Crystal Supplies Southern Towers
QUEENS, NY, November 1, 2023 –The efforts of national manufacturer Crystal Window & Door Systems to supply 5,192 windows and doors for a large Washington, DC-area apartment complex are successfully drawing to closure. The multi-year window replacement project involved the five 16-story multifamily buildings of Southern Towers Apartments located at 4901 Seminary Road in Alexandria, VA, southwest of the nation’s capital. Crystal is currently making deliveries to the last two remaining buildings in the complex. Spanning several years, the window replacement project was phased by building, with several window contractors handling each phase of work, but Crystal supplying the entire project. Crystal Window & Door Systems is nearing the completion of the multi-year window replacement project at Southern Towers Apartments in Alexandria, VA. Crystal has supplied the five 16-story buildings with over 5,100 new energy-efficient windows and doors. “It is a testament to Crystal that the owners and managers of Southern Towers Apartments retained us as the window supplier for all five building phases,” said Steven Yu, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Crystal. “Crystal’s quality products, great service, and reliability continue to be recognized and appreciated in markets across the country.” A variety of Crystal’s heavy-commercial aluminum windows and doors were used on the project. By far the most prevalent window used for the Southern Towers project was the Crystal Series 5600 aluminum sliding window. Fabricated in both 2-lite and 3-lite (with fixed center-lite) versions, the window has a 3-¼” deep frame and is rated AW-PG40 and AW-PG50, respectively. The Crystal Series 5600 features continuous full-height sash clip lock pull rails, dual stainless steel sash rollers, and optional opening limit stops for safety, security, and ease of operation. Some of the buildings used large, 161” wide by 59” tall 3-lite versions of the Series 5600 to span wide building openings. Crystal provided its popular Series 5100 fixed and Series 5600 sliding aluminum windows for expansive views in many openings. Other buildings used the Crystal Series 5100 aluminum fixed picture window flanked by Series 5600 sliders to span large openings. The Series 5100 is also a 3-¼” window with an outstanding AW-PG100 rating. A handful of Crystal’s popular aluminum Series 1450 swing terrace doors were specified for the two early phase buildings. The Series 1450 terrace door is a 3-¼” in-swing door with an AAMA rating of AW-PG75. Also, the two buildings completed early in the project used some of the now discontinued Crystal heavy-commercial aluminum Series 6200 sliding windows. All the Crystal windows and doors for the replacement project called for 1” insulated glass units using Vitro Solarban 60 low-E glass and Argon gas filling. To facilitate the replacement installation, all the Crystal windows were specified with face flange frames, and snap trim and clip accessories. The latest windows for the project’s final phase were finished in a durable AAMA 2604 custom “silver shadow” powder coat paint. Windows for earlier project phases used similar shades of light gray. The Southern Towers Apartments complex is currently owned and operated by the CIM Group based in Los Angeles. Since the window replacement work began in 2015, three fenestration contracting firms have been awarded various phases of the work: Advanced Window, Inc. (AWI) of Frederick, MD; Caffes-Steele of Beltsville, MD; and most recently Hi-Rise Windows of Bethesda, MD. The five large buildings of Southern Towers Apartments constructed in 1960 total nearly 2 million square feet with 2,346 residential units. The buildings include studios, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom predominantly market rate rental apartments and select affordable units. The 40.5 acre site also includes landscaped grounds, swimming pools, tennis courts, playgrounds, fitness centers, indoor community spaces, and some commercial businesses.
Crystal and Chen Family Endowment Offers Scholarships
The Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment for Queens College School of Art recently sponsored at a reception and art exhibit on campus for the first student scholarship awards for studies in contemporary Asian art. Above right, left to right: Queens College President Frank Wu, Wang, and Thomas Chen. Photos courtesy of Dominick Totino. QUEENS, NY, October 26, 2023 –Founder and Chairman of Crystal Window & Door Systems, Thomas Chen, was pleased to greet the winners of the very first scholarships awarded at Queens College under the Thomas Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment on October 18, 2023. The five scholarship recipients are students at Queens College’s School of Arts and were chosen through an artwork competition of many student submissions evaluated by a panel of outside jurors. The scholarships, totaling $21,000, were presented at a reception and student art exhibit at Klapper Hall Student Art Gallery on the Queens College main campus. Above left; Thomas Chen, on right, with the scholarship winners. Also at the reception, internationally acclaimed author and journalist Ting Chian Wang received a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021, Thomas Chen and Crystal Windows established a $1.1 million endowment for Queens College to support contemporary Asian art at the 4-year college with ongoing exhibit sponsorship, art student scholarships, and artist-in-residence programs. Last year, the first art exhibit sponsored by the endowment was opened to great acclaim. Plans are underway for the first artist-in-residence program and master classes for next year. “I am so proud that the Chen Family/Crystal Windows endowment is supporting the Queens College art programs,” said Thomas Chen, speaking to the scholarship winners and guests at the reception. “Today we recognize these great endowment student scholarship winners, and it is very gratifying to be able to help them further their art education and future careers.” A total of $21,000 in scholarship awards were presented this year. Four of the five scholarship winners are undergraduate students and received $3,500 each. The fifth winner is a graduate student and received $7,000. The scholarships will assist their exploration of contemporary Asian art, traditional Asian art techniques, and developing their own unique art styles. On behalf of The Chen Family/Crystal Windows Endowment, Queens College President Frank Wu also presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to internationally noted author, journalist, and professor Ting Chian Wang, whose decades-long career began in Taiwan and continued later in New York. He is the author of many best-selling books, he worked extensively in newspaper and broadcast journalism, and taught at several universities in Taipei. Thomas Chen, who grew up in Taiwan, is an admirer of Wang’s work and was pleased to welcome the author to Queens College. Queens College is one of the premier institutions in the New York City University System (CUNY), offering nearly 80 undergraduate majors and over 100 graduate degrees and certifications. The public college serves over 19,000 undergraduate and graduate students and is highly ranked in terms of academics and value by several national college surveys such as Princeton Review and US News and World Report. Located at 65-30 Kissena Boulevard in the South Flushing neighborhood of Queens, the college sits on 84 landscaped acres with a park-like suburban feel.
