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Real Estate Weekly |
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NEW YORK. NY British Airways now has an expanded and upgraded baggage back operations space - technically known as a baggage make-up room - at John F. Kennedy International Airport's Terminal Seven, in Jamaica, New York.
Aragon Construction, New York City's premiere general contracting and construction management firm, together with architectural firm Graf& Lewent Architects, LLP, served as the construction manager on the project and began working on the 30,000 square foot renovation in March. The construction was completed in mid-July. Graf& Lewent's design team included Sideris Engineers and conveyer consultants, BNP Associates, Inc.
“As airline traffic has finally returned to pre 9/11 frequency, airlines are grappling with the issues of sustaining the additional passengers and the necessary baggage screening equipment needed to handle this increased capacity,” explains Howard Graf, principal of Graf & Lewent, noting that British Airways is at the forefront of the airline industry in resolving these concerns.
To that end, British Airways needed a solution that would increase both the amount ofbaggage it could handle and screening capacity. Specifically, the task included adding more linear feet to the baggage carousel, or make-up device, and reconfiguring the space to handle two additional 9,000 pound CTX scanning machines – when the make-up room could not be expanded.
“In other words,” says Graf, “the challenge was having to fit all this new equipment into the existing confines of the terminal because the room itself couldn't grow. Security issues just make everything more complicated.” Aragon was able to hurdle these challenges and others: For example, notes Alex Getelman, President and Founder of Aragon Construction, “while we enlarged the existing system, we were taking it offline and yet the airline has to keep scanning and working, so we came up with a short term solution and constructed a temporary conveyer.” In addition, they teamed up with the airline's baggage handlers to ensure that productivity and quality were not compromised by the flight schedules; also, Transportation Security Administration guidelines mandate that workers cannot be unescorted after they pass through security, and Aragon was able to guarantee that the project did not suffer any setbacks from being under-staffed due to the security regulations.
“Aragon, along with Graf & Lewent, were able to successfully manage this project by constantly communicating with TSA officials, the Port Authority and British Airways,” says Getelman. “We were able to coordinate the priorities of all three entities to ensure a feasible, fundctional work environment.”
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