STV volunteers recently teamed up with the Salvadori Center and the New York Building Congress (NYBC) to assist students at a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) community center in bringing their classroom redesigns to life. 

The students – who had spent the summer learning about engineering and architecture – developed their own design plans for an on-site classroom. From there, volunteers purchased furniture and materials based on the design plans and spent a day painting the walls, assembling furniture and organizing the students’ books and games. 

“It was awesome to walk into a room that was a real work-in-progress and then at the end of the day, take a step back and see the students’ vision actualized,” said Elizabeth Lisk, PE, structural engineer. “I’m excited for the students to see their design in real life and continue to learn and grow as future STEAM professionals.” 

The grand opening event at the Wyckoff Gardens Community Center in Brooklyn brought together participants from STV, the Salvadori Center and the NYBC alongside local community leaders for a celebration of the students’ work. Guests enjoyed a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a special presentation and a student-led tour of the newly redesigned classroom. The students proudly walked attendees through the space they helped imagine, sharing the inspiration behind their design choices and highlighting the lasting impact this transformed room will have on their learning and creativity. 

This community project presented a unique opportunity for STV to collaborate with three organizations with whom it has longstanding relationships. 

The Salvadori Center offers K-12 students hands-on, project-based lessons tied to the built environment, aligning with STV’s commitment to promoting education in science, technology, engineering, arts/architecture, and math (STEAM) disciplines. STV regularly partners with the Salvadori Center on community events, including conducting a career day for students at PS 386 in Manhattan and hosting career development workshops at its New York City office. STV’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Greg Kelly, PE, received the organization’s Award for Business at its 2024 Salvadori Benefit event. 

Kelly also currently serves as the chair of the New York Building Congress, a leading industry organization that promotes the growth and success of the construction industry in New York City and the surrounding region. 

For years, STV has provided program management/construction management (PM/CM) services for New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) capital improvement efforts aimed at modernizing public housing, improving safety and raising residents’ quality of life. STV is currently delivering the Polo Grounds campus project and the design-build project at Saint Nicholas Houses in Harlem. STV’s commitment to improving the lives of New Yorkers through key public housing initiatives was recently recognized with a formal Citation from the New York City Council. 

STV is proud to work alongside these organizations to make communities better and advance the architecture, engineering and construction industries.