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New Website Coming
A new KHH website will debut this summer. Stay tuned!
  
Hotel Syracuse Restoration
KHH is proud to be part of the design team which is renovating and restoring the historic Hotel Syracuse. We are working with Holmes King Kallquist Architects of Syracuse on the exterior parapet restoration, and with MLG Architects of New York City on structural design for the interior.
July 2015
KHH Garners Project Awards, Service Honor 

Klepper, Hahn & Hyatt has earned several awards from two upstate New York chapters of the American Concrete Institute (ACI).


The ACI of Central New York recognized the firm with a Bronze Award for Excellence in Concrete Design and Installation for the Bernthal Way Plaza Restoration in downtown Syracuse. The plaza consists of a series of concrete walls and planters, with ramps and stairways to contiguous buildings. The walls and planters had become extremely deteriorated, and required demolition and reconstruction to restore the attractiveness of the plaza. Form liners and colored concrete were used to aid in replicating the appearance of the original walls. Five different sections of ramps, stairways, seating areas, and planters were involved in the project.

 

ACI-CNY also recognized the Syracuse University Football Complex site improvements of the new Entrance Gateway and Plaza Recognition Wall with an Award of Merit for Excellence in Concrete Design and Installation. The Entrance Gateway is a pronounced vertical element which draws attention to the main entry to the Football Complex. On the opposite side of the entrance, facing across the vehicular drop-off loop, the Football Recognition Wall showcases SU football team history on a display of granite panels encased in bronze frames and recessed into the wall. The plaza features accent seat walls and lighting for evening viewing. 

SUNY Brockport Courtyard

The Western New York Chapter of the ACI honored the site improvements of SUNY Brockport's Tuttle North and Tuttle South complex with their Institutional Capital Improvement Award. The athletics complex underwent a major renovation of its two original buildings, a campus-initiated capital improvement project with the State University Construction Fund. The facility's East and West Entry areas were completely redesigned to improve function and aesthetics, while implementing building envelope and site repairs of the original 1960s construction. 

SUNY Brockport Pool Exterior

Klepper, Hahn & Hyatt was the prime design firm for the SUNY Brockport project, while the project architects for Bernthal Way and the SU Football Complex site improvements were Syracuse-based Bell & Spina Architects and Ashley McGraw Architects, respectively.


In recognition of the firm's community service commitment, the United Way of Central New York recognized KHH with a Gold Award for its level of giving. This achievement is significant insofar as KHH is a firm with fewer than 30 individuals. Its employees have been generous supporters of the United Way for many years.

The Property Maintenance Code of NYS -

More Than Just Maintenance

by James A. D'Aloisio, P.E., SECB, LEED AP BD+C

 

Here are a few Code riddles, in the spirit of the classic riddle Who's buried in Grant's tomb? *:

 

Question: Does the Building Code of NYS apply to buildings?Answer: No, it applies to new building construction.

 

And another: Does the Existing Building Code of NYS apply to existing buildings?

Answer: No, it applies to additions, renovations, alterations, and repairs to buildings.

 

Finally: Does the Property Maintenance Code of NYS cover property maintenance?

Answer: Not entirely. See below.

 

The Property Maintenance Code of NYS (PMC-NYS) obliges building owners across the state, both commercial and residential, to modify their building if either of the following two conditions are present, no matter how long the conditions have been in existence, with limited exceptions:

 

1. Stairs, both interior and exterior, having more than four risers must have a handrail, and all walking surfaces 30 inches or more above a slab or grade below must have a guardrail. See PMC-NYS Section 306 Handrails and Guardrails.

 

This means that a building built in the 1950's with a basement stair that has no handrail, and a 1990's deck on the back of a house with an open edge 32 inches above grade, need to have a handrail and a guardrail installed, respectively, to be in compliance with the Code.

 

2. Exit doors that swing outward need to have canopies or some other means of preventing blockage due to snow accumulation. On this the Code is not as direct - PMC-NYS refers to the Fire Code of NYS - but the requirement is there. Follow the path:

 

PBC-NYS Chapter 7 - Fire and Safety Requirements, Section 702 Means of Egress:  702.1 General. "A safe, continuous and unobstructed path of travel shall be provided from any point in a building or structure to the public way. Means of egress shall comply with the Fire Code of New York State."

 

Fire Code of NYS Chapter 10 - Means of Egress:

 

Section 1001 Administration: 1001.1 General. ".....Sections 1003 through 1026 shall apply to new construction. Sections 1028 and 1029 shall apply to existing buildings."

 

Section 1028 Maintenance of the Means of Egress: 1028.3 Obstructions. "A means of egress shall be free from obstructions that would prevent its use, including the accumulation of snow and ice."

 

To our knowledge, these are the only statewide situations where adoption of the Code has meant that some aspects of existing buildings may require upgrades to be compliant. The renovation of a building is an excellent time to make the building compliant - if not before.

 

* Answer: Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Mrs. Julia Dent Grant

New and Noteworthy

Daniel J. Beal, E.I.T., has joined Klepper, Hahn & Hyatt as a structural engineer. Dan graduated from the University at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He worked at two firms in Boulder, Colorado, and was most recently a structural engineer at Armor Tower in Cortland. His design experience includes work with engineering software such as AutoCAD, Risa, and Revit. In his current position, he is focusing on health care, educational, and light commercial projects. Dan is a Staff Sergeant with the Air National Guard based in Newburgh, New York. A native of Sherrill, he resides in Chittenango with his family.

 

Tom Lukow is working as an engineering intern with KHH for the summer. He is entering his senior year at Bucknell University, majoring in civil engineering with a focus on either structural engineering or construction management. Tom is a graduate of Jamesville-Dewitt Central School District, and lives with his family in Dewitt. When not studying or working, he enjoys soccer, volleyball, and photography.

 

Joseph W. Ward, P.E., has been made an Associate of the firm. He has 17 years of structural engineering experience across a spectrum which includes health care facilities, higher education, school districts, military, industrial, and residential projects. He has been with KHH since 2006.

 

Deborah L. Lamont has been promoted to Business Manager for the firm. She has been with KHH since 2005. Deb oversees a variety of office functions, including IT, project administration, and accounting assistance.

 

James A. D'Aloisio, P.E., has published an article in the June 2015 issue of STRUCTURE Magazine. Entitled "The New Structural Design Parameter," it concerns the responsibilities of design professionals to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other global warming potential (GWP) gases from the construction and operation of projects.

 

Jim will also be presenting at the SUNY/PPAA and NYAPPA Summer Conference on July 15 at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona. His presentation is entitled "Building Envelope Improvements and Reskinning: Intentional and Unintentional Consequences."    

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