“I started with an apprenticeship program when I was 18-years-old and immediately fell in love with the construction industry,” says Bahrudin (Rudy) Kadiric, president of Titan Interiors LLC. Founded in the thick of the Great Recession, the six-year old company has impressively grown in its short history.
To start a company during one of the largest economic declines in the United States seems mad to most people, but there’s no doubt Titan Interiors has succeeded against those odds. And the pay-off of delivering quality work for commercial projects in and around Grand Rapids is pretty clear. This year, W&Cwanted to profile a new, up and coming company for our 2016 Top 50 Contractors; One that displayed quality craftsmanship and a steady and upward growth commitment.
Titan Interiors is a subcontractor mostly delivering services in metal stud framing and drywall installation. Although the company is still relatively new, its staff has more than 60 years combined experience in the industry, serving some of the area’s largest commercial contractors. Titan Interiors provides high-quality interior and exterior framing, drywall installation, insulation, acoustical and specialty ceilings, acoustical sound panels, EIFS/stucco, flooring and painting.
Building Up
A team that originally consisted solely of Kadiric and his brother, the company has grown to approximately 35 employees and manages other subcontractors as well.
When starting Titan Interiors, Kadiric says the Great Recession didn’t have much of an impact—at least in West Michigan.
“West Michigan was not hit as hard as the rest of the state throughout the recession,” he says but still, most of the state wasn’t exactly healthy either. “Currently, West Michigan is blessed with huge construction expansion.”
A love for buildings is what inspired him to start a career in this field, but handling compressed construction schedules is what he loves the least. Though, it could be assumed that is all part of the challenge for this new company.
“We are going to be continuously busy throughout this year,” he says.
A man of few words, but big dreams, when asked what his ultimate professional goal is, Kadiric says, “I want to become number one drywall contractor in West Michigan.”
Great Sound
Titan was recently awarded the Jenison Performing Arts Center, in Jenison, Mich. This large and complex project has a budget of $1.2 million alone for the subcontractor.
The community of Jenison sought to create a focal point for its residents and the surrounding region. It embarked on a program to create a destination for the arts.
The typical multi-purpose venue is designed for drama and adapted for music with movable components. The typical design is backward.
This design reverses tradition and builds a concert hall adaptable for drama. Stage walls are designed as a fixed orchestra shell. The intimate gallery seating in the audience chamber is extended into the stage, creating an upstage choir loft. Movable walls under the choir loft retract to create upstage space for an orchestra supporting musical theatre.
A section of the choir loft is movable, permitting large scenery to be moved on-stage from the scene shop. The width of the proscenium accommodates large performances, and can be adjusted with movable tormentor doors. A motorized overhead reflector adjusts the proscenium height for smaller music performances and drama. Back-of-house spaces of scene shop, costume shop, and dressing areas are provided.
Dressing areas are designed to accommodate music warm-up. A multi-purpose room is configured as a future “black box” and has its own small lobby. The main lobby is designed to accommodate displays of visual arts.
This was a large undertaking for the people of Jenison to have a facility of this nature in their community, which speaks highly of the commitment to their students.
“We had a varied scope of work including interior and exterior framing, EIFS (a Sto system was used), and K13 acoustical insulation,” says Kadiric.
Titan Interiors partnered with local insulation manufacturer Nu-Wool to use its Eco-batt insulation in the walls and ceiling clouds. Nu-Wool, located in the Hudsonville-Jenison area, actively sought to be a part of this project.
“We used Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum column covers and balcony edge radius profiles along with custom made auditorium acoustical clouds and custom decorative pipe array” says Kadiric. “All this work required many hours of layout and installation working from a scaffold dance floor high in the air to achieve the look desired by the owner/architect.”
Titan also furnished and installed acoustical wall panels, hung and finished drywall, and installed acoustical grid ceilings. “We used Mull-It-Over partition end window mullion caps to absorb sound,” says Kadiric.
One of the unique features of the auditorium was the pipe array. With no specifications to work from—just an idea from the architect—the subcontractor came up with using 3-inch E.M.T. electrical conduit, used custom-lathed wooden dowels to plug and cap the ends. They were then cleaned, sanded and painted a gold color and suspended from aircraft cable to create this fan array in the ceiling—a unique architectural feature.
That, along with the custom acoustical suspended clouds, provided a unique layout and installation challenge that Titan was happy to meet.