing Renovation project under the leadership of Perkins + Will. This is a complex $322 million dollar project aiming to renovate 250,000 square feet of lab and administrative spaces. The newly improved space will be home to more than 1,500 research and administrative staff from 11 institutes and other organizations. These include the Clinical Center’s department of transfusion medicine, NIAID’s Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases, NIDDK’s Genetics of Development and Diseases, Kidney Diseases and Molecular Medicine branches and NIMH’s Human Brain Collection Core and the section of neuroadaptation and protein metabolism will also be housed in the refurbished space, along with staff from NHLBI, NHGRI and NINDS. The project includes new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, new supply/exhaust fans and mechanical equipment rooms, new vertical building and laboratory service distribution risers, new fire protection and addressable fire alarm systems, and fully automated building controls and specialized laboratory equipment controls and monitoring systems. The goal is to achieve a Silver certification following the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system.

We are providing Audiovisual Systems with Infrastructure, Access Control/Video Surveillance Systems with Infrastructure, and Acoustics, Noise & Vibration Control design services. We are always happy to consult on projects with Perkins + Will.

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Spring Fertility, New York City

Spring Fertility in New York City is a world-first class fertility center that puts patient care first. With origins on the west coast, the Manhattan office is now a first of its kind on the east coast. Ajinkya Patil, CTS-I, DMC-D/E from Convergent Technologies Design Group, Inc. was the architect who designed low voltage systems and infrastructure as well as acoustics, noise, and vibration control designs for this project. 

We had the chance to ask Ajinkya, a few questions about the project; this is what he had to say:

Were there any important considerations when designing this project? 

“The project being an IVF center, had its unique challenges with a lot of Telecom and AV coordination required for the Medical equipment.

It was also a fast burn project where we went from kickoff to bid documents in the span of a couple of months.”

Are there any aspects of the project that you find exciting and would like to share?

“This was a developer-led project, so there were a lot of peer reviews/owner comments/developer comments, etc. 

The design coordination was really iterative and eventually led the client to get a great system as per their expectations. “

Do you place more emphasis on functional or aesthetic design?

“For any project, it needs to be a good balance of both. While the priority is always to make our design functionally as correct as possible, it needs to fit within the architectural setting of the space.

The effort we put in to ensure things don’t look out of place while still functioning as required is what makes our clients appreciate us. “

Was there a philosophy behind the creation of this project? 

“E4H is an important client for us. Even though this project was challenging, we were willing to go over and above to support our client.

This ensures we maintain a good relationship with them and opens doors for repeat follow-up business.”

 

Spring Fertility officially opened to the public in the fall of 2021.

For more information on Spring Fertility please visit https://springfertility.com/locations/newyorkcity/

Rockefeller University River Campus

Location: Rockefeller University River Campus, New York, New York
Architect: Rafael Vininoly Architects
Construction Cost: $150,000,000.00
Gross Square Footage: 160,000 GSF

Convergent Technologies partnered with Rafael Vininoly Architects to assist in the design of the River Campus consisting of a New Laboratory Building, Interactive Conference Center, Health and Wellness Building, and a Community Dining Pavilion. The Laboratory building houses bioscience laboratories and serves as a replacement for existing lab facilities that are reaching the end of their operational life and are no longer suitable for modern science. The building extends three and-a-half city blocks and accommodates about 26 labs and 440 scientists. CTDG provided Audiovisual Systems and Telecommunications Design services. This project was completed in 2019.

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The College of New Jersey- New STEM Building Complex

[col3]This multi-phase project includes the addition and renovation of multiple buildings that make up the STEM Complex at The College of New Jersey. New construction includes the 70,629 gross square foot STEM Building and the 14,419 gross square foot Chemistry Addition. The STEM Building Complex will house Departments within the School of Engineering and the School of Science. CTDG is providing complete design services for Audiovisual, Telecommunications Cabling, Access Control and Video Surveillance Systems as well as Acoustics, Noise & Vibration Control Services. Specialized audiovisual systems will support instruction and collaboration in a variety of laboratories, classrooms, computer commons, conference rooms, collaborative and multipurpose spaces. Laboratories received smartboard technology that enables students to interact with course material. This project will be designed to meet LEED Silver standards but will not seek certification. CTDG is currently producing Construction Documents to specify the systems to be included in the project.[/col3]

[col3]Architect: EYP Architecture & Engineering
Location: Ewing Township, New Jersey
Construction Cost: $94.2 Million
Project Size: 85,048 GSF[/col3]

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US Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology Building Renovation

Environments For Aging: Five Star Senior Living, Villa Valencia – Systems by CTDG
Emergency Operations and Public Safety: City of Casa Grande, Public Safety Facility – Systems by CTDG
Emergency Operations and Public Safety: City of Casa Grande, Public Safety Facility – Systems by CTDG
Emergency Operations and Public Safety: City of Casa Grande, Public Safety Facility – Systems by CTDG
Emergency Operations and Public Safety: City of Casa Grande, Public Safety Facility – Systems by CTDG
Emergency Operations and Public Safety: City of Casa Grande, Public Safety Facility – Systems by CTDG

[col3]Home to approximately 350 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel, the NIST Laboratories in Boulder also welcome up to 100 visiting researchers each year. The location conducts research in the areas of chemical, physical, materials, and information sciences and engineering in addition to providing home to the world’s most accurate atomic clocks. The Building 1 (Radio Building) renovation will provide 180,000gsf of high performance laboratory space to perform research and measurements needed by industry and the scientific community. Key Technology areas such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, new energy sources, computing and telecommunications in a high performance facility will be incorporated into the design. Convergent Technologies is providing complete design services for Telecommunications Cabling, Access Control, and Video Surveillance Systems with associated supporting infrastructure. This project involves exceptionally high levels of security, including an intricate Video Surveillance system (CCTV) with digital signage announcing the use of video surveillance; and an Electronic Access Control system, consisting of alarm monitoring, Photo ID Badging, and Facility Control System. Design for this project began in 2011 and Phase I of the project is expected to be complete in 2014.[/col3]

[col3]Architect: SmithGroup
Location: Boulder, CO
Construction Cost: $40-$80Million
Project Size: 320,000 gross square feet[/col3]

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Oakland University Engineering Center

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Architect:
SmithGroupJJR

Location:
Rochester, MI

Project Budget:
$74.6 Million

Square Footage:
127,000 gsf

Convergent Technologies Design Group was asked by SMithGroupJJR to design telecommunications cabling systems with associated infrastructure for voice/data/RF video outlets, audiovisual systems with associated supporting infrastructure, access control/video surveillance systems, and LAN/PBX/Wi-fi electronics design services. Individual audiovisual systems were designed for various sizes of seminar rooms, faculty offices, administration offices, laboratories, auditoriums, and conference rooms. These systems included display technology, audio reinforcement, video conferencing, system control, and the flexibility to interface with sources provided by students and faculty. Scope of services also included the placement and design of telecommunication data rooms, cabling paths and its associated infrastructure. Surveillance recommendations were made detailing components, placement, and integration of cameras, as well as access control systems throughout the facility. Anticipated completion and move in is scheduled for August 2014.

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Virginia Tech – Virginia Bioinformatics Institute Addition

[col3]The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute is a research institute dedicated to the study of biological sciences.  Researchers at the institute develop genomic, proteomic and bioinformatic tools that can be applied to the study of infectious diseases as well as the discovery of new vaccine, drug and diagnostic targets. The scope of the Phase III Addition to the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute Building on the Virginia Tech campus includes a $600,000.00 design to budget for technology systems to include telecommunications cabling systems with associated supporting infrastructure, audiovisual systems with associated supporting infrastructure, multi zone overhead paging system, and acoustics, noise & vibration control.  Space plans for the building include: multipurpose rooms, conference rooms, video conferencing rooms, and informal meeting spaces.  Specified systems include: digital audio/video capture with streaming capabilities to the Local Area Network (LAN), video conferencing, audiovisual presentation, program/speech audio reinforcement, overhead paging system and custom presenters’ lecterns. Project highlights include the design of power walls that function as whiteboards and are able to be digitally captured by an array of Internet Protocol (IP) addressable cameras. Additional project responsibilities include recommendations for room shaping and finishes for all acoustically sensitive spaces within the buildings. This project is currently in the Construction Administration phase.[/col3]

[col3]Architect: Perkins + Will
Location: Blacksburg, Virginia
Construction Cost: $20 Million
Project Size: 50,000 gsf[/col3]

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Virginia State University – Engineering & Technology Building

[col3]The scope of this project includes a $ 1,000,000 dollar design to budget for educational technology systems to include: audiovisual presentation and recording, videoconferencing, program/speech audio reinforcement, along with the supporting inside/outside telecommunications cable plant with associated infrastructure. A closed circuit IP based security system is also specified for the new building including a 16-channel high performance duplex multiplexer with remote control, and multiple high-resolution cameras for perimeter and interior surveillance. The types of spaces to receive audiovisual presentation systems include: a 120-seat auditorium, 30 and 40-seat multimedia classrooms and laboratories, general classrooms, computer laboratories, conference rooms, and various office spaces throughout the facility. Scope of design work includes the complete specifications and project management for all audiovisual and telecommunications cabling for voice, data and RF video signals into the new building from existing campus distribution points. Specifications include details outlining procedures and methods of connecting to existing campus telecommunications networks. The project is a two-year design/construction project and has been successfully completed and occupied since spring 2007.[/col3]

 

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Architect:  Moseley Architects

Location:  Petersburg, VA

Construction Cost:  $20 Million

Project Size:  77,000 gross square feet

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Blue Ridge Community College – Information Technology Building

[col3]The Information Technology Building at Blue Ridge Community College is a mixed-use two story building. Design services for this project included telecommunications cabling infrastructure and audiovisual presentation systems infrastructure. Space plans include Electronics Lab with Prep Room, Research and Development Lab, Automated Manufacturing Lab, Computer Repair Lab with Prep Room, 30 and 50 Seat Classrooms, Faculty Offices, Drafting and Design Lab, Machining and Fabrication Lab, and Physics Lab. Specified systems include infrastructure for custom instructor’s stations, audio reinforcement systems, multimedia presentation systems, and local area networking. Additional design responsibilities include coordination of infrastructure for connecting to existing campus telecommunications networks. Project deliverables included a complete system infrastructure programming narrative for all educational technology systems, Preliminary Design Documents, and Construction Documents. This project was completed in early 2011.[/col3]

[col3]Architect: Moseley Architects
Location: Weyers Cave, Virginia
Construction Cost: $5.2 Million
Project Size: 20,000 gsf[/col3]