Structural Firm O’Donnell & Naccarato Recaps 2020 Events

Written by O'Donnell & Naccarato on December 17, 2020.

As the year comes to a close, we want to highlight several of our events, awards, and new projects from 2020. Our structural firm thanks all of our team members across all our offices for their work in 2020. We are proud of the achievements of our team and our structural engineering and design partners.

Our Awards

Matthew Mowrer, PE, was announced as one of the International Concrete Repair Institute’s (ICRI) 40 Under 40 Award winners in early February. The award recognizes 40 individuals who exemplify dedication to the concrete repair industry. Matthew Mowrer, PE, is a Restoration Engineer and Senior Project Manager for our structural firm. Matt was also on ICRI’s Board of Directors for four years and past president of the Delaware Valley Chapter in 2016. Congratulations to Matt again for receiving this honor.

In April, Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School received the 2020 Preservation Achievement Grand Jury Award. The award was for the preservation and adaptive reuse of the A. Mecky Company Building located at 17th and Allegheny Avenue. O&N provided structural design and façade restoration services for Cristo Rey’s adaptive reuse of a historic, 5-story heavy timber warehouse and a new adjacent addition to creating a 105,000 GSF high school. Our team offered creative approaches to structural challenges with the existing warehouse structure, fostering cost-effective solutions.

New Projects for Our Structural Firm

In early January, our structural firm celebrated the grand opening of our Doylestown Health Woodall Center for Heart and Vascular Care project. This project expanded the Doylestown Hospital, adding the Woodall Center to handle the increasing demand for cardiovascular intensive care and interventional vascular units. Our firm provided structural design to create the new facility comprised of additions and renovations to the existing cardiac unit.

Also, in January, Philadelphia’s first micro-hotel, Pod Philly, opened to the public. Pod Philly features 252 rooms and restaurants Condesa and El Techo Philly. We provided structural design for the micro-hotel, supported by a deep foundation of drilled concrete shafts resting on bedrock.

In June, we participated in a ceremony for 1300 Fairmount, a mixed-use building located in the West Poplar neighborhood in Philadelphia. The residential tower’s structural system is primarily Girder-Slab, a system initially invented by O&N retired founding partner Peter Naccarato, PE. The layout consists of a parking garage, retail space at the ground level, classroom space on the second and third floors, amenities level on the fourth floor, and ten stories for apartments above.

Our Events

In February, Director of Restoration Jason Coleman spoke with NBC 4 New York’s I-Team about New York City’s building façade inspection process. A tragedy spurred changes to New York’s façade inspection laws and regulations. Jason is one of just 500 engineers qualified to provide rope access investigations of hi-rise structures, so he contributed his expertise and an overview of the process for NBC 4 New York.

Image of O’Donnell & Naccarato’s team at ACEPhilly Giant Jenga Tournament 2020 | structural firm | O’Donnell & Naccarato
Our structural firm also got to participate in the ACE Mentor Program of Greater Philadelphia’s 4th Annual Giant Jenga Tournament in late February. The 64 teams managed to raise approximately $30,000 for scholarships to students studying architecture, engineering, and construction in college or university. Since 2000, the ACE program has allowed local high school students to explore potential careers in architecture, engineering, and construction. Our team is incredibly passionate about our involvement in ACEMentorPhilly and is excited about new events in 2021.

In November, our team helped put together a presentation for AIA Philadelphia. The presentation was a case study and panel discussion on the panelized wall system’s selection process for the 1300 Fairmount Ave project. Some of the topics we discussed included the cost savings realized by changes in material, design changes that needed to happen quickly, and the collaborative effort by the project team to help the project remain on schedule.

About O’Donnell & Naccarato

O’Donnell & Naccarato is a consulting structural engineering firm with offices in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and Indiana. The structural firm specializes in structural engineering, structural design, and facade restoration. We offer innovative structural engineering projects to keep costs in line and ease construction ease.