Centra is a Class A office building located on 19 acres in Metropark, a cluster of office buildings and a train station spanning the Woodbridge and Edison border next to the Garden State Parkway in Iselin, New Jersey, USA.

The building was developed in collaboration with DeSimone Consulting Engineers, and its unique structural design utilizes an asymmetrical tree-column and truss to support the fourth-floor extension which, provides a signature focal point for the project. By carving a rectangular hole in the center of the suspended fourth floor, the ground-level grand entryway is showered with natural daylight and surrounding nature.

The Durose team was completely immersed in the restorative project, with the original designer looking to emphasize existing features of the structure by introducing a simple, yet intricate steel construct.

The steel tree structure was initially built here in Guelph in 2011, and then shipped to its home location in Iselin. Durose was heavily involved in the entire installation, utilizing our extensive knowledge in steel construction for the distinctive architectural structure.

The refurbishment of this project has been displayed in many architectural magazines. The modernization dropped jaws across the continent, provoking engineering professors, architectural experts, and world-famous universities to ask the simple question, “how did you do it?”

The Durose team is proud of our contribution to this project, one of our favourites and most impressive to date.