NELSON ALDRICH ROCKEFELLER AWARD
/Ben Harrison, AIA
Architect, Putnam County Highway & Facilities Planning and Design Division
The Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Award recognizes licensed architects employedcin the public sector in New York State whose work on projects within their jurisdiction has furthered the cause of design excellence in public architecture.cBen Harrison has been working as Putnam County’s Architect as a County employeecfor several years. Putnam County developed a new concept in architecture forcplanning and construction dealing with county municipalities. Putnam County’s Architect works with the County’s range of talented and skilled employees to enhancecand significantly improve the County’s built environment not only for its employees but also the public as well. Ben has been working with legislators, senators, and multiple County departments in developing projects that improve and enhance buildings including accessibility, egress, security, and functionality. This direction has allowed Putnam County to receive it first Architectural Award last year for the 2019 AIA NewcYork State Excelsior Award for Renovation/Addition Award of Merit for Tilly Foster Farm Educational Institute Building #8, the County’s first public institute for career education. Building #8 is used as an Educational center for Culinary Arts Training and Bioscience Education for Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES, an event space, and acfarm-to-table restaurant called Tilly’s Table. Putnam County’s Tilly Foster Farm Educational Institute not only provides diverse educational experiences, but self-sustainingcopportunities for local tourism and community gatherings.
Over the last 25 years working in different cities on projects ranging in healthcare, education, institutional, and commercial, Ben has collected different skills, talent, and experience that he uses within Putnam County. Not only does Ben work with engineers, consultants, specialists, and contractors during the design and construction of the projects, he also reviews with the County’s plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and HVAC technicians in developing the projects, creating standard equipment callouts,cand proposing energy efficiency improvements to develop County standards. This process has developed into renovating two (2) Senior Centers over 6,000 sq ft each, ancupdate to the County’s Golf Course, and multiple County departments being enhancedcand modified.
Prior to working with Putnam County, Ben worked for various architectural firms contributing to New York based projects for clients such as the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Veteran Affairs (VA), SUNY Farmingdale, public library renovations, the US General Service Administration (GSA), and Ossining Town Hall.
Ben Harrison is always focused on designing and renovating structures for all userscand has had a substantial impact on the built environment within New York State.
