Mark Hildreth.
Mark Hildreth, 31
Project Manager at Pavarini McGovern
Growing up, Mark Hildreth watched his engineer father indulge in his favorite hobby, designing and building houses. Seeing his father hard at work, Hildreth picked up the same interests.
“The more I learned about construction and the actual process, the more interested in it I became,” said Hildreth, who revels in the complexity of his chosen career. “I can’t get enough of it. As a project manager, you’re managing financials, you’re managing scheduling, you’re managing people, and then you get to see all of those components come together. It’s really fascinating for me.”
Listening to Hildreth discuss projects he’s managed construction teams for, the joy of that complexity shines through, as when he discusses the construction of the 129,000-square-foot, LEED Silver Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University.
“That was incredibly technically complex,” said Hildreth, who earned a bachelor’s from Virginia Tech and a master’s from Columbia University. “It was a high-end custom design by Tod Williams Billie Tsien. Every detail on that job was perfect and unique, and thought up just for that project. We had custom handmade bricks shipped from Denmark. We had pressed fabric wall coverings covering all the walls. We had a state-of-the-art theater with an auditorium. Everything about that job was state-of-the-art and high-end.”
Hildreth also worked on the development of the 192,000-square-foot high-rise at 100 Vandam Street, which incorporated the existing facade of a historic warehouse already on the Hudson Square site.
“We reincorporated the facade of the building into this new 25-story structure,” Hildreth said. “For me, the added complexity of incorporating those designs and those details, where everything is imperfect but needs to be technically precise in an impressive new structure, is really challenging and fun. Also, this is a high-end building with a high-end design. There are elevated planters, trees, high-end finishes throughout. It’s just a really interesting project to be a part of.”—L.G.
