Ideal manages construction at Columbia

Ideal Interiors (Ideal) managed the construction of Knox Hall at Columbia University, which received an award for Top Redevelopment Project by the Greater New York Construction User Council and a Honorable Mention at Environmental Design & Construction's 2010 Excellence in Design Awards. Ideal worked on this project as part of a joint venture partnership with Gilbane. Ideal is a Minority-Owned Enterprise (MWE) and is certified by NYS and the N.Y.C. Department of Small Business Services. The project involved the gut renovation and modernization of the seven-story, 50,000 s/f landmark building, originally a residential dormitory, which was converted to an academic building. Knox Hall contains sustainable features such as four 2,000-ft. deep geothermal wells and an efficient geothermal HVAC system. It was also built with water use reduction components, double glazed replacement windows and numerous recycled and renewable materials. As construction manager, Ideal effectively planned, organized and supervised the overall project while keeping the building owner updated on the project's schedule. In the post-construction phase, Ideal assisted in the testing and documentation of all new equipment and systems. "It's easy to use Ideal on construction projects because of their professional staff and ability to deliver, the management team is competent, diligent and involved in the complete construction process," said Marcelo Velez, P.E, associate VP for Manhattanville Capital Construction, Columbia University Facilities. Ideal previously worked on Mudd Hall at Columbia University where the company renovated a 5,600 s/f chemical lab. The company has also worked on numerous university assignments including work for New York University, Fordham University, Bronx Community College and LaGuardia Community College, among others. For more information on Ideal Interiors visit www.ideal-interiors.com.