Author Archives: fgdesign

Test News Post (Eastchester Ribbon Cutting)

The Eastchester Union Free School District held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, October 9th to mark the grand opening of their recently completed High School renovation and expansion project. Voters approved an almost $27 million-dollar bond to expand the high school building in October of 2015 and construction began in June of 2017. KG+D collaborated with the District on the high school project which upgraded and expanded key instructional spaces to meet the academic demands of a 21st Century Education and accommodate a significant increase in enrollment.

A major challenge for the 1927 High School was an increase in student enrollment. As a result, the District created temporary classrooms in an old gymnasium and had to implement four lunch periods in order to serve lunch to the entire student body. To address this challenge, the design solution sought to create additional instructional space, while also creating collaborative, forward-thinking Next Generation learning environments. State-of-the-art STEM labs created designated space for progressive program courses and the cafeteria expansion maximized the opportunity to create a student lounge and learning commons.

“I am so proud of our community and I am so happy for our students, said Dr. Walter Moran, Superintendent of Eastchester Union Free School District, “that they finally have a facility commensurate with the level of achievement and learning that they deserve.”

The final phase of the project will revert temporary classrooms that were created in the gymnasium space over 15 years ago, back into gym space which will increase practice and game space for the District’s 25 athletic teams.

Ossining Children’s Center

The Ossining Children’s Center has been a fixture of the local community for over 100 years and the goal of this project was to continue that tradition while bringing the facility into the 21st century. The new 28,000sf Arthur Samberg Building is a 3-story purpose-built childcare facility that replaced and consolidated OCC’s former outdated Victorian buildings. The structure is thoughtfully oriented on a 2.5-acre site to work within site limitations and optimize the views of the Hudson River. The program includes 14 classrooms for up to 225 children in age groups ranging from infants up to 12-year-olds. The facility also includes outdoor play areas for each age group, administration space, kitchen and a multipurpose space that can be used for indoor play, lunch and community events.

Russell A. Davidson

teamruss

Russell A. Davidson
FAIA, Managing Principal + President

Russ joined KG+D’s predecessor firm, Kaeyer, Parker & Garment in 1986 as an Associate, and was Principal of the firm for six years before becoming President in 2000. With 35 years of experience planning educational, commercial, religious and municipal facilities, he has extensive knowledge of the New York State public and private construction markets, educational planning requirements and trends, campus planning and successful bond referenda. Russ’ ability to develop creative design solutions that meet the program and project goals of the owner, with thoughtful attention to project site and context, has led to an exceptional level of client and community satisfaction with the end products delivered by KG+D.
Russ plays an active role in furthering the profession of architecture and the value of public achitecture. Russ has held leadership positions with the American Institute of Architects since 1999 culiminating in his role as National President of the AIA in 2016. Russ was elected to this position by the 90,000 members of the AIA served as it’s 92nd president in it’s over 150 year history and was the first National President from Westchester County. As an AIA leader, he has advocated for policy reform on issues that are important to our clients including funding for social infrastructure projects specifically, schools and libraries. As president, Russ traveled internationally and nationally and spoke about the public impact of design. In the fall of 2016 Russ convened the “Build America Summit” at the New York Times Center in New York City. This two day event focused on the critical need for our country to invest in the Public buildings that define our communities.

Erik A. Kaeyer

Erik A. Kaeyer
AIA, LEED AP, Design Principal + Vice President

As KG+D’s Principal for Design, Erik oversees the firm’s design quality standards and is responsible for a significant portion of the creative design work. He joined KG+D as an Associate in 1998 and was named Vice President in 2000.
A graduate of Cornell University, Erik began his career in architecture at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in London and spent eight years in Chicago, first as a designer with Destefano & Partners and later as Senior Project Architect at McClier Corporation. At KG+D, he has led the design of award winning projects such as addition and renovations for the Rippowam Cisqua School and Eagle Hill School, the new Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua, Jacob Burns Media Arts Lab, the first LEED Gold Building in Westchester County and the New York State Judicial Institute at Pace University Law School, the first facility of its kind specifically dedicated to the continuing education of judges and their staff.
Erik employs a unique design approach for every project drawing upon site characteristics, context, light and sustainable concepts to creatively interpret each design program. His interest in energy conservation and sustainable design, and his ability to create designs that innovatively meet the owner’s program and budget goals has helped deliver successful projects to the firm’s clients.