Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, N.Y.
Written by Zoë Zellers
Retrofit Team
Architect: Gensler, New York
General Contractor: Hunt Construction Group, Indianapolis
Ceiling Installer: Cord Contracting, Woodbury, N.Y.
Materials
After about four years of planning and construction, visitors to the roughly 400,000-square-foot interior encounter an environment that is inviting, airy and modern. Overhead, a custom configuration of High Profile Series ceiling elements—peaked metal beams with a decorated wood-look finish—lead the public through the curved concourse into the arena’s bowl.
The main concourse received a wood rafter suspended ceiling feature along with revamped bathrooms, lighting and concessions. The solution pays homage to the arena’s history by preserving the interior architecture while overhauling its infrastructure and material finishes.
Hunter Douglas’ team customized and engineered High Profile Series Frameworks and Straight Baffle ceilings while working around existing ceiling conditions. The owner, architect, and contractors wanted minimal penetrations to the existing deck above because of pre-existing conditions and the overall aesthetic. The engineering team worked to carefully design each beam’s length and angle, varying each to establish a visual “wave effect” that allows visitors to see movement as they walk around the coliseum.
The ceiling design and installation “was definitely unusual,” says subcontractor Richard Meyer of Cord Construction. “Luckily, we have state-of-the-art layout programs that let us take the architect’s autoCAD file and lay out all the parts going around the building to ensure we kept the look they were looking for.” Meyer says an engineer did pull tests to ensure it was “still going to be cost-effective and hold up in the long run.”
Aluminum Beams Manufacturer: Hunter Douglas Architectural
The Retrofit
Nassau Coliseum had begun showing signs of age after hosting a steady lineup of concerts and sporting events in the four decades since its opening in 1972. In fact, fans of a rival hockey team had begun calling it “the mausoleum.” After a proposed plan to demolish and replace the coliseum wasn’t approved, the facility sought a redesign to inject new life; stylish, state-of-the-art upgrades; and local flavor into the venue.
According to Taso Sioukas with Gensler, the firm wanted the update to make a new “design statement while maintaining the ‘good bones’ of the existing infrastructure.”
The unique ceiling aesthetic earned a Gold Award in Construction Excellence from the Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ceilings and Interior Systems Construction Association in March 2018.
Photos: Richard Cadan