When Syska Hennessy Group received a call March 17, 2020, from North Central Bronx Hospital in New York City to help repurpose two residential floors for 120 new ICU beds, Tim Krawetz didn’t hesitate.
The senior principal and leader of the city-based engineering firm’s health care group met with hospital officials, architects and other team members the next day to hammer out a plan to repurpose 26,000 sq ft of nurses’ residences. “None of the stuff we have now was in place,” says Krawetz. “No masks, no social distancing. There were lots of people in the conference room, and you could feel the tension in the air.”