‍School #77 PUSH

This mixed-use sustainable rehabilitation project involved the substantial renovation and conversion of a vacant three-story, 80,605 SF former school into a residential, commercial and community oriented neighborhood hub. The $15 million project contains a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments (30 total), a community center, a community recreational gymnasium, offices for PUSH Buffalo, space for Peace of the City, and a new home for the Ujima Theatre Company, a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multigenerational professional theatre company. 

Buffalo Engineering provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection design and construction administration services for the project, to meet NYS HCR, Enterprise Green Communities and NYSERDA requirements and criteria. It features the first community solar project in the state that offers discounted energy solely to low-income residents, who can buy power from the 64-kilowatt solar array on the roof. 

Although the theater was constructed in the footprint of the school’s original auditorium, the theater was completely remade. The stage and seating areas were flipped, new seats were installed, and in place of the raised platform stage there is a versatile black box performance area. Buffalo Engineering provided HVAC design and general lighting for the theater spaces. School 77-PUSH was awarded one of two 2019 Preservation Awards for Outstanding Projects of greater than 10,000 square feet from Preservation Buffalo Niagara.