Martin E. Rich Architect, PC, New York, NY, US, Senior Associate

Corporate Interior Renovations, Pfizer Inc, Various Building & Floors, 300,000 sq. ft., New York, NY: Designed and managed multiple corporate office and ancillary services renovations, including conference centers, medical facilities, cafeterias, commercial kitchens and mail operations facilities, from entire commercial floors to individual rooms or custom cabinets, coordinated special furniture, telecommunications and A/V requirements.

New Central Corporate Security Center, Pfizer Inc, 6,200 sq. ft., New York, NY: following heightened security concerns, this major international corporation engaged our services in order to relocate, expand and modernize their central safety and security nerve center. A standard ground floor retail space was discreetly hardened with blast-resistant construction along its street wall. The interior space was expanded with the addition of a mezzanine deck, while additional infrastructure and facilities for a 24/7 operation were installed. The program requirements included command and control facilities for variable staffing loads, flexible use of space, independent HVAC plant and emergency power infrastructure. An essential aspect of this project involved coordinating numerous specialty trades, particularly involving communications technology.

Corporate Fitness Center Renovation and Expansion, Pfizer Inc, 27,000 sq. ft., 219 East 42nd Street, New York, NY: this multi-phased project required first the relocation of multiple corporate ancillary services, as well as tight coordination with the simultaneous retrofit of a new building-wide sprinkler system and a new emergency power generation infrastructure to an existing 100 year old mid-rise commercial structure in midtown Manhattan. The lack of detailed documentation of the current building conditions required extensive field surveys. Multiple revisions of the MEP design, combined with significant site limitations, necessitated repeated updates and coordination of the architectural design and details. Furthermore, the client’s requirement that the existing fitness center remain active during the renovation necessitated careful planning and management of the construction phase for the duration of the project.

Major Mechanical and Electrical Upgrades of Existing Office Tower, Pfizer Inc, 31 floors + cellar, 685 3rd Avenue, New York, NY: architectural services for this project were essential in coordinating the replacement and upgrade of major building mechanical and electrical infrastructure of an existing, occupied high-rise building in midtown Manhattan. Existing elevator shafts were either decommissioned and converted to new floor spaces, or repurposed and converted to mechanical and electrical riser shafts. Careful studies of existing building conditions were needed to identify feasible paths through multiple, occupied, non-identical floors spanning the building’s elevation. Frequent revisions to the scope of work by the client and MEP engineers necessitated multiple updates and coordination of architectural drawings.

New Proposed Pedestrian Bridge, Pfizer Inc, 685 3rd Avenue-219 East 42nd Street, 110 ft., New York, NY: this large corporate client, with its world headquarters “campus” in the middle of Manhattan, engaged our services to facilitate the connection between two separate buildings on opposite sides of a busy street in order to build a pedestrian bridge several stories above the street. Major challenges were presented by the physical limitations of the two points of connection that were determined to be the most feasible for this project. Various aspects of this design had to be studied in detail, from survivability to a nearby explosion to aesthetic consideration, in addition to more conventional concerns of zoning guidelines and structural loads.