IBEX completes Architects building.

Using a reverse atrium effect, IBEX Construction transformed 12,000 SF of mostly inaccessible space into a multi-use gallery at the AIA Center for Architecture at 536 LaGuardia Place.

The Center opened this month with a very successful debut week, attracting more than 2,000 visitors.

IBEX Construction, in business since 1999, was chosen by the New York Chapter of AIA following a contractor selection process, which included submissions by over 40 construction companies.

Even with projects including impressive clients such as Nordstrom, Stuart Weitzman, AIG Financial Products, Lee's Art Shop in Manhattan, Microsoft, Washington Mutual, and Cole Haan, Andy Frankl, president of IBEX said the AIA project was a highpoint in the company's short history.

"It was really a labor of love," said Andy Frankl. "A lot of people got together to create this building. We went above and beyond the call of duty, be cause we knew it was an important building and space for our industry and the City."

The Center, renovated at a cost of $2.5 million, will function as gallery space, a lecture hall, public resource center, library, meeting rooms and administrative offices for the chapter and its charitable affiliate, the New York Foundation for Architecture.

The most challenging part of the project was the excavation of two subterranean floors that previous owners of the building had not used.

"IBEX removed parts of the existing floor slabs at street level and the floor below it, opening up three floors, including the basement, to natural light," said Andy Frankl, president of IBEX Construction. "In this case, we broke every rule in retail construction."

Another unique feature of the Center is the geothermal HVAC system, which required the drilling of two 1,250-foot-deep geothermal wells through several layers of earth.

"The drilling of the geothermal wells was also very challenging," Frankl said. "Not only did we have to worry about caving in the side walks, but we had to drill through the cellar and the sub-basement."

The wells are intended to recycle water and save energy simultaneously--a technology currently used at only 50 sites around the country.

"You use the earth's temperature," Frankl said. "The wells are infinite reservoirs to either transfer heat into of out of the building."

IBEX Construction also reached another pinnacle of achievement and was selected for the multi-million dollar construction project for the new Home Depot on West 23rd Street. Construction is to begin by the end of the year.

Frankl, who was a former division manager at HRH construction, credits his talented and dedicated team with the company's success.

The company name was strategically selected and reflects its recent accomplishments. Ibex is a species of mountain goat native to Central Asia and can be found climbing at elevations of 3,000 to 3,500 meters above sea level.