flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Sacred synergy achieves goals for religious education [2013 Building Team Award winner]

Sacred synergy achieves goals for religious education [2013 Building Team Award winner]

A renovation/addition project at Columbia Theological Seminary unites a historic residence hall with a modern classroom facility.


By Raissa Rocha, Associate Editor | June 12, 2013
The tower at the Vernon S. Broyles Leadership Center unifies a new addition (lef
The tower at the Vernon S. Broyles Leadership Center unifies a new addition (left) with the rehabilitated Simons-Law building (right). The glass tower, which was built to support a future carillon, features brick piers that reinforce the projects neoGothic style.
This article first appeared in the BD+C June 2013 issue of BD+C.
Columbia Theological Seminary, just east of Atlanta, offers graduate degree programs and continuing education for professionals and lay people in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Devoted to the spiritual growth of students, the seminary’s Vernon S. Broyles Jr. Leadership Center features a modern new classroom facility plus a renovation of the adjacent Simons-Law building, a historic dormitory built in 1932. The project represents a successful collaboration between the owner and other Building Team members—fitting for an educational institution that ranks teamwork and cooperative decisionmaking among its core values.
 
The original master plan called for the demolition and replacement of Simons-Law. But team members Lord, Aeck & Sargent and New South Construction saw the building as important to the campus, and presented stakeholders (including donors) with a detailed cost analysis that compared new construction with an addition/renovation. They convinced the client to retain the historic structure. Smaller spaces such as offices and seminar rooms would be reprogrammed into Simons-Law, and a 16,000-sf L-shaped addition would house large lecture halls, high-tech seminar rooms, the campus bookstore, a media center, informal study spaces, and a gallery concourse devoted to religious artifacts.
 
To rehabilitate Simons-Law, the team replaced lighting, HVAC, plumbing, exterior windows, and interior walls and doors. Roof shingles were replaced with synthetic slate, and the structure’s brick and cast stone walls were cleaned and repaired.
 
The architect also took care to ensure the seamless combination of the Gothic building with its new neighbor. An arcade links Simons-Law’s iconic arched passageway with the new building, creating a cloistered courtyard that also functions as an outdoor classroom.
 
Daylighting was a concern for the large classroom spaces in the addition, which were outfitted with high-tech A/V systems. The goal was to minimize use of artificial lighting while also avoiding the need for motorized shades. After careful study, the architect, A/V consultant, and CM created a classroom environment that makes excellent use of natural daylight while also ensuring that students will be able to see projections.
 
Other sustainable strategies included construction of a cistern, allowing rainwater to be collected for irrigation; a new energy-efficient variable refrigerant flow mechanical system; and the harvesting of wood on-site for flooring. The efforts paid off in a successful bid for LEED Gold certification.
 
The focal point of the project, melding old and new construction, is a neo-Gothic glass-and-brick tower that welcomes visitors to the center. With flooring made from a tree that once stood where the tower was built, this element was designed to unite all aspects of the project. The Building Team provided appropriate structural support for a planned belfry carillon, which will ring chimes for future generations of leaders as they make their way across the scenic campus.
 
Project summary
BRONZE AWARD
 
Columbia Theological Seminary
Vernon S. Broyles Jr. Leadership Center
Decatur, Ga.
 
BUILDING TEAM
Submitting firm: Lord, Aeck & Sargent (architect)
Owner/developer: Columbia Theological Seminary
Structural: Uzun & Case Engineers
MEP: AHA Consulting Engineers
Program manager: Morgan Constructors
A/V consultant: Waveguide Consulting
Construction manager: New South Construction
 
GENERAL INFORMATION
Project size: 36,500 sf (16,000 sf new + 20,500 sf renovated)
Construction cost: $8.2 million
Construction time: February 2011 to January 2012
Delivery method: CM at risk

Related Stories

| Nov 9, 2010

Designing a library? Don’t focus on books

How do you design a library when print books are no longer its core business? Turn them into massive study halls. That’s what designers did at the University of Amsterdam, where they transformed the existing 27,000-sf library into a study center—without any visible books. About 2,000 students visit the facility daily and encounter workspaces instead of stacks.

| Nov 9, 2010

Turner Construction report: Green buildings still on the agenda

Green buildings continue to be on the agenda for real estate owners, developers, and corporate owner-occupants, according to the Turner 2010 Green Building Market Barometer. Key findings: Almost 90% of respondents said it was extremely or very likely they would incorporate energy-efficiency improvements in their new construction or renovation project, and 60% expected to incorporate improvements to water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and green materials.

| Nov 5, 2010

New Millennium’s Gary Heasley on BIM, LEED, and the nonresidential market

Gary Heasley, president of New Millennium Building Systems, Fort Wayne, Ind., and EVP of its parent company, Steel Dynamics, Inc., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the Steel Joist Manufacturer’s westward expansion, its push to create BIM tools for its products, LEED, and the outlook for the nonresidential construction market.

| Nov 3, 2010

First of three green labs opens at Iowa State University

Designed by ZGF Architects, in association with OPN Architects, the Biorenewable Research Laboratory on the Ames campus of Iowa State University is the first of three projects completed as part of the school’s Biorenewables Complex. The 71,800-sf LEED Gold project is one of three wings that will make up the 210,000-sf complex.

| Nov 3, 2010

Park’s green education center a lesson in sustainability

The new Cantigny Outdoor Education Center, located within the 500-acre Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., earned LEED Silver. Designed by DLA Architects, the 3,100-sf multipurpose center will serve patrons of the park’s golf courses, museums, and display garden, one of the largest such gardens in the Midwest.

| Nov 3, 2010

Public works complex gets eco-friendly addition

The renovation and expansion of the public works operations facility in Wilmette, Ill., including a 5,000-sf addition that houses administrative and engineering offices, locker rooms, and a lunch room/meeting room, is seeking LEED Gold certification.

| Nov 3, 2010

Sailing center sets course for energy efficiency, sustainability

The Milwaukee (Wis.) Community Sailing Center’s new facility on Lake Michigan counts a geothermal heating and cooling system among its sustainable features. The facility was designed for the nonprofit instructional sailing organization with energy efficiency and low operating costs in mind.

| Nov 3, 2010

Seattle University’s expanded library trying for LEED Gold

Pfeiffer Partners Architects, in collaboration with Mithun Architects, programmed, planned, and designed the $55 million renovation and expansion of Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons at Seattle University. The LEED-Gold-designed facility’s green features include daylighting, sustainable and recycled materials, and a rain garden.

| Nov 3, 2010

Recreation center targets student health, earns LEED Platinum

Not only is the student recreation center at the University of Arizona, Tucson, the hub of student life but its new 54,000-sf addition is also super-green, having recently attained LEED Platinum certification.

| Nov 3, 2010

New church in Connecticut will serve a growing congregation

Tocci Building Companies will start digging next June for the Black Rock Congregational Church in Fairfield, Conn. Designed by Wiles Architects, the 103,000-sf multiuse facility will feature a 900-person worship center with tiered stadium seating, a children’s worship center, a chapel, an auditorium, a gymnasium, educational space, administrative offices, commercial kitchen, and a welcome center with library and lounge.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021