ICS Builders breaks ground for $4.1 million Community of the Holy Spirit; BKSK Architects designed new green facility

ICS Builders, Inc. (ICS) broke ground for the new, $4.1-million Community of the Holy Spirit (CHS) convent building located at 454 Convent Ave. in the Sugarhill neighborhood. ICS serves the CHS, a monastic community for women in the Episcopal Church, as general contractor. BKSK Architects LLP provided architectural and interior design for the new, environmentally friendly facility. During the groundbreaking event, sister Faith Margaret of The Community of the Holy Spirit recognized the design and construction team members, "I would like to thank BKSK Architects and ICS Builders for their commitment, skill, and expertise in the planning phase of our new home. Today's ceremony marks the beginning of the construction work that will lead to the opening of the new, 'green' convent in late 2010." ICS vice president of operations Edward O'Rourke, P.E., LEED AP said, "We are proud to be a part of the development team for this beautiful new project. Upon completion, the 10,600 s/f convent building will be one of the most architecturally significant structures in West Harlem." BKSK partner Julia Nelson, AIA, LEED AP, elaborated on the architectural design, "During the design process, our client, The Community of the Holy Spirit, showcased an exemplary sensitivity to the surrounding community, environment, and the architectural fabric of the neighborhood. The new, quietly elegant facility will be a welcome addition to the Sugarhill area. It will also preserve the natural environment by incorporating numerous green features and materials." The four-story building will house an entrance lobby, chapel, community dining room and kitchen, silent dining room, offices, conference room, library, sitting room, art room, 12 cells/bedrooms, two guest rooms, elevator, and two types of green roofs: semi-intensive with six inches of soil and extensive with three inches of soil. The roofs will include a pergola, sitting areas, and shallow-root plant landscaping. In addition to ICS Builders and BKSK Architects, the project team includes structural engineer Weidlinger Associates Inc., MEP engineer Laszlo Bodak Engineer, P.C., lighting designer Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design, and landscaping consultant Dennis Gray Horticulture. The construction process encompasses excavation, construction of grade beam and spread footing foundations, erection of a hybrid steel-and-light-gauge structural system, building and MEP systems, and all interior finishes. The façade materials will include brick, EIFS stucco, and SWISS-PEARL composite cement board panels. The building's first floor will feature a conventional steel frame structure. The remainder of the building will feature a light gauge framing system. The cold-fluid-applied roof will also rest on a light gauge framing. The roof will house a Rainwater HOG modular tank for collecting utility water. Interior finishes will include a variety of flooring materials, such as coconut wood, cork tile, locally-sourced stone, and Green Label Plus-certified carpet; Venetian plaster and drywall walls with high recycled content; FSC-certified Medex recycled board millwork; and IceStone 100% recycled glass in cement matrix counters in the kitchen and bathrooms. The new building will house many architectural and religious elements transferred from The community's current convent house located at 621 West 113th St. These include the Casavant Frères organ donated by Madeleine L'Engel Franklin, the author of A Wrinkle in Time and other books for young readers, in memory of her mother. To maximize natural ventilation, the convent will feature Energy Star-certified operable windows, Velux motorized skylites in the chapel, and ceiling fans. The plumbing system will include low-water-consumption fixtures and a solar water-heating system with gas-fired back up. The HVAC system will feature individual Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner (PTAC) units. ICS Builders, Inc. Established in 1980 and headquartered in Manhattan, ICS Builders, Inc. is a premier general contracting and construction management firm serving the Northeast United States commercial real estate industry. In addition to its New York operations, the company has a strong presence in New Jersey through its Roselle Park branch office. Since its founding, ICS has built and renovated more than six million square feet of space. The value of the company's portfolio of projects currently under contract totals approximately $45 million. Recent and current ICS projects include the LEED Platinum-submitted, 8,500-square foot headquarters of the Natural Resources Defense Council; the 20,000-square foot, 150-seat USS Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum theatre, the $2.7-million interiors of The Environmental Defense Fund, and the 43,000-square foot Barnes & Noble Booksellers Flagship Store in Manhattan; the 160,000-square foot, $4.2-million New York Life trading floor in Parsippany, the 600,000-square foot interiors of Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's School for the Performing Arts in Newark, New Jersey. BKSK Architects LLP BKSK was established in 1985 and is now a six-partner, thirty-four-person firm headquartered in New York City. As both architects and scholars of the built environment that surrounds them, they believe that great design has meaning and consequence - that questions of what is built, how it is built, and how it is used, matter. They are specialists in socially-engaging, contextually-appropriate, and environmentally-conscious design. Their projects include cultural, community and educational institutions. They work closely with clients to articulate the importance of the project within the community, to donors and to public agencies. ***Community of the Holy Spirit Project Team: Owner: The Community of the Holy Spirit Architect: BKSK Architects LLP General Contractor: ICS Builders, Inc. Drywall: Rostrim Contracting, Inc. Electrical: M.O.S. Electrical HVAC: Nu-Way Heating & Cooling, Inc. Surveyor: Control Point Associates, Inc.