With that opening gesture – followed by soil-turning by members of FWCC’s clergy, sponsor Collegiate Church Corporation, two local councilmen, David Paul Helpern, and the construction team – nine years of planning and design turned into an active construction site. 

Also there to mark the occasion were Helpern Architects Design Principal Margaret O’Donoghue Castillo, Project Manager Elizabeth McClure, and Project Architect Karlo Rosete. 

Invited by Rev. Morris to speak about the project, David Helpern said: “It is now 100 years since the original church structure was completed. Today we are celebrating your ability to define for the next century what this church means at this point in time. What began as a snug brick-and-timber suburban church is now a 21^st-century urban church filled with life.”

Besides general improvements, the congregation gains a 1725-sf glass-and-steel pavilion that adjoins and connects the sanctuary and Fellowship Hall, a new classroom building, catering kitchen, and choir room. In addition, major upgrades will be made to the mechanical and electrical systems as well as the stormwater system.

In his homily, Rev. Morris made the point that, while a church comprises the people who gather to pray, it is also an edifice with a visual, outward presence in the community.  Referring to the all-glass expansion, David commented: “Although a lot of new structure and renovation are necessary to meet your needs, everyone really wanted to see this beautiful old church at the heart of the complex.” 

Occupancy of the new facilities will be mid-2014. 

For more information on Fort Washington Collegiate church, click here.

Digging deep on a sunny day [L to R] Principal in Charge, David Helpern, retiring Senior Minister, Rev. Charles Morris, VP/Facilities, Frank Malensek, and incoming Senior Minister Rev. Robert Rodriguez.

The Helpern Fort Washington design team [Rev. Charles D. Morris, Senior Minister. L to R: Project Architect, Karlo Rosete, Principal in Charge, David Helpern, Design Principal, Margaret O'Donoghue Castillo, and Project Manager, Elizabeth McClure.]

New York, April 9, 2013 – Are hotel building renovations and profitability mutually exclusive? In 2012, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, hotel owners and managers spent $1.5 billion on building alteration construction in a cycle that has been quickening.  “A lot of that money could have been saved,” said David Paul Helpern, a hotel architect and moderator of a March 20^th panel of people with long experience in hotel design, construction, and management.  The Penn Club of New York, one of the city’s most successful hospitality conversions, was the location of the Hotel Engineers Association of New York meeting.

“While hotel interiors are refreshed routinely, given their obvious wear and tear, what about the hotel building itself?” Helpern, an architect, asked the audience.  “How often do you need to retrofit or replace structure and infrastructure? Are there rules of thumb if you are rebranding a hotel or converting another structure for hospitality use? ”

Besides David Helpern, principal of Helpern Architects, who has 25 years experience building hotels and clubs, the panel consisted of:

• Kevin Lorenz, president, Allied/CMS Inc., construction managers, who has completed two dozen hotel projects;
• John Rice, partner-in-charge of mechanical engineering, AKF Group, LLC, with 40 hospitality projects to his credit;
• Sean Holmes, president, H2 Hospitality Group, consultants and also managers for the Holiday Inn Manhattan View, former COO of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group; and
• Scott Geraghty, area vice president and general manager, Ritz Carlton New York.

A white paper from the event will be available mid-April from the HEANY website: www.hotelengineers.org.

John E. Osborn, HEANY general counsel and partner in John E. Osborn P.C., enumerated in his welcoming remarks what can stand in the way of a successful renovation, including keeping the design and construction teams in alignment, closing [or not] for the duration of the work, ignoring landmarks and zoning restrictions, insufficient leveraging to generate cash, and not heeding the city’s new regulations for water management and sustainability.  “HEANY’S goal is to get you through your renovation project in the shortest amount of time and still have money for on-going maintenance and routine upgrades,” Osborn said.

A Dozen of the Panelists’ Pointers

Here are some of the panelists’ suggestions on how to avoid problems and find opportunities:

• Surveys inside the building and out always yield opportunities. Research it. Find original plans, probe the walls, and look into both the original and current zoning for the property. Guaranteed that you’ll find space you never expected. [Helpern]
• The role of the hotel engineer is changing. Get the engineer involved at the very start of the project. No one will know the existing building and systems better.  You’ll get systems that perform and can be maintained. [Holmes]
• Investigate passive heating and cooling systems.  Valence-style systems, for instance, are highly energy-efficient, 100% water, no fans, filters, fan belts, or maintenance. [Rice]
• Don’t love LEED certification?  Actually, it forces your contractor to build a quality building. [Helpern]
• Early on, investigate all the pertinent city, state, and federal tax credits and incentives. There are many; you just have to find them, and the return can be substantial. [Lorenz]
• Communicate with hotel staff and workers on a daily basis so they know where the work is going to be and what would happen if it weren’t done or done right. Renovation is the responsibility of the whole hotel staff. [Geraghty]
• Communicate with hotel guests. Let them know about water stoppages, loss of amenities, whatever the inconveniences might be. Follow up with those who complain to retain their loyalty. [Geraghty].
• It’s all about money. Make sure you have enough reserves to pay for the next renovation and to show investors a return. [Holmes]
• Keep monitoring to be sure your phased approach to your renovation is on target. Complete closure is never an option, unless you are rebranding or repositioning. [Holmes]
• Buy as much quality in planning, designing, and executing as you can afford.  But make sure your definition of quality becomes everyone else’s. Hold the vendors and contractors to that standard.  Watch out for quality drift – especially at the end of the job. [Helpern]
• The next wave is conversions – but the deep floor plate of office buildings won’t lend itself easily to hotels. You’ll have to work hard to make that happen.  [Lorenz]
• Older properties have hidden conditions you’ll encounter when you start to renovate; that eats up reserves.  In the last few years, however, many owners haven’t been able to reserve the rule-of-thumb, 4%. [Holmes]

HEANY’s mission is to assist general managers and building engineers throughout the Metropolitan New York Area to keep up on the latest developments in engineering, legislation, technology and issues relating to the physical plant of hotels.

[From L to R Kevin Lorenz, Allied/CMS; David Paul Helpern, Helpern Architects; John Rice, AKF Group; Sean Holmes, H2 Hospitality Group; and Scott Geraghty, Ritz-Carlton New York spoke about hotel renovation at the Hotel Engineers Association of New York program at the Penn Club of New York on March 20, 2013. "]

Panel moderator David Helpern, FAIA [left and HEANY General Counsel Jack Osborn"].

Arthur Caliandro came to Marble Collegiate Church in 1967.  He was a gentle man but also a visionary, determined leader.  He was hand-picked by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale – Marble’s spiritual leader for 50 years and arguably one of the most important American ministers of the 20^th century – to be his successor. That happened in 1985. 

Arthur would probably be embarrassed by this tribute but pleased to observe that I learned from him how to use an anecdote to advantage.  Stories were his stock in trade; he had that amazing gift.  His experiences often became memorable, metaphorical, inspiring tales – always with a point gently delivered. 

In 1999 Arthur took the bold step to expand the historic church for the first time since his predecessor had dug out some of the land under the church in 1937.  He believed that Marble – named for its façade material quarried in Yonkers in the 1850s – needed to rethink its property for a 21^st-century ministry. He knew it was no small undertaking.  He selected Helpern Architects to help him plan and design the changes, and through his presence and prayers, he made this a sacred trust. 

Early in 2009, already in declining health, he wrote me this in a letter:  “One of the most meaningful and exciting aspects of my years at Marble Church were the final years when I became acquainted with you, and the opportunity to do some dreaming and planning for a new facility.  The big disappointment is that the economic climate has delayed the project, but I do plan to be around when it is finished.  Then this great old church will begin a new era in its long and fruitful life.” 

And as if that weren’t enough, he closed with: “Thank you for your kindness and your friendship.  I so look forward to what will be.”

But he never lived to see it finished: rebuilding a church proceeds in its own time.  The people he entrusted with the assignment are carrying it forward.  We are now, for instance, about to create two beautiful new entrances to the sanctuary building.  What I miss intensely is the story he would have told about creating new entries. 

David Paul Helpern, FAIA

April 4, 2013

“What have you done with the gift I have given you? How much have you loved?”

Dr. Caliandro’s letter to David Helpern hangs in the entrance to the Helpern office.

On March 20^th, at the Penn Club of New York, David Helpern will moderate a panel with a range of people experienced in renovating a hotel property and converting another type of building into a hotel.  Using anecdotes and data, they will talk about what to look for, what to avoid, and, ultimately, what to celebrate.

The speakers include, Scott Geraghty, VP/General Manager, Ritz-Carlton Hotels of New York and Boston; Sean Holmes, President, H2 Hospitality Group; Kevin J. Lorenz, AIA, President, Allied/CMS Inc., Construction Managers; and John Rice, PE, Partner in Charge of Mechanical Engineering, AKF Group LLC.

Peter Homberg, General Manager/COO of the Penn Club, which is hosting the event, will add his own tales of the transformation of his once-derelict but well-located building into one of NYC’s most elegant university clubs. David led the renovation of this 7-year-long, award-wining project.

The event is open only to people in the hotel industry and at no charge to them. To RSVP, please call Joel Park at 212.450.7300.

Helpern Architects is currently involved in the design of two new hotels in New York City, one for the Hilton Hampton Inn and one for the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites.

The Hotel Engineers Association of New York’s (HEANY) mission is to assist general managers and engineers throughout the Metropolitan New York Area to keep up on the latest developments in engineering, legislation, technology and issues relating to the physical plant of hotels. The Association provides a forum for the exchange of information among members and networking, as well as educational seminars.

The main dining room at the Penn Club of New York, where the HEANY meeting will take place.

 

It’s no secret that Cornell University and its academic partner Technion-Israel Institute of Technology plan to build a tech campus from scratch on Roosevelt Island.

And it’s also no secret that the quiet, narrow 147-acre island, more like a village, in the middle of the East River would be changed forever as the 12-acre technology campus – 2,000 students, 10 new buildings, 2 million square feet – comes on line incrementally, from 2017 to 2037.

Is this development a good thing?  Here’s how I know some of the answers – in fact, helped to shape them.

Although Roosevelt Island is a short bridge away from Queens, the island is the purview of Manhattan, and thus it is part of Community Board 8, which covers the Upper East Side and the Island, a short tram or subway ride to the east.

I’ve been an active CB8 member for five years, now as co-chair of the Landmarks Committee.  Last year [2012], as things were moving briskly along for Cornell NYC Tech, CB8 President Nicholas Viest created a Roosevelt Island Task Force of seven members and asked me to serve.  I’m the sole architect.

Cornell NYC Tech’s plans and Roosevelt Islanders’ concerns came in focus last fall during the start of the orderly but arduous planning-approval process [ULURP].

ULURP starts with getting community input.  The pertinent Community Board calls public hearings and then submits a written recommendation for or against the land use. Next stop; the Borough President.

Between October and December, our CB8 Task Force met four times with dozens of residents.  We deliberated in public and crafted the report in quiet exchanges.  Cathy Dove, Cornell NYC Tech’s vice-president, and Andrew Winter, its director of capital projects and planning, attended these meetings. The full CB8 board voted its approval on December 19th. [Click here for the official report] The approval came exactly one year after the City selected Cornell/Technion to develop the applied science and engineering campus.

I know from years of work for the community benefit, and from Helpern Architect’s agency and public presentations of projects, that people may not know the fine points of the City’s codes and laws, but they do know what’s right for their neighborhood or organization.  The ULURP investigation of all potential impacts – personal, economic, environmental, institutional – leads to considered solutions and recommendations.  It’s time-consuming but good for all parties.

Looking N to Roosevelt Island, the land in question is within the red oval. The open area on the southern end of the island is now the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park.

A charming, modest brick-and-timber country church designed in 1907 in Gothic Revival style, Fort Washington rose on West 181^st Street and Fort Washington Avenue in northern Manhattan when the area was still undeveloped.   

Helpern Architects’ card – 31^st in the series – shows the extent of the renovation and expansion, a centennial project for a growing and changing congregation, to be completed in 2014.  

The gusset of the card carries this information: “Besides general improvements, the congregation gains a 1,725-sf glass-and-steel pavilion that adjoins and connects the sanctuary and Fellowship Hall, new classroom building, catering kitchen, and choir room.” 

To find a way to send season’s greetings, Helpern Architects began these cards in 1982, and an entire village has been produced, displaying the firm’s good architecture and good clients. 

Marble Collegiate Church [2007], then and still under ongoing renovations, is the first sister project.  The pop-up series has included 4 office buildings, 4 schools, 2 libraries, 9 university buildings, 3 churches, and 5 hotels.  The restoration of the Con Edison clock tower [1984] and Congo Gorilla Forest at the Bronx Zoo [1996] are one of a kind.    

“It’s true that people collect and display all the cards,” according to David Helpern. “But there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Helpern Architects selects its assignments by whether the building will make a great holiday card,” he claims.

Ikue initially came to the firm as an intern in 2004.  She graduated from Tohoku University, which is considered among the top Japanese design schools.  She brought a combination uncommon in the US: a degree in Engineering and Construction.  In Japan architectural training is called engineering, but the curriculum is obviously broader.

Ikue moved to the States and continued her studies, receiving her Master of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute.  She is also a licensed to practice architecture in Japan.

Since joining Helpern she has fulfilled roles as both an architectural designer and project manager.  Her work includes a major addition to New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, the renovation of an historic theater in New York City for Trinity Broadcasting Network, and restoration and renovation of both the Upper West Side’s popular St. Agnes library branch and the Woodstock branch of the New York Public Library. 

Ikue is currently the project manager for the 23-story, 239-key Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites nearing completion on West 33^rd Street.

The behind-the-scenes walk-through toured most of the phases of the almost-completed project, including the restored sanctuary, new chapel, and marvelous permanent indoor labyrinth, the only one of its kind in the city, which ultimately will have public access.  The labyrinth, made of terrazzo inlay, is located in a room that will mostly serve as an event space.  

The group saw where excavations under the church made additional room for equipment and an expanded columbarium.  

“The most exciting part of the tour turned out to be the sprinkler room, where you can see not just all the new set-up, but also the original footings of the church,” Amauri reported.  “That’s probably the only time it will be on ‘display’ – but then again, this was a special group.”

“The work overall was amazing,” said Scott Leurquin, director of development for the Landmarks Conservancy.  He organized the event with Gayle Robinson, Marble Collegiate Church’s chief operating officer, who greeted the guests and accompanied the tour. 

David Greene, project manager of EverGreene Architectural Arts also spoke about their conservation of the sanctuary’s plaster ceiling and the restoration of its painted finishes.

Marble’s Senior Minister Dr. Michael B. Brown blessed the restoration and expansion in April, but the entire project will not be officially dedicated until the fall.

Helpern Architects started this phase of the work in early 2010, based on a master plan developed for the 1854 structure in 1999.  Helpern is also restoring Ft. Washington Collegiate Church in Washington Heights, in Upper Manhattan.

Image courtesy of the New York Landmarks Conservancy

The Advisory Council came together for a last time on May 24th, joining Trustees and other special guests of the University to honor President Simmons, who retired as of June 30th to teach comparative literature and Africana Studies.

David Helpern reported that, “While we honored a truly loved president, Ruth called to the stage and honored her high school teacher, Vernell Lillie.  Over 40 years ago, ‘Miss Lillie’ convinced Ruth and her family – notwithstanding their life in segregated Houston, Texas – that she should continue to college.  And then Miss Lillie convinced Dillard University in New Orleans and its scholarship committee to accept Ruth.  What a story, and how wonderful for all of us that Miss Lillie, surely in her 80s, was there!”

David was the only architect to serve on the President’s Advisory Council.  Among topics discussed along the last decade, he recalls international education, forming an engineering school, medical education at Brown, physical expansion and planning, and the University’s response to the changing economic landscape.

“I know we were helpful to Ruth Simmons – but it was also wonderful to share the experience with so many successful people from so many different points of view and places, everyone intent on advancing the university and higher education in general,” David reflected.

The institute was co-founded by the Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, senior minister of Marble Collegiate Church for five decades, and his friend and colleague Smiley Blanton, MD, who trained in psychiatry under Sigmund Freud.  Opened in 1937, the institute provides mental health treatment and counseling services; today it handles 25,000 visits a year “in a manner that is non-sectarian and open to multiple faith traditions.”  The Institute also provides post-graduate education and clinical training.  All this was revolutionary in 1937, and it still sets the pace today.  

David feels fortunate to be joining the Board in Blanton-Peale’s 75^th anniversary year.  He grew to know the institute through his work for Marble Collegiate Church and the Collegiate Church Corporation.  He borrows a quote from Dr. Peale to express his own enthusiasm for both: “There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.”

Helpern Architects is helping Blanton-Peale to move to new offices on three floors of the Riverside Church Tower on Morningside Heights from its current location in Marble Collegiate Church’s administrative building.