Incorporating deconstruction into the lifecycle of a building has been around for decades, albeit on the fringes of construction practices because of the speed and lower cost of the wrecking ball and landfill placement. Now with sustainability requirements and lower carbon mandates, along with rising landfill prices, the time for serious consideration of building end-of-life and recycling has become imperative to consider early in the construction process. As the Urban Land Institute/PWC’s 2024… Read More

Secant piles are most effective for projects in urban environments with limited site space or dense surroundings. When the construction of a new building extends right up to the property line of the site, or there are difficult ground conditions, secant piles offer flexibility in shape and provide both foundation and excavation support. In areas where the excavation support is limited using secant piles eliminates the need for temporary excavation support (i.e. sheet piles, lagging, etc.).… Read More

Declining office occupancy levels combined with a growing shortage of affordable residential housing has ignited renewed interest in converting office space to multifamily housing. According to CBRE, in 2021 8 million SF of office space was converted, that number rose to 12 million SF in 2022 and is expected to continue rising in 2023.  While the majority of recent office space conversions have been to the laboratory and hospitality market, conversions to multifamily housing make up one-third… Read More

Bala Consulting Engineers is pleased to announce the promotion of Kimberly Burkert to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Kim began as Bala’s Controller and throughout her 20+ years grew to become Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, a member of the Senior Leadership Committee, a partner in the firm, and a member of Bala’s Board of Directors. Kim’s unique perspective and keen insights have advanced Bala’s project management capabilities and guided our overall growth strategies. Kim succeeds… Read More

The City of Philadelphia is rich with historical buildings.  From old banks to meeting houses to residential buildings that date back to the beginning of our country, it is hard to find a street in the City of Brotherly Love without a historic landmark or building.   This is one reason why Bala is no stranger to working on historic buildings.  Instead of starting from scratch, developers are inspired to work within the confines of these old buildings to breathe new life into structures rich… Read More

About 10 years ago, Bala took on a unique project with Spencer Luckey, an architect and artist who leads the custom design-build firm Luckey, LLC. In 1985, Spencer began creating children’s climbing structures that are part artistic sculpture, part jungle gym. He has constructed over 80 unique structures worldwide, including some in Mexico, China and Russia, among others.  These play structures are not traditional playground configurations. They are works of art and public space sculptures… Read More

Bala has made it a priority to support the architectural team in achieving this mix of the past and present. So far with the first two buildings, Bala has worked through several design challenges while creating an interactive space for the tenants and pedestrians alike. At the East end of the mill lies Building A, a 96,000 sq. ft three story laboratory and office space developed in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University.  This building contains a two story open high bay space for… Read More

Say you are the owner of a retail store and your building has a solid wall facing a busy street where potential consumers just walk right past instead of coming inside.  You wonder what's the most effective way to resolve this issue and decide to take action and open the wall up to showcase your product and let natural light in.  A contractor tells you that you will need to install temporary shoring to re-support the existing structure in order to make the opening.  Building a temporary shoring… Read More

Crawling into what the facilities manager referred to as “the catacombs” is not exactly what you would expect when doing work on a bank in the 21st century.  This is exactly the type of work you should imagine though when working in the heart of Philadelphia, one of the oldest municipalities in the U.S rich with history and, a lot of structural unknowns. Bala’s Structures Team was commissioned to upgrade two levels of space for Bryn Mawr Trust within an old building on the corner of Walnut and… Read More

When it comes to designing warehouse and logistic centers, it's all about size!  Spaces are designed around volume (footprint x height) and the demand for these facilities has become insatiable over the years. Structural engineering plays a key role in making sure the bones of these mammoth facilities are strong enough to sustain a wide variety of elements. Read More