Rick Anderson, Washburn University’s treasurer and vice president for administration, said in a release that work with the architecture firms will begin in the coming days, and that construction will be up for bid this December. The building is expected to cost approximately $30 million, and construction will likely begin by March 2015. Students are expected to move into the new facility in time for the fall 2016 semester.

According to Denise Ottinger, vice president for student life, the exact configuration of the new student housing facility has not yet been determined, and will depend on financial feasibility. However, Washburn administrators have said that the suite-style student rooms will share common living space as they do in two of the university’s existing residence halls.

The new dining facility will specifically seek to address the lunchtime bottleneck experienced at the existing Memorial Union, and meet the need for additional programming space and expanded late night dining options. Ottinger added in a release that the university hopes the new facility will become a post-game destination for the campus community.

Construction of the new housing and dining structure will also help address the university’s residence hall wait list, which it has maintained for the past four years.
According to Anderson, lack of housing is one reason the school loses prospective students to other colleges and universities.

"We don’t know how many students we lose because we don’t have housing," Anderson said in a statement. "But that does happen."

The momentum created by this and other building projects included in the university’s 10-year campus master plan are likely to have a positive impact on both enrollment and the Washburn community. Currently Washburn is conducting extensive renovations to the Welcome Center at Morgan Hall, which will soon serve as the university’s “front door.” The multimillion renovation will enable students conduct a number of admission, registration, advising and financial aid activities under one roof, and is expected to be completed in time for the school’s 2015 sesquicentennial celebration.

Meanwhile, Washburn has also partnered with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to construct a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory on campus. Upon completion the approximately $55 million, 100,000-square-foot facility will house the state’s crime lab, and allow the university to expand its biological, computer/digital and anthropological forensics course offerings.

The post Washburn University Names Residence Hall Architects appeared first on School Construction News.

Baker Design Group of Boston served as lead architect for the 14,250-square-foot renovation, as well as the 4,600 square feet of new penthouse space. In addition to expanding the building’s useable space, the project will also improve Longfellow Hall’s existing infrastructure and accessibility. However, it will primarily allow for the relocation of several academic programs currently housed in leased spaces, advancing the university’s goal of creating a more cohesive campus.

Numerous internal improvements include upgrades to the building’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing and life safety systems. Thanks to the integration of new green and sustainable technologies, the redesign is also projected to reduce the building’s greenhouse gas footprint by 6 percent, bringing its overall reduction to 27 percent since 2006. The project is currently targeting LEED Gold certification.

Despite its new modern features, designers made sure the vertical addition will blend well into its surroundings, and compliment Longfellow Hall’s existing façade in scale, design and material. Construction of a temporary roof system will also ensure the project does not encounter any water infiltration to the floors below, and interior preservation work will help maintain the building’s ornate interiors.

The red brick structure was originally designed by Perry, Shaw and Hepburn in 1929, and was acquired by the HGSE in 1961 from Radcliffe College. To that point, the HGSE had been spread across several 19th century frame houses, as well as one 1840s era building still in use today by the university’s Science Center. Extensive renovations were completed on the building after its purchase, creating new classrooms, office space and a lower level library. The building is currently home to the HGSE’s Academic Affairs Office, Admissions, Career Services and other departments.

The Longfellow project itself is part of a multiphase HGSE campus master plan prepared jointly by Baker Design Group and Harvey H. Kaiser Associates Inc. (HHK). According to HHK, the highly interactive campus planning process included frequent meetings with a university steering committee, as well as multiple members of the planning staff and broader campus community.

The first phase of the three-phase master plan project aimed to consolidate existing facilities by improving space utilization. This entailed the construction of several new structures, enabling the HGSE to move away from leased buildings. Various planning options were developed throughout the following phases, and resulted in the summer of 2011 with recommendation implementations. Construction on Longfellow Hall began in late 2013, and is targeted to last through December 2014.

BOND of Everett, Mass. was selected to serve as the project’s construction manager. Like Baker Design Group, BOND also has experience working with Harvard, having successfully completed the university’s 510,000-square-foot Northwest Science Center in 2008, and the 180,000-square-foot student housing development 10 Akron that same year.

The post Harvard Tops Off Longfellow Hall Renovation appeared first on School Construction News.

"The Center for Performing Arts will increase Western’s educational offerings and provide Macomb with a state-of-the-art music, dance and theater production facility," Quinn said at the funding announcement. "This is an investment in the school’s future."


According to current plans, the $71.8 million CPA will feature a 1,400-seat proscenium theatre auditorium with two balconies, a 250-seat thrust stage and a more intimate 150-seat studio theatre. A number of spaces including dance, music and theatre rehearsal studios, a VIP area, green rooms, dressing rooms, a scenery design workshop, costume shop, box office and administrative offices will further support the performance art programs. The CPA design is also on target for LEED Silver certification.

"We are elated that Gov. Quinn has released the full funding for the construction of The Center for Performing Arts in Macomb," said WIU President Jack Thomas in a release. "We are excited about beginning construction on this new facility that will benefit our students, faculty and staff, as well as the region.”

"This is a moment that will change the history of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, Western Illinois University and arts across the region,” added Billy Clow, College of Fine Arts and Communication dean. “The CPA will provide an outstanding space for our students and faculty, and will serve as a cultural center for the region. We are…thankful to Gov. Quinn and the State of Illinois for their support for this landmark project.”

Work on the CPA is also anticipated to benefit the Macomb community and surrounding region. "The Center for Performing Arts project will create hundreds of construction jobs over two and a half years,” Capital Development Board Director Jim Underwood said in a statement, “and we look forward to working with the skilled trades people that will make this marvelous facility a reality.”

The Illinois Board of Higher Education first recommended a $22.5 million appropriation for construction of the facility in 2002. In 2006, the Capital Development Board and WIU officials selected the center’s design team, and the final concept was finalized two years later. Though the university hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking in 2011, construction will likely begin in earnest in late 2014 or early 2015, following the selection of a construction manager. The facility is slated to celebrate its grand opening in the spring semester of 2018.

Cannon Design of Chicago served as the Architect of Record for the CPA project, and Pelli, Clarke, Pelli of New Haven, Conn. provided additional design expertise. Theatre Projects Consultants of Norwalk, Conn. and Kirkegaard Assoc. of Chicago provided theatrical and A/V and acoustical services. Affiliated Engineers Inc. of Madison, Wis. and David Mason Assoc. and Thornton Thomasetti Inc., both of Chicago, comprise the project’s engineering team.

The post WIU to Build Performing Arts Center appeared first on School Construction News.

The 11th annual GCA event, which showcases Hawaii’s top construction projects, included 20 awards categories. GCA reviewers judged projects on eight criteria including meeting the challenges of a difficult job, excellence in project management, innovation in construction techniques, state of the art advancement, sensitivity to environment and surroundings, excellence in client service, contractor’s contribution to the community, and safety.
“Receiving the Grand Award by our industry peers for the UH Information Technology Center building is the utmost honor for dck Pacific, especially this year as we celebrate our 75 years of doing business in Hawaii,” said Eric G. Tessem, Sr. Vice President and General Manager of dck Pacific.
According to the university, the six-story, 74,000-square-foot UH ITC includes the school’s first modern, secure, energy-efficient data center to house enterprise information and communications technology systems. The state-of-the-art facilities allows faculty to develop and produce digital media content for education and research, and supports advanced teleconferencing and collaboration for members of the university community to work with colleagues around the world. The building design also incorporates many green features that the university hopes will lead to a LEED Silver certification.
“This was a complex and challenging project, which included the installation of numerous ‘first of its kind’ systems for the university,” Tessem added. “The recognition of our project team’s efforts in receiving this award is one that is well deserved. dck Pacific is proud to have been a part of this award-winning building that will be the hub of the university’s future.”
“We are incredibly proud of dck Pacific and the entire team responsible for the new UH IT Center,” said University of Hawaii Interim President David Lassner, who served as Vice President for IT and Chief Information Officer during construction. “This building has been needed for years and is already changing the way we support the use of data, communications and information technology across the entire UH System.”

The post University of Hawaii Building Wins Construction Award appeared first on School Construction News.

As the building development process continues, members of the Barnard community will meet periodically in subcommittees to focus on the fundamental elements of this project as it moves to the design phase and beyond.

The post Barnard College Selects SOM for New Campus Design appeared first on School Construction News.

The 22,395-square-foot, bio-containment structure is one of several freestanding research buildings located on the school’s campus. However, the Pell Lab breaks from standard research facility design by diminishing the lines between the building’s interior and the surrounding natural environment.

Providing transparency, light and a connection to the Pennsylvania landscape were critical to the project, according to Payette. Though many similar secured facilities are specifically designed without windows, the $23 million Pell Lab takes great care to provide workers with access and exposure to the outdoors. As such, the twin-concrete block building offers views of the surrounding green space at each end. In its final assessment, an NIH review team stated that the building the most pleasant bio-containment working environment they had ever seen.

The facility, which was completed in 2013, consists of a bio-containment zone and a head house. The concrete, block-clad bio-containment zone houses both animal holding areas and procedure room suites, a secure loading dock and high-level research labs. According to Payette, the research floor is sandwiched between two interstitial mechanical floors that provide access to maintain and service equipment without violating bio-containment barriers. 


Meanwhile, the head house is home to several areas including the manager’s office, a conference room, break room, communicating stair between the mechanical rooms and Biosafety Level 3 research lab. The zinc-wrapped head house is also the point at which the dynamic shape of the roof transforms to define the main entrance. According to the university, the angular lab’s undulating roof, which houses a complex array of mechanical systems, is also its most distinctive feature.

Inside, research spaces have been organized into a suite formation, allowing for multiple research projects to be conducted congruently without concerns of cross-contamination. The suite configuration and interior finishes also help facilitate continuous operation of the adjacent research spaces while minimizing research interruption.

Today, the Pell Lab hosts some of the most cutting-edge immunology and infectious disease research in the world. Pell Lab scientists and faculty primarily study aerosol and insect transmitted diseases in a safe and secure environment. Designed as a Select Agent facility by the Federal Select Agent Program, the Pell Lab is also cleared to handle advanced research projects involving biological materials and toxins that are potentially threatening to public, animal and plant health.

In addition to the AIA award, the lab was also awarded 2014 Laboratory of the Year High Honors, an honor granted jointly by R&D Magazine, Laboratory Design Newsletter, and the Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association.

The facility’s construction was supported by the National Institute of Health, as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. It is currently aiming for LEED Gold certification.

Torcon, headquartered in Red Bank, N.J., served as the project’s construction manager. The project team also included MEP and structural designers from Merrick & Company of McMurry, Pa., as well as civil engineers from Sweetland Engineering of State College, Pa.

The post AIA New England Recognizes Penn State Lab appeared first on School Construction News.

Larry Coffin, assistant director of athletics, recreational and intramural sports, told the UMSL Daily in March, “We are in the construction phase now and everything we plan is exponentially more than exists on campus today. It’s going to rival anything in the community.”

The Recreation and Wellness Center was spearheaded by the UMSL student body, and will reflect the needs and interests of the school’s growing community. Inside the angular, multi-tiered facility, students will find a three-lane inclined jogging track, a three-court gymnasium, locker rooms and multiple group fitness rooms for classes such as yoga and martial arts. Weight training and cardio centers will also be included, as will a climbing and bouldering wall, zip line, and a six-lane fitness and recreational swimming pool.

UMSL students have been very involved in the planning process for the new Recreation and Wellness Center, and groups of faculty and students have visited neighboring facilities to generate design ideas. The students voted in 2012 to fund the project through a more than $19 increase in per credit fees. All enrolled students will be free to use the new facility, though faculty and staff will be required to pay membership fees. At the groundbreaking ceremony, UMSL Chancellor Tom George specifically thanked the students who voted to finance the center and acknowledged the role each played in enhancing campus life for future students.

Dean of Students Miriam Roccia, who also participated in the idea-generating facility visits, told the USML Daily, “We are designing a building that will be here for a long time. It will operate 16 to 18 hours a day and provide great opportunities for student recreation, fitness and employment.”

The facility was planned by Cannon Design of St. Louis, which previously worked with the university system on the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Missouri Rolla. River City Construction LLC of East Peoria, Ill., is serving as the project’s general contractor. The firm has also constructed a variety of facilities at the university’s Columbia campus.

The $36 million building is being constructed on the site of two former parking lots just south of the school’s existing Millennium Student Center on the North Campus. The roughly 100,000-square-foot structure is designed to meet LEED Silver certification requirements. Those interested in following the construction of this new facility can view a live stream here.

The post New UMSL Rec Center Packed With Amenities appeared first on School Construction News.

The monumental Scandlon Center introduced 41,000 square feet of new multi-purpose recreation and education space to the King’s College campus, and features brick work, metal panels, and concrete masonry. Rather than disguise these simple, economical architectural components, designers chose to highlight them.

“The Scandlon Health and Wellness Center’s aesthetic quality is ultimately about its utilitarian nature,” Spillman Farmer Design Principal Joseph N. Biondo, AIA, said in a statement. “We made a deliberate effort to impart a simple, clear, and balanced beauty that will become a timeless enhancement to the King’s College campus.”

The college decided to construct a new indoor sports facility to provide more athletic and recreational space to students, and to house its sports sciences program. The project’s largest space is the 20,000-square-foot gymnasium, located on the building’s upper level. Other spaces include a 2,600-square-foot athletic training education suite, a 860-square-foot health sciences classroom, a 1,320-square-foot physical therapy suite and a 1,600-square-foot administrative suite. An outdoor teaching area adds green space to the urban location, and also provides for outdoor recreation.

The use of natural building materials continued inside, where day lighting and multiple wood storage components help illuminate and soften the space. Exposed masonry walls and red accent gypsum board walls punctuate the gymnasium and other areas of the new building, while durable and easy-to-maintain polished concrete floors fill the majority of public spaces. The building’s structural system also includes a poured-in-place spread footing foundation, steel frame, and long-span steel joists.

"The design of the center accomplished the dual goals of providing expanded recreational opportunities for our students, as well as office space for the College’s athletic training faculty," the Rev. John Ryan, president of King’s College, said in a statement. "The building is a tremendous addition to our campus."

The new building is also linked to the college’s existing 71,500-square-foot main gymnasium through a glassed walkway, and occupies a compact, sloping urban site. Due to its unique location and relationship to existing buildings, the Scandlon Center presented several key challenges for the design team. To account for these restraints, program spaces, including athletics, student recreation, and health sciences, are economically stacked and strategically zoned to take advantage of the site’s natural topography.

The project also included several upgrades to the original gymnasium, adjacent to the new structure. These included revisions and upgrades to the HVAC ductwork, renovations to the locker rooms and bathrooms, and the installation of new bleachers. The HVAC system in the new gymnasium also services a section of the original gymnasium building.

The project team also included construction manager Sordoni Construction Services; Radnor Property Group; structural engineer Barry Isett & Associates; civil engineer Derck & Edson Associates; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer Martin Rogers & Associates; and sports flooring suppliers and installers Beynon Sports Surfaces and M. Abraham Flooring.

The post New Center at King’s College Lands AIA Award appeared first on School Construction News.

Demand for health services education has increased substantially in recent years, and the school’s health careers programs have roughly doubled in size to keep pace. This boom eventually necessitated the construction of the modern Health Careers Center to consolidate health-related programs. Today, the facility, which was completed in 2012, includes state-of-the-art simulation labs and classrooms, helping future health care professionals train for real world challenges.

As the three-story facility regularly hosts events such as massage therapy and dental clinics, the building is also welcoming and easy to navigate, keeping the majority of visitor-trafficked areas on the ground floor. Meanwhile, the second floor contains multiple seminar spaces and faculty offices, while the nursing program comprises most of the top floor.

The Health Careers Center also serves as a helpful physical link between the upper and lower campus. The steel-frame structure features a compact footprint, and an elevator and walkway have helped expand wheel chair and ADA accessibility. Previously students requiring ADA accommodations could only reach the steep upper campus area via an organized shuttle service.

The 45,000-square-foot project was completed in association with Pinnacle Architecture, based in Bend. HSW Builders, also of Bend, served as the project’s lead contractor.

The post YGH-Designed Facility Earns Masonry Award appeared first on School Construction News.

“This is truly a great day for us as we celebrate the official launch of the first major construction project for our college in decades,” said Candis Claiborn, dean of the WSU College of Engineering and Architecture. ”The impact of the Clean Technology Laboratory Building will be immediate and significant. The transitional research that will take place in this space will address some of society’s grand challenges around energy and environment.”

Upon completion, the glass and brick Clean Technology Laboratory Building will house both basic and applied science and engineering programs, and will provide top quality research facilities for faculty and students on all levels. According to the university, that research and instruction will focus on sustainable design and infrastructure; air and water quality research; and advanced materials research emphasizing renewable energy. At the March groundbreaking, WSU Interim Provost Daniel Bernardo added that the new laboratory would also be used to develop new materials that are more environmentally friendly and economically sustainable.

Alongside classrooms, offices and student lounges, the interdisciplinary facility will also include research laboratories serving the Composite Materials and Engineering Center, the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, and Civil and Environmental Engineering. In addition, the building will contain common support areas, specialized core laboratories and conference areas.

Though related, science and engineering programs are often separated in university settings, as is the current case at WSU. According to the university, many undergraduate- and graduate-level students studying these related fields are hampered by the separate and aging engineering and science facilities currently available. This new facility will likely help set WSU apart.

"Providing these modern facilities is going to be critical for recruiting the best faculty, and for attracting the brightest students, the majority of which stay in the state after they’ve graduated," Dean Claiborn added in an interview with KLEW TV after the groundbreaking.

LMN Architects and Skanska USA collaborated on the design-build proposal for the Clean Technology Laboratory Building, which will open in October 2015. PAE Consulting Engineers, Inc., Sparling, Inc. and Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Inc. will also provide engineering expertise.

According to Dave Harrison, senior vice president of of Skanska USA, this level of collaboration and communication between design and construction partners is a great advantage to the project. “By working together as one team, the contractor, architect and key engineering partners can identify constructability issues in the design well before they become an issue in the field,” Harrison wrote in the Daily Journal of Commerce.

The post WSU’s Clean Tech Building Anticipates 2015 Opening appeared first on School Construction News.