Photos: Timothy Schenck
For a retrofit of Harrison PATH train station, Dattner Architects designed curved curtainwalls supported by vertical, horizontal and diagonal columns and beams. Project goals for the station, built in 1936, included opening up the building design, adding accessibility and creating a bright, modern design. It is part of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) rapid transit system in Northeast New Jersey.
Column covers accommodated a variety of penetrations and cutouts that are connection points for an intersecting beam structure. Additionally, the groundfloor portions of the column covers have rails for vertical sliding doors.
Ryan Kusmick, project manager at BAMCO Inc., the installer, says, “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. That information was all unfolded and relayed to SAF (Southern Aluminum Finishing Co. Inc.), who delivered on the design.”
BAMCO installed column covers and metal wall panels painted in a Fluropon Special White PVDF finish from SAF. Columns at the front of the station have SAF’s M-2000 1/8-inch-thick aluminum column covers. County Glass and Metal Installers Inc. fabricated and installed the curtainwall glazing.
