Modern Steel Construction – May 2013, pg 56
Chelsea Piers on Bloomberg – June 25, 2012
Read Building & Construction Northeast’s profile on A.P. Construction and the Chelsea Piers project.
A.P. Construction Company has completed the 418,000 square foot Chelsea Piers Connecticut sports and recreation complex located in Stamford, CT on schedule. Beginning in April 2011, A.P. Construction, acting as the construction manager, completed this fast-track project in just 15 months. Located on a 33-acre property, the site was the former headquarters for Clairol.
“We were thrilled to have been chosen to partner with Chelsea Piers Connecticut and construct this extraordinary athletic facility for the Stamford community and the state of Connecticut,” said Andrew B. Ashforth, CEO of A.P. Construction Company and Co-CEO of The Ashforth Company.
Watch an interview with A.P. Construction project manager, Joe Orlando
The $50 million facility includes the renovation of two connected factory buildings into a three-tiered venue: ground level, mezzanine area and roof area.
The ground level of the complex prominently features two NHL-size ice rinks and a family aquatic center with an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The pool has a 30-foot movable floor which is the first in the country. A portion of the pool floor is designed like a dry dock. It floats but it is tied down by cables connected to motors and can be pulled down below water level to any depth. Also on the ground level are twelve squash courts, a gymnastics and trampoline center, batting cages and a training area. A new main entrance was added to the exterior of the building, along with sidewalks and improved parking facilities.
The mezzanine area provides a viewing area of all the sports areas, a seating area for the food concession and special event rooms.
The roof area includes a tennis club with seven courts in a new prefabricated building. A second prefabricated building has an all-purpose, dividable turf sporting fields, volleyball, and basketball. The new central core with elevator, offices and lobby connects the two prefabricated buildings on the roof to the lower levels.
One of the most challenging aspects of the project was the modification of the structure with the elimination of columns to create open space on the ground level for the hockey rinks and the pool while carrying the additional weight of the roof structures. Since the roof holds tennis courts and an indoor playing field, truncated columns and inverted king trusses were needed to displace the load sideways to other columns instead of downward to footings.
Ashforth added, “Another unique challenge on this project was just the mere size of the property and our ability to quickly get around to manage the project and all the vendors. It is one-quarter mile from one end where our onsite office was located to the other end. We used golf carts when possible but most times our team was walking on average five to ten miles a day. “One could say its all part of our employee health and wellness plan,” Ashforth quipped.
James G. Rogers Associates is the architect. A.P. Construction’s construction management team included David Breidenbach, project director, project managers Joe Orlando and Mark Kammerer and superintendents Mike Steadman, Scott Marlow and Mark Moran, assistant project manager Joe Pitagora, project accountant Teresa Intrieri and estimator Paul Shamas.
David Tewksbury, co-founder of Chelsea Piers New York and president of Chelsea Piers Connecticut said they feel they have built the finest sports facility in North America, and that the project is based on community needs. Chelsea Piers Connecticut looks forward to partnering with businesses, area schools and sports teams in Fairfield County, and beyond.
