The American Physical Society (a physics journal publisher, not an Olivia Newton-John fan club) has built the HQ for its editorial arm on top of the department's existing building in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens, the latest project to benefit from a design-first, build-later construction process.

We snapped Barry LePatner, whose LePatner & Associates provided construction counsel and whose LePatner Project Solutions is managing construction, in his 575 Lex office. He says APS had three options for expansion: knock down the building and start new, sell and then buy or rent elsewhere, or add to and renovate the existing property near the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The latter was the most cost effective, he tells us, and Barry's emphasis on finalizing design before starting construction makes sure costs stay low on target. (Barry's snapped above with a prized possession, one of only 25 gold-leaf models of Lady Liberty’s torch; he repped the American and French architects who redid the real one in ’86).

This morning, APS's Gene Sprouse explained that a second floor was added to one wing of the original, 50k SF building in December, and now the first floor underneath is undergoing renovation. Next will be the renovation of the single-floor wing. Once work is complete, ivy will be planted to cover the green screen that's already in place (above). The project is on schedule to deliver by Memorial Day, after a two-year delay over an environmental lawsuit.

Here's a look at the combo of old and new, the brick exterior of the existing building alongside the stairs to the new second floor. Gene tells us the office was the first in what was to be a business park, but the area became a preserve in 1993 and the rest of the park never materialized, leaving APS as the sole building. Still, APS has opted to stay put in a nod to its highly trained staff members, who've built lives in the area. Gone will be the corridors to fit the large carts for moving manuscripts (the office receives one every three minutes during business hours) and in will be less direct light, the better to reduce computer screen glare for reading all that text.