Spector Group, a metropolitan New York-based architecture, master planning and interior design firm, has created the “Forensic Architecture +” studio.
The new division will thoroughly focus on bonafide forensic architecture, one of the firm’s noted and most prolific areas of expertise. Spector has provided complete professional forensic architecture consultancy services to a variety of public and private sector clientele for more than 25 years.
“Many buildings, whether they are hospitals, educational facilities or office spaces, are decades old and in dire need of significant repair, rejuvenation and reinvention to bring them up to current efficiency, health and safety standards,” said Spector Group principal Marc B. Spector, AIA, NCARB.
“We provide an extraordinarily detailed analysis of a building’s lifecycle and current architectural, structural and environmental systems to investigate and test its ability to be repaired, renovated and/or restored.
“In most instances, we hone in on specific ways to make the building completely sound and usable once again, or completely change its original usage, while reducing client costs, increasing functional space and making a building more sustainable in the process.”
Some recent forensic architecture projects Spector Group has completed, or is presently working on, include: the forensic analysis and redesign of the 350,000 s/f Student Center for SUNY College at Old Westbury and the complete analysis and redesign of Stony Brook University’s 170,000 s/f Student Union Building, originally constructed in the 1960’s, into its new Student Services Center.
“Our new studio is not just about what is happening in the U.S. today, but is rather a reflection of the shift in the paradigm around our country and the world,” added Spector.
“With a limit on physical resources, such as land for new construction, as well as monetary resources, there is an increased desire to correct, preserve and reuse existing buildings in a clean, healthy and sustainable way. Through professional forensics, we can proudly be part of a team that designs buildings that stand the test of time.”
