Blog/Events

The mixed-use development located at 416 and 420 Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, NY, has won The Concrete Industry Board (CIB) of New York’s Award of Merit! The CIB awards are presented to projects that exemplify excellence in concrete in their architectural and engineering design. McLaren is proud to be a part of this significant high-rise project, which has helped transform the Williamsburg section of the Brooklyn waterfront into a modern, vibrant urban neighborhood. On hand to accept the award were representatives from Spitzer Enterprises, ODA Architecture, ADC LLC and McLaren Engineering Group.

In recognition of Veteran’s Day, the Rockland County Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial and Monument were unveiled over the weekend in Haverstraw Bay County Park, NY. We are honored to part of this memorial dedicated to the fallen Rockland County Veterans of the Gulf War and War on Terror.

We are proud of the time we donated to create renderings and construction documents for the iconic memorial. The design incorporated elements particular to the wars, including:

• T-barriers…tall concrete walls that protected the troops during combat. Each one creates a seating area for reflection.
• Concrete barriers adorned with granite panels…with the names of those lost in the wars.
• Sand colored gravel…to reflect the desert terrain.
• Timeline wall showing the continuum of conflicts…from Desert Storm/Shield though to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• “Soldier’s Cross”…makeshift battlefield monument of a helmet balanced on a rifle with a pair of boots next to it.
• Myriad Pro Font…Arlington National Cemetery’s font.

As snow fell, McLaren Board of Directors member, Lt. General Dennis Hejlik, reminded attendees in his keynote address that “true heroes are those who serve their communities as police officers, firefighters and, certainly, as military personnel willing die to protect their neighbors.”

McLaren is proud that our roots are forever tied to New York. The new Monument sits in Haverstraw Bay County Park, N.Y., overlooking the 9/11 memorial that McLaren is also proud to have designed.

To find out more about the meaning of the memorial from those who helped design it, watch here.

Lucky members of the McLaren team recently attended a preview of “King Kong” on Broadway. The screening was a great team-building outing that also highlighted the work of the employee-centric firm. The play opened on November 8th and features a 20-foot, 2,500-pound gorilla operated by 13 people – brought to life thanks in part to the McLaren team! On the project, the firm evaluated the theater’s roof framing, designed the framing system to support the traveling gantry crane, evaluated the theatrical rigging and front-of-house equipment loads and analyzed the show’s stage apron extension.

A first of its kind 15,000-square-foot floating wetland and prototype installation for the National Aquarium has won the 2018 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Honor Award for Research! McLaren led the design of the structural and buoyancy systems for the prototype and full scale installation, helping the Aquarium introduce a large scale wetland into a hard-shoreline city center. McLaren is pleased to have helped the National Aquarium improve local environmental conditions and educate visitors on Chesapeake Bay wetlands habitat. Visit ASLA to learn more.

McLaren is excited to announce that Dawson Bloom, P.E. has joined the firm as a Civil Technical Director / Principal! Dawson has over 25 years of experience managing complex multidisciplinary teams of design professions and overseeing civil engineering projects across the tri-state area. Dawson specialties include transportation planning and design, site development, utility and infrastructure design, urban planning and design, municipal engineering, construction management and more.

Over 250 guests recently visited the new McLaren office in Woodcliff Lake, NJ for a cocktail reception to celebrate our grand opening! The night was filled with music, networking and food. We were thrilled to have so many partners, clients and friends join us.

McLaren helped expose 3,000 young minds to engineering with an interactive shake table at the Central Maryland Junior Achievement Inspire event at Timonium Fairgrounds. Our staff captivated students with a demonstration on how structures react during an earth quake. McLaren is dedicated to inspire the future workforce through STEM.

We are pleased to welcome Veronica Grace to McLaren’s HR team! As the Recruiting Coordinator for the firm, Veronica will be responsible for talent acquisition. Looking for an engineering job? Reach out to Veronica if interested in any of one our 25 current open positions!

McLaren helped repair the Lafayette Federal Office Building’s basement level parking garage in Washington, DC. Located just two blocks from the White House this historic building, built in the 1940’s, is now home of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. McLaren provided structural engineering services for the area in need of repair above a large, active mechanical room. McLaren conducted a condition assessment and prepared details and procedures for the repairs. The plan allowed the utility conduits suspended from the structure to remain in place and the mechanical equipment below to remain uninterrupted.

McLaren is proud to be part of the process that is helping make the Capital Region gondola become a reality. When fully funded, the first gondola would cross the river between Rensselaer and Albany sometime in early 2020, “making the Capital Region a national leader in this rapidly emerging urban access technology,” according to the project’s application to the Planning Commission.