MELVILLE, NY – H2M architects + engineers was awarded a prestigious Diamond Award for the addition and alteration of Mastic Volunteer Ambulance Company from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC) on March 19, 2016 at the 49th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
The Engineering Excellence Awards are presented to projects that encompassed both the public and private sectors and each year more than 60 member firms submit projects to be judged on a rigorous set of criteria, including complexity, innovation and value to society. These projects are judged by a panel of industry experts, which includes military and government officials, ACEC National and International leadership, educators from colleges’ and universities’ engineering departments, and leadership from other organizations dedicated to the built environment. Awards are distributed based on the average scores received by these judges, and are assigned one of four levels (in ascending order): Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond.
“The ACECNY Diamond Award recognizes the ingenuity and teamwork of the design team led by Danny Tanzi in modernizing an outdated and undersized ambulance facility that will better serve the needs of the Mastic community,” said Gary Loesch, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President.
“To receive an award from ACEC of such great caliber is a true honor. Our team collaborated with the Town of Brookhaven and the Ambulance Company for countless hours to ensure this project was designed to meet the highest standards and I could not be more proud of them,” said Joseph Mottola, R.A., Senior Vice President, Director of Architecture.
“The best projects that we have the opportunity to work on are those that are composed of a great team. In this case, our in-house design team was able to translate the requests and needs of the Town and the Ambulance Company into an exciting design where sustainability was considered in every decision made on the project. I am proud to have led the team that designed this project, and I feel that it will be a benefit to the community it serves for many years to come,” said Danny Tanzi, R.A., LEED AP, Assistant Vice President, Senior Architect.
“This was a great project that will provide the ambulance company with a sustainable home for years to come. It is an honor to be a part of the project team, and for it to be recognized by ACEC,” said Adam Post, R.A., LEED AP, Project Architect.
As ambulance calls tripled over nearly three decades of operation, the Mastic Volunteer Ambulance Company’s acquisition of response vehicles outpaced available space, forcing many apparatus to be stored outside including ambulances worth approximately $200,000 each. The late Councilman Keith Romaine had a vision to provide the highest quality EMS services for the residents of the Town of Brookhaven. Mr. Romaine saw the need to provide the Ambulance Company with the proper space to not only protect assets, but to provide a community space while attracting new volunteers.
“Congratulations to H2M for being honored with this very prestigious award,” said Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine. “The Mastic Ambulance headquarters is a great example of design, function and green technology that is a vast improvement over their former home.”
Brookhaven Town Councilman Dan Panico said, “If it is true that design should never say, “Look at me!” It should always say, “Look at this!”, then the Mastic Ambulance addition and alteration is most assuredly deserving of this Diamond Award. Congrats to everyone at H2M!”
H2M was retained by the Company in 2011 to perform a feasibility study to review options to renovate the existing building, and upon funding approval by the Town of Brookhaven, H2M was selected to develop the project’s construction documents, inclusive of all disciplines: architectural, structural, civil/site, mechanical, plumbing and electrical.
Designed under the LEED 2009 rating system and striving to achieve LEED Gold Certification, construction began in August 2013, and the Company took occupancy in May 2015 with the final project being a 19,200 square-foot, two-story building that provides an energy-efficient, low maintenance home for the ambulance company to will allow for future expansion.
H2M also earned ACEC New York’s Best Panel Award for 2016 for this project. The object of the Best Panel Award is to promote communication of engineering excellence through the creation of panels that are visually exciting and representative of key design principles. The judges reviewed panels from all 125 projects entered in the 2016 Engineering Excellence Awards and H2M’s panel, created by the Marketing department, was chosen as it incorporated high-quality images with a minimum of text to convey the complexity of the project through eye-catching visuals.
About H2M
H2M is a full-service consulting and design firm offering the expertise of more than 290 architects, engineers (water supply, civil/site, structural, M/E/P, wastewater and environmental), planners, designers, inspectors, surveyors and scientists. H2M meets the challenges associated with buildings and infrastructure and has been serving various markets throughout Long Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut for over 80 years. For more information, please visit www.h2m.com.
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H2M continuously seeks motivated college graduates and experienced professionals to join our team. The firm offers a competitive base salary and a comprehensive benefit package that includes: medical, dental, vision, and life; FSA/HSA and long and short-term disability insurances; 401(k) retirement savings plan; bonus plan; tuition reimbursement; and professional development opportunities. To view current job openings, please visit www.h2m.com/careers.
