Marybeth Leamer Archives - School Construction News

Harvard’s Tozzer Anthropology Building Earns LEED Gold

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Almost two years after its May 2014 debut, Harvard University’s Tozzer Anthropology Building in Cambridge earned LEED Gold certification. The facility’s custom-engineered windows and curtainwall were placed in a staggered pattern throughout the brick- and copper-clad exterior, creating an abundance of natural light on the interior.

Known as the nation’s oldest anthropology library, the Tozzer Anthropology Building was originally founded in 1866 as part of the Peabody Museum. A new building was constructed in 1971 to house the growing collection of ethnology archaeology artifacts and other anthropological items; however, the three-story structure eventually became so deteriorated that it was considered uninhabitable.

A $12 million effort to bring the building up to modern standards included a 24,800-square-foot renovation as well as a two-story, 10,000-square-foot addition. Kennedy & Violich Architecture (KVA) served as the architect on the project, while Consigli Construction served as the builder. Both companies have offices in Boston.

The main goal of the project was to bring sub-disciplines within the anthropology department into one shared location. Plus, the library needed added flexibility to accommodate its changing role, becoming more of a collaborative space. While the facility still houses approximately 54,000 volumes on two floors, it also features more offices, classrooms and informal gathering spaces that promote collaboration.

The existing building was stripped to its structural steel and designed to mimic the adjacent Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology with a brick façade and copper roof. An additional entrance was added to the rear courtyard, and the building now links directly to the Peabody Museum.

The new program is organized around a central birch wood atrium. The atrium extends to the fourth story and includes a social gathering space on the second floor. Offices, classrooms and informal gathering places surround this daylight-filled living space, creating visual relationships between levels and providing acoustic treatment. A light well circulates tempered air as part of an innovative energy-saving ventilation system.

Along with natural light and views, recycled and durable materials also helped the project achieve LEED Gold. The extruded aluminum frames that make up the building’s curtainwall and window systems contain recycled content averaging 70 percent or more. High-performance architectural finishes also contribute to the curtainwall and window systems’ durability and reduce the need for maintenance.

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Renovation Breathes New Life into Methuen School

METHUEN, Mass. — Not long ago, the future of Massachusetts’ Methuen High School was in jeopardy. Although the school’s original 1970s-era building was well designed and solidly built, the antiquated open classroom design did not provide an optimal learning environment. Additionally, many areas within the school did not meet ADA standards, putting it at risk for losing accreditation. However, a soon-to-be-completed $75 million renovation and expansion, designed by Finegold Alexander & Associates of Boston, has given the school a much brighter, safer and more secure future.
Designers and school officials had a number of different goals for the project, which comprised 264,000 square feet of renovation and a 105,000-square-foot addition. Primarily, the new school had to offer expanded teaching tools and new opportunities for student learning and development.

To meet this goal, the new 21st century Methuen High School features an entirely new wing for art and music classes. The highlight of this new addition is a 750-seat auditorium with a professional-level stage, technical gallery and catwalks, as well as tiered side boxes and flexible seating. Instrument practice rooms will also be included.

A well-equipped new media center — which Superintendent Judy Scannell called “the showpiece of the new renovation” in a video highlighting the project’s progress — will be packed with new technology. The school will also offer production and graphic design studios, as well as a glass-encased reading room. Further upgrades have been completed on student locker bays, and life safety improvements to the field house and ice rink ensure all facilities meet ADA code.
The school’s new addition houses a modern kitchen, serving area and cafeteria, as well as physical plant infrastructure. Where the original school offered just four science labs, the expansion now accommodates 17 new, state-of-the-art laboratories. A catwalk will link different areas of the school, and a new entrance will serve the auditorium, field house and ice rink.
Skylights line the school’s new primary entryway, infusing it with natural light to improve the student experience and reduce energy use. This distinct and welcoming entryway gives the facility a clear identity and clarifies wayfinding. Lively colors and finishes further enhance the interior.

Consigli Construction, with offices across New England, broke ground on the project in July 2011 and is wrapping it up this month. The renovation and addition project was largely complete while the school was occupied using the Construction Manager at-Risk method.
Consigli devised an aggressive, yet finely tuned, two-phase construction process to accommodate the nearly 1,500, 10-12 grade students who remained in the building throughout the project. This involved relocating the school’s entire 9th grade class to a nearby middle school and shifting the three remaining grades throughout the building during construction. The firm also created temporary classrooms, labs, offices and administrative spaces within the schools’ existing kitchen area. Two temporary modular buildings were brought onto the campus to serve as science classrooms.
Additional members of the project team included Engineers Design Group Inc. of Malden, Mass.; RDK Engineers with offices in Massachusetts and North Carolina; ART Engineering Corporation of Worchester, Mass.; and Nitsch Engineering Inc. of Boston.

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Harvard Refreshes Anthropology Department Library

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard students and staff moved into the newly renovated Tozzer Anthropology Building in Cambridge in May, about one and a half years after construction broke ground on the project. The renovated facility replaces the Tozzer Library in an effort to combine the social anthropology and anthropology archaeology programs at the school.
The $12 million project included a complete renovation of the 24,800-square-foot building as well as a two-story, 10,000-square-foot addition that is now dedicated to anthropology. Kennedy & Violich Architecture (KVA) served as the architect on the project, while Consigli Construction served as the builder. Both companies have offices based in Boston.
The main goal of the project was to strengthen the sub-disciplines within the department by bringing them into one main location. Plus, the role of traditional library is changing into more of a collaborative space, as opposed to being used as a place for book storage. As one of the world’s largest anthropology research libraries, the facility still houses about 54,000 volumes of books on two floors, but it also features several design elements that bring the facility up to today’s standards.
The existing building was stripped to its structural steel and rebuilt to LEED Gold standards. The new designs mimic the adjacent Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology with a brick façade and copper roof. Working with the university and anthropology department faculty, staff and librarians, the KVA design team created smart classrooms, collegial spaces, faculty offices and a refreshed anthropology library to house the Tozzer anthropology collections.
An additional entrance was added to the rear courtyard, and the building now links directly to the Peabody Museum. The new program is organized around a central birch wood atrium, which extends to the fourth story and includes a social gathering space on the second floor. Offices, classrooms and informal gathering places surround this living space, which brings daylight into the building, creates visual relationships between floor level, and provides acoustic treatment. The light well circulates tempered air as part of an innovative energy-saving ventilation system.
The design challenge was creating space for a 21st century anthropology curriculum in the existing 1971 building footprint, campus infrastructure connections, and steel and concrete structural system, according to KVA. Plus, the 1971 three-story brick envelope could not be re-used due to mold and vapor barrier problems in the original construction. As such, the design consists of a digitally corbelled brick detail at the new entry that is directly linked with the overall geometry of the building massing, with each brick course shifted from the course below in parallel with the building structure, according to KVA.
The use of brick in the building’s design earned the project a Best in Class award at the 2014 Brick in Architecture Awards organized by the Brick Industry Association. Selected by an independent panel of judges, 40 winners were chosen out of 150 entries from both the United States and Canada.

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Newton Voters Approve $49 Million Sandy Hook Project

NEWTOWN, Conn. — After a devastating year of events, the residents of Newtown, Conn., have something to celebrate. On Oct. 5, voters accepted a $49.25 million state appropriation that will be used towards the demolition and rebuild of Sandy Hook Elementary School where 26 people were killed in December of last year.

The landslide vote to accept the state money was 4,504 yes to 558 no, and it was the town’s highest voter turnout since the 2008 presidential election, according to NewsTimes.

“As we look to bring home our Sandy Hook School community, it is critical to have a school building that will allow them to stay together,” the Newtown Board of Education said in a letter to The Newtown Bee. “Accepting this funding will allow the town of Newtown to once again be made whole.”

The new school will be built on the same site of the existing building, which has been closed since the school shooting on Dec. 14. Sandy Hook students have been attending nearby Chalk Hill Middle School in Monroe, Conn., for the interim. The state funding will also be used to purchase two parcels of adjacent land for a new entrance to the school.

By law, the town had to vote on accepting the $49.25 million state appropriation. Voters previously approved the first $750,000 state allocation for predesign work at a town meeting in July. The referendum to accept the $49.25 million was set in August when the Legislative Council also voted unanimously to include the construction project in the town’s five-year capital plan.

The school should be demolished in the next few months with construction beginning in the spring. It is expected to cost between $42 million and $47 million, and is scheduled for completion in 2016. Milford, Mass.-headquartered Consigli Construction is the construction firm working on the project. The project will not require any local tax dollars.

“The people of Newtown decided that building a new Sandy Hook Elementary School is an important step onward for their children and their community,” Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said in a statement. “This funding is another way the state is continuing the unwavering support our citizens and our government have shown for them since that dark day that still affects us all.”

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