The design of the Jerome L. Greene Science Center at Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus in New York City was the focus of the 20th anniversary celebration of ProSpec, LLC, a New York distributor of tile and tile installation systems. Instead of just a party, Lou Giannini, founder, and Steve Siciliano, partner, rented out the Museum of the City of New York for the evening and invited architects, builders, contractors and project owners to enjoy “Design at its Core,” a study in depth of the design and construction of the Jerome L. Greene Science Center. The event also included several guest speakers.
Steve Jones, senior director of industry insights and research at Dodge Data & Analytics provided information on current and future New York City construction activity plus insight into emerging new technologies for project design. Jones’ insights pointed attendees to those areas with the greatest expected growth over the next several years. Finding new project opportunities to pursue, competition for those opportunities, concern over availability of talented and professional workers, and project financing were major concerns for the near future.
Serge Drouin, an associate at Renzo Piano Building Workshop, shared with the assembled group the overall plan for Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus, highlighting the five buildings in Phase I of the massive project. Foremost of these buildings is the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, which houses the Mortimer L. Zuckerman Mind Brain Institute. Drouin underscored his presentation with architectural drawings and photographic images of the unique designs employed to achieve a LEED Platinum certification for the project.
The complex building challenges of this award-winning project were presented by Steven Sommer, principal of Lendlease Construction, in the final presentation of the evening. In his presentation, Sommer concentrated on the project management, which brought together myriad details to produce 457,000 square feet of laboratories and meeting space dedicated to finding solutions to mind/brain challenges such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Following the presentations, guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres as they toured the exhibits about New York and its history on display in the museum.
“ProSpec has taken the opportunity of its 20th anniversary to point the way to the future with an innovative and successful strategy that mirrors MAPEI’s own efforts to provide total solutions to its customers,” Luigi Di Geso, CEO of MAPEI North America. “By bringing together members from various aspects of the construction Industry and demonstrating through the Jerome L. Greene Science Center project how collaboration promotes innovative, sustainable results, Mr. Giannini is establishing a model that can take everyone’s productivity to the next level.”
At the close of the evening’s activities, Giannini announced that he is managing for the future through succession planning as company ownership transitions to a “Women Business Enterprise” under the leadership of his three daughters.
For more information, visit www.prospecllc.com.
