Category: Public Safety
SCHRADERGROUP’s partnership with Martin County, NC to develop a new 9-1-1 Communication Center Makes Local News
SCHRADERGROUP (SG)’s partnership with Martin County, North Carolina to develop the new 9-1-1 communication center makes the local news on WNCT 9.
This highly anticipated facility was developed by SG to accommodate the Emergency 9-1-1 needs of Martin County, NC as well as backup 9-1-1 services for Bertie and Pasquotank Counties.
The SG team developed a new one-story 5,000 SF solution that provides; front-of-house administrative functions and support in a non-hardened structure accessible to the staff and public, and a back-of-house fully redundant hardened communications center and all of its support functions. The facility operates 24/7 as a primary communication center for Martin County with four positions and occasionally as a back-up with five additional positions for when adjacent counties require backup 9-1-1 services.
Systems in the facility are fully redundant, consistent with state-of-the-art 9-1-1 center standards. The site design provides appropriate setbacks from the main access road and public parking areas to buffer the facility. A secure gated area is also provided for staff parking and access.
SG is honored to have had the opportunity to design and build a new facility for Martin County’s Emergency 9-1-1 Communication Agency. We are eager to be able to provide the space and functionality required to provide for public safety for the citizens of Martin County and its adjacent counties.
You can find more of our public safety projects here.
State Emergency Operation Center Makes Local News!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) was pleased to see the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) in action in this featured report on the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) by local FOX 43 news (you can watch it here.) With winter in full swing in the mid-Atlantic area, storms make State EOC’s like PEMA critical to managing state-wide emergencies.
PEMA is a brand new State Emergency Operation Center, that SG in a joint venture with AECOM Technology Corporation (AECOM), completed to serve as a home for many of the State’s emergency response functions. The new facility provides dedicated emergency services and disaster assistance for the state, with the ability to sustain uninterrupted operations during activations.
The AIA AAJ Justice Facilities Review award winning (2014 and 2018) design for this facility is also a US Green Building Council LEED certified project.
You can find more information about the PEMA project here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends and Receives an Award at the Annual AIA AAJ Conference in Jersey City
SCHRADERGROUP was honored to receive an award at the AIA AAJ Awards Luncheon held in Jersey City in October 2018.
The project that SCHRADERGROUP won the award jointly with AECOMD for was the State Emergency Operations Center, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). David Schrader of SCHRADERGROUP (SG) along with Steve Loomis and Amanda Chebalo of Aecom were pleased to accept a received a Justice Facilities Review Award at the AIA AAJ Awards ceremony.
The Team is especially honored to have had the opportunity to partner with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on this prestigious project.
You can read more about the PEMA building here.
SCHRADERGROUP Gives Thanks for 2018 and Welcomes the New Year
Time sure flies when you’re having fun!
Everyone at SCHRADERGROUP is grateful for all the opportunities and adventures that we’ve had over the past year. Let’s recap some of those great moments from 2018…
The SCHRADERGROUP Team
Early this year, our Lancaster office moved its location to the downtown area on East King Street, in the middle of all the action in Lancaster city.
We congratulated Eric Weiss and Kelly Ryan for becoming registered Architects in Pennsylvania as well as Jeff Rothermel for becoming a registered Structural Engineer. We welcomed back Paige Geldrich, our previous summer intern, as our newest Architectural Designer. We also recognized five years of dedication to SCHRADERGROUP (SG) from Principals, Harry Pettoni and Tom Forsberg, Architects, Eric Weiss and Kelly Ryan, and Marketing Associate, Rachel Dougherty.
Community Engagement
Senior Project Manager, Danielle V. Hoffer, generously lent her time and experience to Hatboro-Horsham School District by participating in their girls’ STEM talk, Blair Mill Elementary School’s “Tiny House” project, the School District’s Career Fair, the School District’s Statistic Fair and the School District’s Networking Event.
Project Manager and Architect, Dan D’Amico, visited Upper Merion Area School District’s elementary schools to discuss designing spaces for everyone (accessibility) and classrooms for the future.
Project Architect, Kelly Ryan, volunteered her time to help teach students how to cook with the Vetri Cooking Lab program.
Managing Partner, David Schrader, had the opportunity to talk to the students at Penn State’s Blue and White Society sharing his life and professional experiences as an Architect and managing his own firm. He also discussed sustainability with a panel of Doctoral Candidates at Arcadia University and published thoughts on “What We Understand About the Next Generation of Learning Environments” on our SG blog. He also published thoughts on “Changing the Face of Education” in Learning by Design Magazine.
Conferences and Events
The SG team made exciting new connections at various conferences and events we attended this year.
We enjoyed connecting with future architects and designers at PSU’s Stuckeman School’s Career Day—an event at which our attendance can always be counted on.
As always, we loved seeing familiar faces and meeting new people in the academic community at the PASBO, PSBA, A4LE, Maryland ASBO and DVASBO annual conferences.
We also enjoyed meeting and speaking with members of the Communications, Emergency Operations and the Law Enforcement communities during our exhibition and attendance at various Public Safety conferences including IACP, APCO, NSA and NENA.
Awards and Recognition
With tremendous support from our clients, we’re proud to announce a number of awards and recognition our projects have earned over the past year.
Phoenixville Area School District’s new Early Learning Center and Manavon Elementary School received four separate Outstanding Design awards from Learning by Design and American School & University magazines. For more detail, check out Learning by Design’s 2018 spring issue here and 2018 fall issue here; American School & University’s August issue and their November-December issue here.
Bristol Township School District’s Brookwood, Mill Creek, and Keystone Elementary Schools were featured in Sherwin William’s STIR magazine. STIR praised us for our ability to “create an inviting and beautiful environment that the District and its children are proud of.”
The State Emergency Operations Center that SG and AECOM designed and built together for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency also received an AIA AAJ Justice Facilities award from the American Institute of Architects. Further, South Korean delegates took a tour of the Emergency Operations Center to view its state-of-art technology and facility design.
We received word that a young student created a perspective painting of the Hayshire Elementary School that we previously designed for Central York School District. It’s wonderful to see our designs appreciated by students!
We were delighted to have our firm profile featured in Learning by Design’s summer issue as well as ranking #95 in Engineering News-Record MidAtlantic’s Top Design Firms of 2018 and ranking #38 in the Architect Magazine’s Top 50 Firms in Business.
David Schrader earned Fellowship recognition this year for his service with the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). He also reflected on his time with A4LE and the organization’s international accomplishments in an article in Learning Spaces Magazine. Though David’s role as Chairman came to a close this past year, he remains an active, contributing member of A4LE and supports the new Chairman and Board Members in their mission to improve the environments in which children learn.
Beginnings and Next Chapters
We began a grand journey for the construction of Hatboro-Horsham School District’s Crooked Billet Elementary School, Springfield Township School District’s newest Early Learning Center with groundbreaking ceremonies as well as Springfield School District’s, in Delaware County, newest High School.
We welcomed the opening of Cherry Hill Elementary/Middle School with a Ribbon cutting with officials from Baltimore City Public Schools. We celebrated the completion of Upper Merion Area School District’s two new Elementary Schools: Caley and Gulph in King of Prussia. We finished construction of Council Rock School District’s newly renovated Holland Middle School. We are also proud to see the completion of the Phelps School Athletic Facility, renovations to Circle of Seasons Charter School, and the renovations to Palmyra Middle School.
We thank you for all the adventures we’ve had during 2018 and are excited for more opportunities in the new year!
From all of us at SCHRADERGROUP
SCHRADERGROUP Receives AIA AAJ Award for Pennsylvania State Emergency Operations Center
SCHRADERGROUP is proud to announce that their recently completed project, the New State Emergency Operations Center for Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), has been selected as a recipient for the 2018 AIA AAJ Justice Facilities Review. The project was selected for publication based on its quality of form, functionality, and current architectural response to complex justice design issues. The AIA AAJ Justice Facilities Review jury commented, “The efficiencies of co-locating multiple agencies offers positive efficiencies. The building organization favors placing day-to-day activities along the perimeter, favoring light and view for those in the facility on a daily basis.”
SG, in a joint venture with AECOM Technology Corporation (AECOM), completed the new, approximately 145,000 SF State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) serving as a home for many of the State’s emergency response functions. In addition to ensuring the supply of continuous power and communication that is necessary for the SEOC, the design team provided a building that is reinforced and secure for emergency staff. The new facility provides dedicated emergency services and disaster assistance for the state, with the ability to sustain uninterrupted operations during activations.
In addition to the SEOC, the facility provides ergonomically-designed office space for all PEMA administrative departments, as well as partner organizations and integrated functions such as the Office of the State Fire Marshal, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Traffic Management. The complex also supports a Tier 3 data center, media briefing, training facilities, and protected storage for PEMA operations vehicles.
Design for this facility follows sustainability guidelines, as understood by the US Green Building Council’s LEED certification process. PEMA has achieved a LEED certified rating. All programming, planning and site master planning preceding the design portion of the project also was completed by SG/AECOM.
The facility was a recipient of the same Justice Facilities Review award in 2014, prior to construction. The team is honored to receive an additional award for the completed project.
See more photos of the PEMA project here.
See the AIA AAJ Justice Facilities Review page here.
North Providence Public Safety Complex Project in Rhode Island
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is excited for a new public safety complex project in North Providence, Rhode Island.
SG, the Law Enforcement consultant to Robinson Green Beretta (RGB), a local Rhode Island architect, is responsible for providing programming and planning services for a new 67,000 SF public safety building for North Providence. The facility will house fire and police for the city.
RGB is based out of Providence, Rhode Island. They are an architecture, project management, and interior design firm established in 1946. Learn more about the numerous services and markets that RGB offers on their website here.
The two-story building is proposed for a tight urban site in the city of North Providence. It is anticipated for 2018 completed construction.
It has one shared two-story lobby that welcomes the public to the different entities that separately have their own specific program space. Shared spaces include the lobby, communication center, fitness center, and public bathrooms. It is designed with a front of house and back of house support structure, Police cruisers are located on the site behind the secure staff parking—A major concept incorporated into the back of house is the pull through area that allows the Fire apparatus to loop around the back of the site to multiple pull through Fire apparatus bays.
Read more about this Rhode Island project on RGB’s project profile page here and a great article about the project breaking ground on RGB’s news page here.
Dare County and a Mention in Cenero’s Case Study Video!
Dare County, North Carolina was fortunate to be the recipient of the state 9-1-1 consolidation grant. As a result, SCHRADERGROUP (SG) worked to consolidate the emergency communications centers of the Counties of Dare, Tyrrell and Hyde into one Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) as well as creating an Emergency Operations Center for Dare County.
The new 18,200 SF facility is located in Dare County, North Carolina, and includes a Regional 9-1-1 Communications Center, an Emergency Operations Center, County Emergency Management Agency, County Fire Marshal, County Emergency Medical Services, and a County Joint Information Center. The design of the building is visually reflective of the aesthetics of the recently completed County administrative facility.
In the path of frequent mid-Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms, the RECC is sited so that the building is constructed above the 100-year flood plain. This is critical both for RECC operations during hurricane and flooding, as well as for meeting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recommendations for emergency management. The fact that the facility will meet DHS/EMA needs will also allow the RECC to exceed best practices for the design of 9-1-1 facilities. Fully survivable and redundant, the facility also provides sleeping quarters to support emergency management personnel and functions.
You can see more of Dare County in the Cenero video HERE
SCHRADERGROUP is Ranked Nationally in Building Design + Construction Magazine’s 2017 Giant 300 Report Issue!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is excited to be ranked #46 in Building Design + Construction Magazine’s Top 90 K-12 Architecture Firms and is also ranked #22 in the Top 25 Data Center Architecture Firms (Nationally) in their 2017 Giants 300 Report issue. Building Design + Construction Magazine is an award winning magazine that provides the daily news, trends and more for Architects, Engineers, and Contractors.
Building Design + Construction’s Top 90 K-12 Architecture Firm article can be found here.
The Top 25 Data Center Architecture Firm ranking can be found here.
The whole magazine issue can be found here.
SCHRADERGROUP Welcomes Our New Director of Public Safety Client Services!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is delighted to welcome Larry Bickford to the firm. Larry joins SG as a Public Safety, Mission Critical, and Emergency Operations consultant.
As a consultant in the construction and design industry, Larry has served as the Project Executive for government facilities as diverse as correctional, judicial, law enforcement, administrative, 9-1-1, and emergency operations center (EOC) facilities. As former County Manager, Larry provides executive level consulting in governmental policy, finance, and capital project procurement and delivery. He served as a principal defining public projects, developing financing strategies, selecting of consultants and has served as the owner’s representative.
Larry is a Penn State Alumnus with 24 years of experience leading county government operations and consulting to municipal, county, regional and state governments in the procurement, design and construction of public safety/justice facilities.
We are excited to have Larry join our team and look forward to his expertise on our future Public Safety projects.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends Ribbon Cutting of New Mission Critical Facility Completed in Outer Banks
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) was honored to attend the ribbon cutting for the new Dare-Tyrrell-Hyde Counties Regional Emergency Communications Center located in Manteo, Dare County, North Carolina. The new 18,200 SF facility consolidates the emergency communications operations of Dare, Tyrrell and Hyde Counties into one Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and additionally creates an Emergency Operations Center for Dare County.
“It was a great pleasure to be at the ribbon cutting ceremony,” said Project Architect Dan D’Amico, AIA, LEED AP. “It was exciting to be a part of the design and construction of the first facility in North Carolina to consolidate emergency communications for three counties into one state-of-the-art facility. To see the end result and experience the pride and satisfaction of the new facility users was a great reward.”
The ribbon cutting was recently featured in The Virginia-Pilot. In the path of frequent mid-Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms, the facility is designed to withstand 150 mph winds, and additionally is sited to be above the 100-year flood plain. For more information about the project, please visit our website.