AIA NYS 2021 Design Awards

The Bell Works project, located in Holmdel, New Jersey, was distinguished with the Honor Award in the category of Adaptive Reuse/Historic Preservation. Becht Engineering BT, Inc. is extremely proud to be part of the project team, led by Alexander Gorlin Architects, that re-positioned the Bell Works project from a pure office occupancy to a mixed-use “Metroburb”. The re-positioning of the building required a change of use, triggering the need to bring many of the building’s 1960’s era systems up to current codes. Becht Engineering BT developed the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection designs for the various infrastructure improvements and modifications that were required to re-position and renovate the $200 million, 2 million square foot mixed-use complex. These included wholesale replacement of the interior space HVAC systems with one of the largest water-cooled VRF installations in the world at the time, and design of an emergency smoke evacuation system that consists of 28 exhaust fans and 48 automatically actuated exit doors to allow for 650,000 cubic feet per minute of exhaust air and make-up air through the entire signature atrium.