Harrison Path Train Station, Harrison, N.J.
RETROFIT TEAM
METAL PANEL INSTALLER: BAMCO Inc.
LAND SURVEYOR: Kennon Surveying Services Inc.
BIM MODELING: Microdesk
GLAZING CONTRACTOR: County Glass & Metal
ENGINEER: WSP
ARCHITECTS: Dattner Architects and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
MATERIALS
Constructed in 1936, the original station featured a cramped design and lacked accessibility for those with disabilities. The project goal was to revive the train station to provide greater, easier access for all travelers through a bright and modern architectural design.
The defining architectural characteristic of the revitalized Harrison PATH station comes from the large-scale, curving glass curtainwalls secured via a series of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal columns and beams. For the main vertical columns, the team at BAMCO Inc. selected SAF to fabricate a series of intricate column covers that required manufacturing a litany of components with complex geometries.
The project included 8,900 square feet of more than 600 individual metal panels and column-cover components. The main, oversized vertical columns at the front of the structure are encased in SAF’s M-2000 1/8-inch aluminum column covers.
“At the time of the project, BAMCO had limited capabilities of rollforming panels that exceeded 10-foot lengths, so we needed to rely on a company that was capable of fabricating the oversized columns for the project,” explains Ryan Kusmick, project manager at BAMCO. “We have worked with SAF in the past and, given the complex geometries of the design, we wanted to go with a competent fabricator that we were comfortable with.”
SAF had to carefully engineer the column covers for the train station so they could accommodate various penetrations and cutouts that serve as connection points for the intersecting beam structure. In addition, the ground-floor portions of the column covers feature rails for vertical sliding doors. This was yet another complexity to take into consideration during 3D modeling and fabrication—one that needed to be executed flawlessly to allow for the doors’ operation. The SAF column covers are painted in a Fluropon Special White PVDF finish.
“The Harrison PATH station was a difficult project in terms of engineering and design. We scanned the as-built steel structure with the help of Kennon Surveying Services Inc., who laid out the point-cloud data. Microdesk then took this data and created the BIM model,” Kusmick adds. “That information was all unfolded and relayed to SAF, who delivered on the design. We are very pleased with the outcome.”
METAL COLUMN COVERS: SAF
PHOTOS: SAF