By Juliet Chun

Today’s students desire a variety of study spaces, choosing among diverse scenarios whether working together or alone. COVID-19 has amplified the need for these options due to crucial six-feet-apart social distancing. As higher education projects comprising interior fit-outs or renovations proliferate, how can we integrate this type of flexibility within a building’s existing footprint? In the case of Harvard University’s Computer Science / Statistics Data Science Lab (CS/SDS Lab) and the Cabot Science Library’s second floor—two projects with different programs and sets of existing conditions—a deeper understanding of social interaction levels informed our firm’s renovation of their array of public and private spaces in a variety of configurations.

Both projects, located in the 1973 Josep Lluis Sert-designed Science Center, a modern landmark, introduce natural daylight and utility into the original precast building. Because of the existing structure’s constraints, careful planning was required to ensure maximum malleability. First, transparency and electricity were introduced throughout, providing reimagined settings for the spatial configurations to come. Glass partitions were inserted where separation was needed, allowing daylight to penetrate many of the interior rooms. Abundant electrical outlets were added to amplify student workspace and furniture arrangement options. This environment provided the backdrop for further study of program placement and evolving social interactions that led to our design.

Our design team developed a framework of “social interaction intensity” to help define spaces that support a clear range of density. Using four levels of interaction as a guide, the team identified distinct areas for level 1 (studying alone), level 2 (quietly working together), level 3 (group meetings), and level 4 (casual conversations). These areas were deemed appropriate for each of the project’s differing programs. The CS/SDS Lab now comprises a variety of shared open spaces, shared offices, and private offices. Users here typically work individually on their laptops or collaboratively together over glass writing boards and lively debates. The Cabot Science Library second floor has several group study rooms surrounding one large, central area. Separated by glass from the basement and first floors, this space provides a quiet area where students can work within a larger study context.

Based on typed and planned location of furniture, specific areas of interaction were identified within each project. Areas in remote locations of the plan were tagged as level 1 (places for quiet study), and rooms and spaces near entrances or circulation were tagged level 4 (places for casual exchange). Furniture also played a part in this plan: pod-like, single-seated furniture indicates a desire to be alone (level 1), table and chairs provide a place to quietly work together (level 2), individual soft seating invites a quick “hello” (level 3), and group lounge furniture fosters conversation (level 4). These options give students the flexibility they desire day-to-day.

Focusing on a variety of interaction levels also allowed the team to carefully incorporate a range of social densities and create spaces that were inherently flexible and adaptable to multiple uses. Two foldable glass wall partitions were used in the CS/SDS Lab to expand the work area when, biannually, a hackathon event takes place. For all other times, the space can be broken into three areas: the kitchenette, work area, and small conference room—spaces that inherently need and provide different types of social exchange.

By recognizing and designing for interaction levels, one can also begin to understand the implications of these social densities in relation to COVID-19. Spaces that were once designed for open public interaction can be easily modified for social distancing by removing chairs and rearranging tables. For the Cabot Science Library’s second floor, the plan allows for multiple situations: a one-way seating direction or staggered seating for individual distancing, group study rooms for those already living together to study together while being distanced from others, and taller table partitions that can replace existing partitions if added security is needed. Even highly public areas designed for group discussion such as those in the CS/SDS Lab can be re-arranged to accommodate fewer people with appropriate social distance observed.

By designing a malleable architectural framework that allows for flexibility, using social interaction research and levels as a guide, we can collectively create interior spaces that accommodate many configurations and shared settings, meeting today’s COVID-19 academic challenges and tomorrow’s student needs.

Juliet Chun, AIA, is an architect with Leers Weinzapfel Associates.

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Occupying a linear, sloping, 4-acre site at the base of Fayetteville’s McIlroy Hill on the southern end of campus, the project provides a new university gateway that marks the start of a larger living learning district. Bound on the north by 1960s residence halls, on the east by Stadium Drive, and on the west and south by a large arena and related athletic facilities, the hall is nestled within a generous protective buffer of trees and plantings.

An emphasis on nature resonates throughout the project. Connected by a ground-level passage, a serpentine band of student rooms define three distinctive courtyard spaces that create a dynamic environment for student collaboration and interactive learning in architecture, design, and the arts. The “front porch” in the northernmost building is the key entry point for the complex; the “cabin” at the ground-level, central passage’s midpoint is the main gathering space, comprising a community kitchen, lounges, a quiet hearth, and a rooftop terrace; and the “workshops” of the lower courtyard house a dynamic live/learn program of performance spaces, music and recording studios, and maker spaces that enhance the campus-wide arts program.

Four-story residential floors are arranged above the communal spaces. The main stair and elevator for each open onto a series of double-height lounges and kitchen spaces, joining upper and lower floors and inviting community interaction. Each floor contains semi-suites for two students with private baths, and pods of six to eight double rooms with a shared bath and common room. Large study rooms with generous windows at the end of each wing create a series of “lanterns” along Stadium Drive.

The warmth of the project’s exposed structural wood ceilings is apparent in student rooms, study rooms, floor lounges, and ground floor common spaces, and wood columns bring the beauty of the material within reach for all. The “cabin” also includes a wood ceiling and trusses that span the full width of its lounge spaces. Exteriors feature a light metal jacket of zinc-toned panels with accents of textured copper-tone and white that creates a floating band of living space above the natural landscape below.

Integrated into the topography of its site, the new housing complex features a cascading series of outdoor spaces that provide students and visitors with a variety of opportunities to engage and gather. Sinuous pathways are intricately woven through existing stands of mature oak trees, providing much needed shade for the new residents to enjoy warmer months outdoors. Undulating landforms, local sandstone seating areas, and drifts of native planting recall the geological and ecological vernacular of the Ozark Plateau while simultaneously creating comfortable places for people. Stormwater infiltration is carefully integrated into the grading strategy, which captures runoff from both paved areas and buildings.

The name Adohi (“a-doe-hee”) is a Cherokee word meaning “woods.” It honors tribe members who passed near the hall’s site while following the Trail of Tears (1837-1839). It also recognizes the enduring importance of wood and sustainable forestry to the region.

Nabholz Construction Corporation of Rogers, Arkansas, served as Construction Manager for the project, providing installation of the mass timber package.

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The term refers to a category of framing styles often using large panelized solid wood construction. These include cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber, dowel-laminated timber or glulam panels for floor and wall framing, according to the website reThink WOOD (produced by the The Softwood Lumber Board, a Washington-based industry funded group that promotes uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential and non-residential construction).

CLT typically consists of three, five or seven layers of dimension lumber oriented at right angles to one another and glued to form structural panels with exceptional strength, dimensional stability and rigidity.

“The desire to use mass timber was fundamental from the inception of the project to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, to create a warm and inviting living environment, and to support the statewide agenda for forestry development,” said Andrea P. Leers, FAIA, principal at Boston-based Leers Weinzapfel Associates, which led a national design collaborative that also included Modus Studio (Fayetteville, Ark.), Mackey Mitchell Architects (St. Louis) and OLIN (Philadelphia).

The University of Arkansas project used CLT for its wooden columns, beams and cross-bracing, which are all visible in the interior of the facility. Likewise, the structural columns and beams are made of glulam, where layers of wood all facing the same direction are laminated together under pressure. The results are handsome, warm and quite the endorsement for the mass timber industry, especially with all the sustainability benefits the wood has to offer.

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SALEM, Mass. — The renovation of the Sophia Gordon Creative & Performing Arts Center at Salem State University was completed in January. The new fully renovated, state-of-the-art theater opened its doors in April with a performance of Bob Martin and Don McKeller’s musical comedy, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a parody of American musical comedy of the 1920s.

The architect on the project was Leers Weinzapfel Associates, with Whiting-Turner Construction Co. serving as the general contractor — both of which are based in Boston. The 33,000-square-foot project had a budget of $22 million, with a 24-month construction cycle until its completion in April. The project began programming in 2013 as a result of a foundational gift, but did not come to fruition until 2015 when further financial support was achieved, according to Andrea Leers, FAIA and principal architect on the project from Leers Weinzapfel Associates.

The long-awaited renovation transformed the mid-century theater facility into a vibrant theatrical teaching, performance and support space for modern pre-professional students. The original building was constructed in 1958 and served as a general use auditorium. The original 650-seat main stage theater building was in need of reimagining, according to Leers, no longer meeting the current needs of the theater department and the wider university.

The design for the project reflects Salem State’s departmental goals and maximizes the space within the existing building shell by providing a balcony and a more intimate theater. The original 700-seat theater was transformed into a “more appropriate” 490-seat theater, since student performances almost never filled 700 seats, according to Leers. The facility now has three theaters with the inclusion of a lobby that doubles as an alternative performance space. Additionally, the new space has a large rehearsal room, green room, dressing rooms, scene shop, sound lab, light lab, prop storage and conference spaces.

Special state-of-the-art features of the new building include a full-stage lift and the ability to raise and lower the piano for the many musical productions that Salem State puts on. Additionally, an outdoor ampitheater performance space was created during the renovations, which in addition to providing another performance space, also improved overall accessibility to the building, according to Leers. “The previous entrance to the building was so inaccessible that it was basically a service entry,” said Leers. “Now, in addition to a fully lit and amplified outdoor performance space, the outside building envelope is wrapped in a new perforated metal screen, which not only transforms the aesthetic of the entire building, but it also relocated the entry.”

One of the challenges on the project was creating a state-of-the-art performance space on a limited budget, according to Leers. “We had big aspirations on a shoestring budget,” said Leers. “We were always looking for the elements to create the most impact that were at the same time the least costly. It is a very simple project materially for that reason.”

The choice of materials to stay within budget also impacted the visual design of the building, according to Leers. Regarding the design team’s choices around aesthetic design — the original shape of the auditorium had a slightly curved front. The design team used the design of the original building’s curved walls as a theme throughout the entire building, according to Leers. This curved theme was applied to the inside wall of the lobby, the upper gallery, the balcony and the seating of the audience chamber itself. On the exterior of the building is an accessible ramp with screening, “each piece of which is a broad curve inviting everyone in,” according to Leers.

In terms of the aesthetics of the interior of the theater, deep colors such as eggplant and dark reds were chosen for the theater audience chamber. “This color combination creates a rich and vibrant atmosphere for this beautiful theater,” said Leers.

As a contrast to the vibrant inside, the exterior colors of the building are muted, with a bronze-colored screen wrapped around the building, with the remaining parts of the building consisting of uncovered brick. “The screening is a kind of ‘theater mask’ on the old building, which allows you to see through it and reveal all of the new activities inside,” said Leers.

The Sophia Gordon Creative & Performing Arts Center was renovated to LEED Gold standards and is expected to achieve certification by the end of the year. The original building had no insulation, or central heating or cooling, and now has high-performance heating and air-conditioning systems, and a high-performance facade. Additionally, there are water-saving features in the building as well as other energy-savings measures, but the real savings came from reusing the building in the first place, according to Leers.

To read the entire article, check out the September/October issue of School Construction News.

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But the campus, home of the Razorbacks, is precisely where the project is located and the cabin concept isn’t the location of a backwoods thriller but a national design collaborative led by Leers Weinzapfel Associates (Boston), Modus Studio (Fayetteville, AR), Mackey Mitchell Architects (St. Louis), and OLIN (Philadelphia), created the project, now under construction.

The 708-bed Stadium Drive Residence Halls feature exposed, locally harvested wood structural elements made from mass timber. And what is this “mass timber?” According to the website reThink WOOD (produced by the The Softwood Lumber Board, a Washington, D.C.-based industry funded group that promotes uses of softwood lumber products in outdoor, residential and non-residential construction), mass timber is a category of framing styles often using large panelized solid wood construction. These include cross-laminated timber (CLT), nail-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber, dowel-laminated timber or glulam panels for floor and wall framing.

The University of Arkansas project used CLT for its wooden columns, beams and cross-bracing, which are all visible in the interior. The structural columns and beams are made of glulam, where layers of wood all facing the same direction are laminated together under pressure. Part of the idea, according to a profile in The Architect’s Newspaper, was to “to present a sense of warmth, and to connect students with Arkansas’s local ecology” and is expected to be finished in 2019.

Clocking in at a staggering 202,027 square feet, the Stadium Drive Residence Halls are a pair of five-story buildings festooned with a zinc-hued paneling, whilst copper-colored panels are arranged such that they created the illusion of floating against their backdrop.

The three residence halls converge upon a plaza and also feature classrooms, dining facilities, performance spaces, administrative offices and faculty housing as well as the maker-spaces that have become de rigueur on contemporary campuses.The buildings themselves arc around three courtyard areas, and each hall has a double-height ground floor lobby outfitted with floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the local flora.

Att the end of each residence hall floor is a large study room, which will be lit at night and serve as luminous attractants for the entire campus. In keeping with the homespun vernacular, students access the northern building’s main entrance via a covered “front porch.” Likewise, the so-called “cabin” is the central room that conjoins the hall’s two wings. The cabin features a hearth, community kitchen and lounge spaces, topped by a green roof.

The project will cost between $75.5 million and $78.1 million, which will be funded through university housing cash reserves as well as university housing supported bonds and gifts from potential donors.

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In November 2015, the university cut the ribbon on the $19.5 million High Performance Center. Randy Magill, associate athletics director and chief financial officer for University of North Dakota athletics, told the Grand Forks Herald that the high tech track featured in the facility is the only 300-meter track in the United States and has the technologically advanced Mondo surface. The High Performance Center may even continue to grow, as officials have already asked the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education for approval to begin fundraising for the addition of locker rooms, an administrative area, and training and educational space, according to the Grand Forks Herald.

Another addition to the campus will be a $15.5 million expansion to the existing College of Engineering and Mines, creating the new 37,000-square-foot Collaborative Energy Complex. According the Grand Forks Herald, University of North Dakota College of Engineering and Mines Dean Hesham El-Rewini said the project is on time and is within budget. The Collaborative Energy Complex will connect several campus buildings and will be externally complete by fall 2016. Lab equipment will be installed and the building should be open no later than the spring 2017 semester. Work began on the project in July 2015.

"More than just a building to house programs, CEC is about people, about collaboration, about innovation, and about building bridges with industry. It will provide students and faculty with a place to interact with each other as well as with colleagues from other colleges on campus and with industry," El-Rewini said in a statement. "CEC will provide our students and researchers with access to cutting edge laboratories and equipment. Students’ educational experience will be enriched through industry interactions, personalized mentorship, professional development opportunities, and outreach activities.”

Although the Wilson M. Laird Core and Sample Library, which contains numerous geological samples, is owned by the North Dakota Geological Survey and not the University of North Dakota, it is also undergoing upgrades and an expansion. The building will expand into a 160-spot parking lot adjacent to the Collaborative Energy Complex and will eventually connect via skyway to Leonard Hall. Library Director Julie LeFever told the Grand Forks Herald that the project is set to be complete in September 2016. With the addition of a two-story building, the current 15,000-square-foot library will soon contain three times the previous amount of storage space.

Additionally, a 66,000-square-foot aerospace research building is scheduled for major completion in May 2016. Construction on the facility, Robin Hall, is estimated at $22 million. Currently, the majority of the building is enclosed and some windows have been installed. Additional interior work and furnishings will be completed during over the summer of 2016, according to the Grand Forks Herald. The school broke ground on the project in October 2014. Prior to that, the most recent department expansion occurred in 1991.

Finally, exterior work on a $124 million, four-story facility for the School of Medicine and Health Sciences is nearly complete and construction has primarily moved inside the facility. Spokeswoman for the School of Medicine and Health Sciences Jessica Sobolik told the Grand Forks Herald that the 325,000-square-foot project is on time as well as on budget and is scheduled to be complete in May. Work began on the facility, which will for the first time bring all related departments under one roof, in June 2014.

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For almost two decades, New York-headquartered engineering professional services consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff has performed an annual building condition assessment survey (BCAS) on behalf of NYSCA with consistently successful results. Using digital tablets for on-site recording, inspection teams of trained architects and engineers perform hierarchical, stratified observations that impartially assess building components. The result is a systemically gathered, deficiency-focused report that helps establish capital-planning foundations and future-project scoping from an objective, independent perspective. The teams visit hundreds of schools and provide needs-based information for each one. Eventually, the reports are posted online, creating a digital pubic transparency as well.

Prior to BCAS, it was difficult for the city to justify school capital planning needs totaling more than $1 billion, and the pressure to do more with less presented serious issues. However, with the help of BCAS, funding strategies are now at the point where having several billion dollars allocated for school capital improvements is possible.

Getting Data Right

Accuracy and consistency in field collection data are essential to provide a reliable foundation for capital planning and further building analysis. To maintain accuracy and combat the distractions of fieldwork, BCAS has a wide-ranging, methodical quality assurance program. This successful quality-assurance process relies on both technology (such as logical data queries) and key staff experience to review reports.

The process ensures that each report presents the inspector’s observations inclusively and thoughtfully. This is a crucial component when uniform reports come from diverse professional groups with individual experience. Before leaving the site, inspectors for the three disciplines (mechanical, electrical and architectural) must come to a consensus on any multidisciplinary issues such as a damaged drainpipe’s effect on architectural finishes and lighting. These conferences resolve potentially contradictory information on the spot.

To learn how to think inclusively, inspectors participate in a rigorous three-week training program both in office and on site. Thereafter, the team is gathered on a weekly basis, bringing together management, architects and engineers to discuss specific cases and opportunities to clarify the methodology. Periodically, NYSCA sends its quality-assurance team to the field and evaluates the reports, bringing up comments for discussion and reinforcing a collaboration that keeps the content and initiatives current.

All automated data collection platforms have the potential to de-emphasize the critical thought that’s important in technical work. Therefore, the BCAS process mandates that individuals entering the data fully understand the multifaceted impacts of the work. The shared understanding of what the deficiencies are, and how they impact future efforts (like the benefits of repairing versus replacing equipment or vice versa) makes the partnership between NYSCA and Parsons Brinckerhoff one to emulate.

Benefits of BCAS

BCAS has shown additional benefits outside of planning and funding request capabilities such as assisting precautionary actions. For instance, with the information BCAS provided, NYSCA was able to identify potential masonry concerns at aging facilities across the five boroughs, resulting in the quick and efficient installation of scaffolding at these locations.

BCAS also provides valuable existing conditions documentation that can be used in contract negotiations, especially when conflicts arise between contractors and administrators about damage incurred during construction. Moreover, making BCAS reports part of requests for proposals gives architects and engineers a source to check their assumptions prior to submitting designs and estimates.

School authorities nationwide have the unenviable task of trying to find the best possible capital planning scenarios despite funding constraints. BCAS demonstrates that it is possible to highlight the capital needs that require funding in a way that is manageable and clear to a broad range of interested parties.

Nadine Chin-Santos is Parsons Brinckerhoff’s project manager for the building condition assessment survey for the New York City School Construction Authority. She has managed facility and building condition surveys for numerous state and local agencies for more than three decades. She can be reached at ChinSantos@pbworld.com

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