ST. LOUIS, MO Western Specialty Contractors, along with a diverse group of architectural, engineering and construction experts, participated in the third annual Create + Construct symposium in New York City, New York. The symposium is sponsored by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH), a national engineering firm that designs, investigates and rehabilitates structures and building enclosures. 

The New York City Mayor's Office reports that 90 percent of the city's one million structures will still be in use in 2050. Building permits for construction on existing buildings have doubled in value over the last five years from $4.5 billion in 2011 to more than $9 billion in 2016, according to the New York Buildings Congress. In the wake of this shift, Create + Construct will serve as a forum for AEC practitioners to discuss how to transform these structures and build a stronger New York City through adaptive reuse and rehabilitation.

An American Institute of Architects (AIA) - accredited educational event, the full-day symposium featured five sessions, including a panel discussion on the challenges of updating existing structures.

Michael Radigan, Senior Operations Manager of Western Specialty Contractors' Facades Division, will participate in Session 4: Extend + Enhance. This session will also include speakers from Page Ayres Cowley Architecture and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger. Radigan's contribution to the program will include specifics of the $70 million recladding and enhancement of 215 East 68th Street, a high-end apartment building on NYC's Upper East Side. The terra cotta rainscreen recladding installed by Western is one of the largest of its kind in the nation and provides enhanced energy efficiency, aesthetics and overall performance of the building.

Radigan specializes in overseeing large-scale, complex facade restoration and recladding projects. He has more than 35 years of construction experience in NYC, having worked on such high-profile projects as the Empire State Building, Tweed Courthouse, Woolworth Building, One Madison, 11 Waverly Place and Guardian Life Building.

The symposium will include a keynote presentation by Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects on architecture and design trends affecting adaptive reuse projects, and a panel discussion on the current and future state of this critical market sector moderated by Guy Geier, AIA New York President-Elect and FXFOWLE Managing Partner.