With 1,300 currently active projects, VDA's consultations reach the spectrum of end uses. From subways and airports to symphony halls, from venerated landmarks and hospitals to embassies...
VDA has impacted transportation in virtually all building environments. The firm has designed mail handling systems and has consulted for special equipment applications like rack and pinion elevators, double deck hydraulic elevators, turntables, and vehicle lifts.
Complying with ADA regulations, VDA professionals design and oversee maintenance for systems that represent efficiency, aesthetics, and safety, and - whether projects run several months or span years - provide clients with the innovation and superior service they expect.
Projects are sorted by year, from newest to oldest.
University of Minnesota Duluth Campus-Elevator Upgrades
University of Minnesota-Duluth Campus
Overlooking Lake Superior, UMD provides an alternative to both large research and small liberal arts environments and attracts students looking for a personalized learning experience on a medium-sized campus of a major university. A firm liberal arts foundation anchors a variety of traditional degree programs, as well as professional and graduate studies that draw on UMD’s many research institutes and labs.
VDA is providing consulting services for the modernization of sixteen (16) elevators in several building including Tweed Museum, Kirby Student Center, Kirby Plaza, Darland Administrative Building, the Dining Center, Montague Hall, Heating Plant, Lund Building, Sports & Health, Library Annex, Lake Superior Hall and the Cloquet Forestry Center. Our services also include the design and installation of two (2) new ADA compliant elevators.
The Willis Tower (formerly named, and still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower), is a 108-story 1451 ft skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center Towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world, as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to the roof.
Although Sears’ naming rights expired in 2003, the building continued to be called the Sears Tower for several years. In March 2009, London-based insurance broker, Willis Group Holdings, agreed to lease a portion of the building and obtained the building’s naming rights. On July 16, 2009, the building was officially renamed the Willis Tower.
VDA is providing consulting services for quality control evaluations and code inspections of 101 elevators.
In January 2009, the Willis Tower owners began a major renovation of the Skydeck, to include the installation of glass balconies, extending approximately four feet over Wacker Drive from the 103rd floor. The all-glass boxes allow visitors to look through the floor to the street 1,353 ft below. The boxes, which can bear five short tons of weight (about 4.5 metric tons), opened to the public on July 2, 2009.
VDA provided full consulting services through construction administration for seventeen (17) elevators in this 57-story project at 440 West 42nd Street, New York, NY. The 1 million sq. ft., mixed use project includes a 300 room hotel, 400 luxury rentals, 200 condominiums, a 50,000 sq. ft. Equinox fitness Club, 100,000 sf of retail, and four off-broadway theaters, above a 200-car underground garage, and the future entrance to the new No. 7 Subway Line at the corner of 42nd Street and 10th Avenue in Midtown West of Manhattan. Arquitectonia designed the building; Ismael Leyva is architect of record, and the project was designed for LEED Certification.
The Statue of Liberty is set to re-open to the public in October 2012, on its 126th anniversary following a yearlong interior renovation. The $30 million renovation that began last year included replacing the stairs to the crown and making them less steep and more accessible, modernizing an existing elevator and the design and installation of a new elevator that provides elevator and wheelchair access to areas previously not accessible by disabled or elderly visitors.
The year-long internal makeover, led by Mills + Schnoering Architects (M+Sa) is in its final stages. The design firm that specializes in historic preservation retained VDA to provide consulting services for the modernization of an existing elevator previously designed by VDA, and the design and installation of a new elevator that provides improved accessibility for disabled and wheelchair bound visitors. Additional renovations include new stair rails, protective glass throughout the stairway up to the reopened crown, and new heating, cooling and ventilation systems allows for a more comfortable experience.
VDA possesses a healthy respect for the integrity of historic/landmark buildings and regulations governing their modification, and provides the expertise required to evaluate existing vertical transportation systems and recommend repair, upgrading or replacement options to meet the building’s proposed new vertical circulation requirements. The firm has provided services for hundreds of restorations and adaptive reuse projects that maintain their natural elegance while creating stylish, functional structures.
This project, designed by FxFowle Architects, is a 1.1 million sq. ft., 40-story commercial and retail tower at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, the last developable land on the world’s most renowned block. It is the first new speculative development being built in midtown NY in years. Groundbreaking was in June 2007 and the project was completed in 2011.
VDA provided full elevator consulting services through construction administration for eighteen (18) gearless passenger elevators arranged in low-, mid- and high-rise banks, and for two (2) gearless service elevators serving all floors of the building.
835 Sixth Avenue: Eventi Hotel and Beatrice Residences
VDA provided consulting services through construction administration for the 53-story, 620,000 sf mixed-use tower in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The new mixed-sue structure comprises 302 luxury rental apartments, a 290-key hotel with banquet facilities, meeting rooms and event spaces with private terraces, a full floor restaurant, a ground floor café, retail space and below grade parking. The building has a first floor with two separate lobbies, one for residents and one for the hotel/retail area.
Three (3) geared passenger elevators and a service elevator serve the hotel portion of the building, while three (3) passenger elevators and one (1) service elevator serve the residential floors. One (1) geared food service elevator, a 2-stop restaurant passenger, one garage passenger elevator and one (1) hydraulic service elevator serve the restaurant podium.
The former Interchange Park, purchased by BPG Properties in 2006 and renamed Metropoint, the Center for Business, is a 892,731 sq. ft., mid-rise office complex comprising a 20-story building, a 10-story building, 2 8-story buildings and parking for 3,460 cars. After master planning for redevelopment of the property, the facility has undergone a $10 million renovation of public spaces and mechanical systems, installed a new fitness center and new landscaping.
VDA’s scope of work included evaluation of nineteen (19) existing elevators, recommendations for modernization/upgrading of the systems for the approved recommendations:
Complete replacement of seven (7) gearless DC hoist machines with permanent magnet AC machines, controllers and cabs. The project was completed in November of 2010.
The Plaza Hotel is one of only two New York hotels that have been designated a national historic landmark. The historic 19-story building, owned by ELAD Properties, underwent a $350 million renovation that resulted in 182 luxury residential units and 282 hotel rooms (including 152 condominium hotel units), and 180,000 sq. ft. of retail space. There are separate entrances for the hotel and for the residential units.
VDA provided consulting services for the installation of a new wheelchair lift, a new dumbwaiter, three (3) new traction and ten (10) new hydraulic elevators; and modernization of an existing sidewalk lift, twelve (12) existing traction elevators and one (1) existing hydraulic elevator.
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art - 41 Cooper Square
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, established in 1859, is among the nation’s oldest and most highly regarded and distinguished institutions of higher learning. The college, the legacy of Peter Cooper, occupies a special place in the history of American education. It is the only private, full-tuition scholarship college in the United States dedicated exclusively to preparing students for the professions of art, architecture and engineering.
The Morphosis design for the new 9-story, $120 million full-block facility, conceived as a “vertical piazza,” helps foster collaboration and cross-disciplinary dialogue among the college’s three schools, previously housed in separate buildings. The building houses Cooper Union’s Albert Nerken School of Engineering - one of the top three engineering schools in the nation - and will also provide space for the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture and the School of Art.
VDA provided full consulting services for a service elevator and two (2) passenger elevators for the project. The passenger elevators skip stops at several floors: instead, stairways up from or down from those floors encourage personal interaction and physical activity within the building. The project was completed in September 2009.
VDA provided full consulting services for the vertical transportation in this 2.1 million square foot, 54-story, ultra-energy-efficient building, which is the first high-rise office building to seek the LEED Platinum designation.
Bank of America Tower uses translucent high-performance glass in floor-to-ceiling glazing to permit maximum sunlight in interior spaces, in addition to featuring ““floating”” floors to facilitate more even, healthful, and efficient heating and cooling. It captures and reuses all rainwater and wastewater, saving millions of gallons of precious water each year. A very high percentage of the buildings materials came from recycled and renewable source within 500 miles of New York city.
The project includes fifty-two (52) elevators and three (3) escalators to serve the NY headquarters of Bank of America and other office tenants, and a recreated Henry Miller’s Theater, which had been located on the site since 1918. There is also be an elevator to the transit mezzanine below ground.
The 54-story building, rising 945 feet above the west side of Sixth Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Streets, was completed in 2009. The $1 billion project was co-developed by The Durst Organization and Bank of America, which has committed to a 20-year lease for 1.1 million square feet as their New York operations headquarters.
Citi Field is the 45,000-person capacity, open-air venue that serves as the new, world-class home of the Mets in Flushing, NY. Citi Field features unprecedented sightlines with seating angled toward the infield and set down closer to the infield. In addition, it features state-of-the-art video boards, more restroom facilities, a sit-down restaurant in left field, a natural grass field and enhanced access and egress and full ADA compliance. The facility was completed in time for opening day of the 2009 baseball season.
VDA provided full consulting services for nineteen (19) passenger and freight elevators and ten (10) escalators.
Occupying an entire block at Central Park West and Broadway between 61st and 62nd Streets formerly the site of the Mayflower Hotel, the 886,000 sq. ft., 15 Central Park West consists of 202 condominiums in two buildings: a 231-foot high, 20-story “House” separated by a private courtyard from the 550-foot tall, midblock, 43-story “Tower.”
VDA provided full elevator consulting services through construction administration for twenty-seven (27) units: There are eight (8) escalators and one (1) service elevator serving the retail portion; two (2) dual roped hydraulic elevators service the base; seven (7) residential elevators each serving 2 stops, for the floor through residential units; one (1) geared elevator and four (4) gearless elevators serving the Tower building; four (4) gearless elevators serving the “House.” The project was completed in September 2007.
Built and named for the New York Central Railroad in the heyday of American long-distance passenger rail travel, Grand Central Terminal is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms: 44, with 67 tracks along them. Spread between two levels, both below ground, 41 tracks are accessed via the upper level, and 26 can be accessed on the lower level. The terminal covers 48 acres. The Terminal serves commuters traveling on the Metro-North Railroad to Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in New York State, and New Haven and Fairfield counties in Connecticut.
As one of the busiest transportation hubs, this multi-level facility is dependent upon its elevators to transport materials, employees and customers between various levels. The majority of the elevators went into service over ninety years ago and has not seen significant rehabilitation since then. Other elevators were rehabilitated approximately fifteen years ago, but were heavily utilized during the terminal’s renovation project, and now require rehabilitation.
VDA provided vertical transportation consulting services for twenty-seven elevators (16 passenger and 11 freight), which required modification, rehabilitation or complete replacement. The project was completed in 2008.
VDA has also provided consulting services on other projects at Grand Central Terminal including the Vanderbilt Hall Renovation, which involved the modernization of ten (10) elevators.
Rand Tower is a 26-story skyscraper that was one of Minneapolis’ tallest structures when it was completed in 1929. It was designed by Holabird & Root for Rufus R. Rand, Jr., a WWI aviator who was from the family that owned the Minneapolis Gas Company, now part of CenterPoint Energy. Much of the building is covered in ornamentation of an aviation theme and it is one of the Midwest’s outstanding examples of Art Deco architecture and design.
VDA conducted an evaluation of the existing condition of the six (6) gearless elevators with recommendations for improvement, and is now providing services for modernization of four (4) of the elevators and decommissioning of two (2) of them.
The Westin Edina Galleria Hotel and Residences is an 18-story building (366,000 sq. ft.), that includes a 4-star, 225-room hotel and 82 condominiums. The hotel’s public spaces are located on street level with hotel rooms on Levels 2-7. The condominiums, which range in size from 800 sq. ft. to 3,200 sq. ft.,floors 8-18. Parking for the project, as well as replacement parking for 594 stalls of surface parking on the site (70,000 sq. ft), is included in a new 4-level, 752-stall ramp located in the southeast corner of the Galleria site.
VDA provided full consulting services for 3 geared hotel elevators; 2 gearless elevators for the residences, and 2 4-stop hydraulic elevators for the parking garage. The project was completed in November 2008.
This 17-story office tower, designed by Perkins+Will, LEED Gold certified, and features an aluminum-framed glass curtain wall with full-height tempered vision glass, creating open air views from inside the building.
The Class A office tower with 350,000 square feet of space was originally called One Market Street but soon after construction began the name was changed to 201 17th Street because of increasing familiarity with Atlantic Station, metro Atlanta’s leading mixed use project and the big yellow bridge that links it to the midtown office district.
VDA provided full elevator consulting services through Construction Administration for six (6) gearless passenger elevators, one (1) geared traction service elevator serving all floors, and two (2) machine room-less elevators serving the parking levels. The project was completed in September 2007.
Chase Tower, located in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago at 10 South Dearborn Street, is a 60 story skyscraper completed in 1969. At 850 feet (259 m) tall, it is the tenth tallest building in Chicago, the tallest building inside the Chicago ‘L’ Loop elevated tracks, and the 32nd tallest in the United States.
VDA provided full consulting services through construction administration for modernization of the two (2) mid- and two (2) high-rise elevator banks (total of 28 elevators); and for door equipment and fire service up-grades for two (2) 9-car low-rise banks (total of 18 elevators). VDA’s scope of services also included services for the installation of four (4) new escalators and one (1) roped hydraulic elevator, demolition of eight (8) existing elevators, and cylinder replacement on 3 existing hydraulic elevators. In addition, all vertical transportation systems are being linked to an Elevator Management and Information System (EMIS).
This project involved conversion of the vacant 35-story art-deco Lefcourt Building, a former office building in downtown Newark that was constructed in 1929, to residential use. The landmark tower was home to many prominent law firms over the years, but had been vacant for a decade prior to Congswell’s conversion . The conversion resulted in 317 studio, one- and two-bedroom rental units in the 441,000 sq. ft. building.
VDA provided full consulting services for modernization and reconfiguration of existing gearless passenger elevators (PE1-PE4) to form a four (4) car group elevator system that serves all floors of the building. One of the elevators has the capability of operating as a swing service car with inconspicuous riser feature. The project was completed in Spring, 2007.
Atelier, a soaring 46-story residential tower on Manhattan’s West Side features 478 studio, one- and two-bedroom condominiums. Atelier offers residents dramatic views of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline in a dynamic new neighborhood. The building boasts a variety of amenities including a sky-lit indoor pool, a 12,000-square-foot health club, a rooftop lounge and rooftop terraces. Atelier also features 15,700 square feet of ground-floor retail space and a 100-vehicle subterranean parking garage.
VDA provided full consulting services from design through construction for six (6) elevators (four (4) gearless passenger, one (1) gearless service, one (1) 4-stop dual roped hydraulic elevator) and two (2) hydraulic in-ground cylinder automobile lifts.
The Chevy Chase Land Company has redeveloped Chevy Chase Center, one of the nation’s most successful neighborhood shopping centers, and added new office space at 5425 Wisconsin Street, in Montgomery County.
The project includes 260,000 sq. ft of Class A office space in an 8-story tower sitting adjacent to a 2-level, 100,000 sq. ft. retail area called The Collection at Chevy Chase. There is also surface parking, as well as 1,400 parking spaces in 3 levels of underground parking.
VDA provided full consulting services through construction administration for five (5) elevators in the office tower; two (2) geared elevators serving the retail levels and three (3) levels of below ground parking; and five (5) hydraulic elevators serving the parking garage. VDA also provided services for elevators and a conveyor in some of the retail stores.
This 856,000 square foot, 46-story steel and glass tower was built within and above Hearst’s existing 6-story, art deco building, a New York City Landmark, that was originally built at 959 Eighth Avenue in 1928. It houses 1,800 employees, the entire Hearst Organization, including comic strip distributor King Feature Syndicates and its cable television networks such as A&E.
VDA provided full consulting services through construction administration for seventeen (17) gearless traction elevators, five (5) hydraulic elevators, three (3) escalators and a counter-loading dumbwaiter. The $500 million project, including the new tower and renovation of the base, was completed in October 2006.
Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the first new research facility for MSKCC since 1989. One of the tallest laboratory buildings in the world, the 692,000 sq. ft. complex includes a 23-story building, completed in May 2006, that includes 16 modular laboratories, capable of being customized and reconfigured based on changing needs. The tower accommodates the Center’s programs in immunology, molecular pharmacology and chemistry, and cancer biology and genetics. A connecting 7-story structure that is under construction and scheduled for completion in 2008 will add a conference center, and a number of dry laboratories. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, in collaboration with Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership.
VDA provided full consulting services through construction administration for six (6) 23-stop gearless traction elevators; and eight (8) hydraulic elevators. Two (2) of the hydraulic elevators are dual roped single stage elevators serving 4 stops and 3 stops each; there is also a vivarium elevator and four (4) clean/dirty cars, all of which serve 2 stops; and a standard in-ground hydraulic elevator which will be installed in the connecting 7-story structure.
The New Central Library in Minneapolis is a result of a decade of community planning and citizen involvement. The 400,000 sq. ft. project has been built on the site of the 1961 Library it replaced that had been deconstructed. Designed by Cesar Pelli, the library’s five-story south wing is set perpendicular to Hennepin Avenue, the city’s arts and theater district, while its four-story north wing strikes the same stance along Nicollet Avenue, the main shopping and business street. A soaring atrium links the two streets, providing a grandly scaled, ground-level civic space.
VDA provided design services through the construction administration phase for four (4) geared traction elevators, four (4) escalators, and two (2) standard in-ground hydraulic garage elevators. Groundbreaking for the $125 million project was in May 2003 and the grand opening was held May 20, 2006.
The original St. George Intermodal Terminal was built to accommodate bus, car and rail connection to the Terminal and process commuters to the ferry. One of the project goals during renovation was to enhance the commuter experience and realize the facility’s entrance to Staten Island. The design team also paid particular attention to LEED criteria, and included sustainable design strategies such as a living roof, water recycling and recycled building materials.
VDA provided full consulting services for the addition of a new passenger elevator in the North Core, a new service elevator at the Main West Entrance, and a new escalator and a passenger elevator at the South entrance. The $130 million project was completed in May 2006.
The Orion, at 350 West 42nd Street, is the first condominium built on far West 42nd Street in more than a decade and the 60-story, ultra-luxury, high-rise building towers over most surrounding buildings. The design team at Cetra/Ruddy designed the Orion with superb layouts, corner living rooms, and floor to ceiling glass to maximize views. The building has 650,000 sq. ft. including 20,000 sq.ft. of luxurious amenity space with indoor swimming pools, screening rooms, a breakfast cafe and fitness center, as well as 8,000 sq. ft. of retail at the ground floor.
VDA provided services from design through construction administration for (7) seven gearless elevators with a 3-car low-rise bank serving up to the 29th floor, and a three-car high-rise bank serving the lobby and floors 29-60, and a service elevator serving all floors. There is also a 2-stop hydraulic elevator serving the garage, and two (2) 7,000 lb. capacity automobile lifts.
This 1.4 million sq. ft., 55-story building, with an adjacent 10-story podium, is located on a full block site between Lexington and Third Avenues and 58th and 59th Streets. Bloomberg anchors the office space on the first 20 floors; there is speculative office space from 21-29. In addition to 3 floors of retail in the base, there also are residential units on floors 32-55.
VDA provided full consulting services through construction administration for twenty-two (22) geared and gearless elevators and seven (7) hydraulic elevators, as well as two (2) hydraulic elevators and six (6) escalators for the retail space. The project was completed in 2004.
VDA’s scope of work included all phases through construction administration for four (4) escalators and twenty (20) traction elevators in this 1.2 million square feet mixed use building which will serve as headquarters for the Espirito Santo Bank of Florida.
In addition to 116 condominiums spread over 10 floors, there are 300,000 sq. ft. of Class-A office space, 7,500 sq. ft. of retail space, and 116 condominiums spread over 10 floors. A 203-room super-luxury Conrad Hotel, with a ballroom and meeting space, occupies seven floors. The building also contains fitness facilities, restaurants and a separate 5-story parking garage.
The $200 million project was honored with 15 prestigious awards for excellence, including the “Platinum Award in the Category of Structural Systems” for its structural engineer, Leslie E. Robertson Associates.
VDA provided full consulting services through construction administration for the Museum of Modern Art Expansion program which nearly doubles the museum’s total size to 630,000 sq. ft. and increases its gallery space by 50% to 125,000 sq. ft. The vertical circulation includes twelve (12) new and three (3) modernized elevators, and nine (9) escalators, to serve the new exhibition galleries, office tower, Education and Research Center, and museum support services.
Construction was completed in July 2004, and the museum reopened in mid-November, 2004, following a 3 year renovation of the building at 11 West 53th Street that has been home to MoMA since 1939. Although it had already been revamped several times, this renovation was intended to arrive at a design that would preserve the building’s history and accommodate its future.
Dennis Stocke
Senior Associate
R. Dane Carollo
Area Manager, Chicago
Christopher Marino
Senior Associate
Hesham Halim
Senior Associate
Richard S. Sayah
Vice President
Robert Cuzzi
Exec. Vice President/Principal
Hakan Tanyeri
Exec. Vice President/Principal
Thomas R. Grad
Area Manager, Minneapolis
Thomas J. Stack
Exec. Vice President/Principal
John A. Van Deusen
Founder, Chairman Emeritus
Scott Schwamb
Senior Associate