St. Germain & Aupperle is engineering a bigger home in Camillus

CAMILLUS — St. Germain & Aupperle Consulting Engineers, PLLC, plans to move to a new building currently under construction at the corner of West Genesee Street and Windcrest Drive in Camillus.

The site is a short distance down the street from the structural engineering firm’s current home at 6000 West Genesee St., where it has been since 2003.

The company began searching for a larger home three years ago, says owner and president Richard Aupperle, III. It found the site of its future home two years ago, completed the purchase in November 2014, and broke ground this March 16.

St. Germain & Aupperle is operating as the project’s general contractor, says Aupperle. He hopes to move into the new building by Christmas, with construction ideally wrapping up a month prior.

The building’s floor plan is approximately 3,500 square feet, about twice the size of the firm’s current space, which Aupperle estimates at between 1,600 and 1,800 square feet. Previous designs included a small second story above the building’s entrance, but Aupperle says the firm decided to cut it to reduce costs.

The company is paying for the project through a mix of company funds and a line of credit through M&T Bank, Aupperle told CNYBJ. He declined to disclose the total project costs or the company’s revenue history.

Aupperle’s wife, Maria Aupperle, created the architectural design for the new building, and his brother Andrew, president of Camillus–based Siteworks Land Developers, is handling the project site work. The foundation was laid by Superior Walls of America, Ltd., says Aupperle.

The electrical, framing, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) elements are each being handled by other local, independent contractors, Aupperle adds.

Making the new office more energy efficient is a goal, says Aupperle, so the designs call for extra insulation that exceeds code requirements. The company also decided to use as many renewable resources as possible, so it is using wood for a large portion of the building’s materials, including the entire frame.

Building a brand new office also means having an improved electrical system, which isn’t difficult because St. Germain & Aupperle’s current offices are in a converted train station built in 1915, says Aupperle. The wiring is literally under the floorboards and inside the wooden trim that lines the ceiling.

The firm’s current computer network is essentially a Band-Aid, says office manager Gary Weiermann. Its new home will be wired to accommodate modern technologies, and be adaptable for future technology.

Making space

When the company first moved into its current home in 2003, it had three employees. Weiermann says the office first began feeling cramped about four years ago, at which point the firm had seven employees.

Today, it has 11 full-time employees: seven engineers, three draftsmen, and an office manager (Weiermann).

“It’s pretty simple: We’re out of space,” Weiermann tells CNYBJ.

“We don’t have any of the amenities here that we really need to be more efficient,” says Aupperle. There is no conference room, no break area, and no room for the very loud — and very hot — printer used to print building designs. That piece of equipment is located behind an employee’s chair.

The office used to have a table that was used to lay out drawings, which Aupperle says is needed so engineers can gather around and talk about the designs. 

However, it had to be removed to make space for more employees.

Now, Aupperle says meetings are held in his office, or around his drafting table, which is a detriment to more than just his workers. “A lot of the larger meetings we’d like to offer to our clients, we can’t do.”

The new building will fix all of that, according to Aupperle. It has a large conference room, a printer room, and a fixed table approximately 12 feet long by 3 feet wide for laying out drawings and designs. The company’s seven engineers will have their own offices as well. “We’re trying to make it a very productive environment for the whole company,” says Aupperle.

The new location will not only provide much-needed breathing room, he adds, but also offer the chance to grow, both in terms of the workload and employees.

The finished building will look decidedly house-like, which Aupperle says was intentional. “The purpose of the design was to try to blend in with the neighborhood, because we’re on a commercial street, but we’re also at the corner of a neighborhood.”

He says a number of the company’s new neighbors came to zoning board meetings (the plot was previously residential land, which had to be changed to commercial), which afforded Aupperle the chance to interact and work with residents. He says they seem to have appreciated his company’s efforts to fit in.

“At the end of the day, they were very happy that it was going to be a local company, [and that] it was a professional office use, so there’s not a lot of in and out traffic,” he says. “And they were ultimately just glad it wasn’t a McDonald’s.”

St. Germain & Aupperle has been involved in projects in New England and down the East Coast, but most of its work is in Central New York. It worked on the Landmark Theatre’s Stage House expansion in Syracuse, Destiny USA’s pedestrian bridge that crosses Hiawatha Boulevard, and many of the buildings at the Township 5 retail development in Camillus, according to Aupperle.

A large portion of the company’s contracts have been renovation projects for buildings in Syracuse, he added.

The company was founded in 1968 by Richard St. Germain, who operated it from his East Syracuse home for many years, says Aupperle. In 2003, four years after joining the company, Aupperle became a partner. When Rich St. Germain retired in 2013, Aupperle became the sole owner, and the firm changed from a partnership to a corporation.

Prior to joining St. Germain, Aupperle says he worked for Clough Harbour & Associates LLP, where his work focused on bridge inspection and design. He is a native of Marcellus.        

CAMILLUS — St. Germain & Aupperle Consulting Engineers, PLLC, plans to move to a new building currently under construction at the corner of West Genesee Street and Windcrest Drive in Camillus.

The site is a short distance down the street from the structural engineering firm’s current home at 6000 West Genesee St., where it has been since 2003.

The company began searching for a larger home three years ago, says owner and president Richard Aupperle, III. It found the site of its future home two years ago, completed the purchase in November 2014, and broke ground this March 16.

St. Germain & Aupperle is operating as the project’s general contractor, says Aupperle. He hopes to move into the new building by Christmas, with construction ideally wrapping up a month prior.

The building’s floor plan is approximately 3,500 square feet, about twice the size of the firm’s current space, which Aupperle estimates at between 1,600 and 1,800 square feet. Previous designs included a small second story above the building’s entrance, but Aupperle says the firm decided to cut it to reduce costs.

The company is paying for the project through a mix of company funds and a line of credit through M&T Bank, Aupperle told CNYBJ. He declined to disclose the total project costs or the company’s revenue history.

Aupperle’s wife, Maria Aupperle, created the architectural design for the new building, and his brother Andrew, president of Camillus–based Siteworks Land Developers, is handling the project site work. The foundation was laid by Superior Walls of America, Ltd., says Aupperle.

The electrical, framing, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) elements are each being handled by other local, independent contractors, Aupperle adds.

Making the new office more energy efficient is a goal, says Aupperle, so the designs call for extra insulation that exceeds code requirements. The company also decided to use as many renewable resources as possible, so it is using wood for a large portion of the building’s materials, including the entire frame.

Building a brand new office also means having an improved electrical system, which isn’t difficult because St. Germain & Aupperle’s current offices are in a converted train station built in 1915, says Aupperle. The wiring is literally under the floorboards and inside the wooden trim that lines the ceiling.

The firm’s current computer network is essentially a Band-Aid, says office manager Gary Weiermann. Its new home will be wired to accommodate modern technologies, and be adaptable for future technology.

Making space

When the company first moved into its current home in 2003, it had three employees. Weiermann says the office first began feeling cramped about four years ago, at which point the firm had seven employees.

Today, it has 11 full-time employees: seven engineers, three draftsmen, and an office manager (Weiermann).

“It’s pretty simple: We’re out of space,” Weiermann tells CNYBJ.

“We don’t have any of the amenities here that we really need to be more efficient,” says Aupperle. There is no conference room, no break area, and no room for the very loud — and very hot — printer used to print building designs. That piece of equipment is located behind an employee’s chair.

The office used to have a table that was used to lay out drawings, which Aupperle says is needed so engineers can gather around and talk about the designs. 

However, it had to be removed to make space for more employees.

Now, Aupperle says meetings are held in his office, or around his drafting table, which is a detriment to more than just his workers. “A lot of the larger meetings we’d like to offer to our clients, we can’t do.”

The new building will fix all of that, according to Aupperle. It has a large conference room, a printer room, and a fixed table approximately 12 feet long by 3 feet wide for laying out drawings and designs. The company’s seven engineers will have their own offices as well. “We’re trying to make it a very productive environment for the whole company,” says Aupperle.

The new location will not only provide much-needed breathing room, he adds, but also offer the chance to grow, both in terms of the workload and employees.

The finished building will look decidedly house-like, which Aupperle says was intentional. “The purpose of the design was to try to blend in with the neighborhood, because we’re on a commercial street, but we’re also at the corner of a neighborhood.”

He says a number of the company’s new neighbors came to zoning board meetings (the plot was previously residential land, which had to be changed to commercial), which afforded Aupperle the chance to interact and work with residents. He says they seem to have appreciated his company’s efforts to fit in.

“At the end of the day, they were very happy that it was going to be a local company, [and that] it was a professional office use, so there’s not a lot of in and out traffic,” he says. “And they were ultimately just glad it wasn’t a McDonald’s.”

St. Germain & Aupperle has been involved in projects in New England and down the East Coast, but most of its work is in Central New York. It worked on the Landmark Theatre’s Stage House expansion in Syracuse, Destiny USA’s pedestrian bridge that crosses Hiawatha Boulevard, and many of the buildings at the Township 5 retail development in Camillus, according to Aupperle.

A large portion of the company’s contracts have been renovation projects for buildings in Syracuse, he added.

The company was founded in 1968 by Richard St. Germain, who operated it from his East Syracuse home for many years, says Aupperle. In 2003, four years after joining the company, Aupperle became a partner. When Rich St. Germain retired in 2013, Aupperle became the sole owner, and the firm changed from a partnership to a corporation.

Prior to joining St. Germain, Aupperle says he worked for Clough Harbour & Associates LLP, where his work focused on bridge inspection and design. He is a native of Marcellus.