We’re pleased to announce that seven members of our team have recently been promoted—a direct reflection of their professional stature and invaluable contributions to our success. Each of these individuals is held in high regard by their coworkers, by their colleagues in the profession, and by the firm’s prestigious clients. With this elevated leadership, we look forward to achieving even more great things together going forward.

John Grande, PE has been promoted to Associate Principal. Since returning to the SSX team in 2006, John has enjoyed the problem-solving challenge of his engineering work. While his projects have evolved in scale, he notes that the best part is the variety of different project types and the puzzles they present, either in a structural or architectural capacity—sometimes intertwining both factors. Notable examples include restoration of the architecturally rich One Hanson Place, a prominent Brooklyn landmark, and strategically orchestrating the addition of a second egress from the GWB Bus Station, a structure directly above a major highway.

Neville Kermani has been promoted to Associate Principal. In his 20 years with SSX, opportunities to execute roofing projects have added a new dimension to his expertise. His studio has since moved on to significant facade and waterproofing projects. Neville was hard pressed to pick a favorite project from his studio’s extensive portfolio, but one that came to mind was the Sheridan Steam Plant in Albany, designed by SSX in 2009 and eventually executed in the field in 2011 - 2012. This restoration had a wide-ranging scope and brought into play the talents of his best senior studio members, as well as design and construction phase support from our structural and materials conservation teams. Neville adds that he has learned a great deal about project approaches and strategies from Paul and David, from many other SSX colleagues, and from his own studio members. He looks forward to continuing to do so.

Darsh Shah, PE has been promoted to Associate Principal. Since joining SSX in 1996, he has worked on a wide range of public and private sector projects—more than 1,200 buildings. In addition to exterior restoration and roofing replacement projects, Darsh’s experience includes restoring historic landmarks, parking garages, and plazas, and structural design for a new ambulatory care pavilion. His favorite projects for design and restoration include various diversified projects at One New York Plaza, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel ventilation buildings, and the ConEd headquarters, a New York City Landmark. Darsh sees Superstructures as a university where everyone is a teacher—a place where, with everyone’s cooperation, we can climb to new heights.

Nimesh Shah, PE has been promoted to Associate Principal. His journey of 13 years with Superstructures has provided him with a great pool of knowledge and increasing confidence. Still, he observes that he’s still doing the same thing he did at the beginning of his tenure: learning something new every day. Among the many projects he’s directed, he highlights the NYCHA Bond B roof replacement project, which included the roofs of 112 buildings varying in size and configuration. This project challenged the entire team at various stages, but we were very pleased with the overall outcome.

Lorie Riddle, RA has been promoted to Associate Principal. She quips that, when she started at SSX 21 years ago, her supervisors went through a lot of red pens. Since then, Lorie has accumulated invaluable skills and leadership capacity through experiential learning. But she notes that there is always more to learn from craftsmen, from the built environment, from each other. Among her favorite projects are the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, Columbia University’s Low Library, and the Brooklyn Public Library. Of the various virtues of these projects, she notes a sense of collective responsibility and achievement among the client, contractors, and architects. Working as part of a project team with different backgrounds and sometimes opposing objectives to achieve a successful project is what she loves about being an architect—that and the opportunity to nerd out over 100 year-old materials and details.

Michael Stripunsky, RA has been promoted to Associate Principal. Though he’s been with the firm for 20 years, he underscores what’s unchanged from his first day: the enormous fun of working with smart and talented people in a company that stands apart in the field of exterior restoration, providing unsurpassed quality, utilizing the most technologically advanced restoration systems, and contributing to the glory of the city we all love. Michael cites two recently completed projects that stand out in his work with SSX. The restoration of John Jay College’s Haaren Hall involved replacement of thousands of decorative terra cotta units, and everything went right thanks to a distinctive building, an educated client, an exceptional contractor, and of course, the SSX team. Another of Michael’s favorite projects is the roof restoration at Queens College Fitzgerald Gym. For the first time in a US building, a membrane that simulates a copper roof (at a fraction of its cost) was applied. Again, the SSX team rose to the challenge to make a complex project run smoothly.

Sabine van Riel, RA has been promoted to Senior Associate. Looking back at her 14 years with SSX, she notes how our SCA projects and reporting have evolved and the challenges of keeping up with changing demands and industry standards. Sabine also reflects on her hands-on experience with NDT&E methods, which have evolved over the years, and on the expansion of FISP requirements and our capacity to meet them. A favorite project from Sabine’s experience was 62 East 4^th Street, where we were able to recreate the cornice on the restored parapet with very little historic evidence. Good cooperation among the contractor, the facility, and the client made the project a pleasure. Another of her favorite projects was the facade restoration and gable reconstruction of 10 East 75^th Street, which involved working with Studio JMG to resolve structural issues and a contractor who executed the work meticulously well. Sabine adds that forming a solid studio with great talents has been the biggest joy of her past three years as studio head.