The hope was that a complete restoration and modernization would bring life back to three neoclassic beauties that formerly served as Phoenix Union High School—but time had not treated them kindly. Built in 1911, one year before Arizona became the country's 48th state, the historic high school buildings endured nearly a century of wear and tear and suffered major water damage and years of termite infestation that severely compromised their wood-frame interior structures. There was considerable hand-wringing over how much of the three-story buildings could be salvaged.
After extensive review, the Building Team devised a $19.6 million program where all three buildings would be saved and reborn as the 84,435-sf University of Arizona College of Medicine. It was precisely that concern for rescuing the trio of buildings that caught our judges' attention. “Reusing three buildings is quite significant. It just isn't something you think to do too often,” says Walker C. Johnson, FAIA, principal at Johnson Lasky Architects in Chicago.
Only one of the three buildings was discovered to be structurally unsound. Its entire wood-frame interior was dismantled and replaced with a steel-frame system. To protect its historic masonry shell, all the work had to be performed through the building's existing window openings. The other two buildings were shored up as necessary, and all three were fitted with new operable, insulated, and historically sensitive windows.
Another concern focused on how best to fit the necessary classroom space and technology required of a 21st-century medical college into turn-of-the-20th-century buildings. When it was discovered that up to 40% of the buildings' available space would be sacrificed to staircases, elevators, and bathrooms (each floor plate is approximately 7,000 sf), the decision was made to locate those elements in newly constructed space—two modern glass “outhouses” (translucent glass wrapped about masonry cubes) connected by glass bridges to two of the buildings. “The additions are unique architectural solutions that don't draw the focus away from the original buildings,” says Jeff Pratt, principal at KJWW Engineering Consultants, Naperville, Ill., and one of BD+C's Reconstruction Award judges.
Additional interior reconfiguration focused on the building's auditorium. While the state's Historic Preservation Office (which had to approve all work) would have liked the auditorium completely restored, the university needed to borrow some of the space for much needed classrooms.
A compromise was reached and a building within a building was erected: one half the space is still used as the auditorium while the other half is classroom space for the state-of-the-art T-Health (telehealth and telemedicine) program. The walls can easily be removed, the space dismantled, and the auditorium returned to its original size. This design feature was lauded by juror K. Nam Shiu, VP at Walker Restoration Consultants, Elgin, Ill., who said, “The work done on the interior is very forward-thinking.”
Related Stories
| Dec 27, 2011
USGBC’s Center for Green Schools releases Best of Green Schools 2011
Recipient schools and regions from across the nation - from K-12 to higher education - were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure.
| Dec 20, 2011
Gluckman Mayner Architects releases design for Syracuse law building
The design reflects an organizational clarity and professional sophistication that anticipates the user experience of students, faculty, and visitors alike.
| Dec 16, 2011
Goody Clancy-designed Informatics Building dedicated at Northern Kentucky University
The sustainable building solution, built for approximately $255-sf, features innovative materials and intelligent building systems that align with the mission of integration and collaboration.
| Dec 5, 2011
New York and San Francisco receive World Green Building Council's Government Leadership Awards
USGBC commends two U.S. cities for their innovation in green building leadership.
| Dec 5, 2011
Fraser Brown MacKenna wins Green Gown Award
Working closely with staff at Queen Mary University of London, MEP Engineers Mott MacDonald, Cost Consultants Burnley Wilson Fish and main contractor Charter Construction, we developed a three-fold solution for the sustainable retrofit of the building.
| Nov 23, 2011
Griffin Electric completes Gwinnett Tech project
Accommodating up to 3,000 students annually beginning this fall, the 78,000-sf, three-story facility consists of thirteen classrooms and twelve high-tech laboratories, in addition to several lecture halls and faculty offices.
| Nov 18, 2011
Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability opens
Designed to exceed LEED Platinum, the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) is one of the most innovative and high performance buildings in North America today, demonstrating leading-edge green building design products, technologies, and systems.
| Nov 14, 2011
Griffin Electric completes electrical work at Cary Arts Center
The Griffin Electric team was responsible for replacing the previous electrical service on-site with a 1000A, 480/277V service and providing electrical feeds for a new fire pump chiller, six air-handlers and two elevators.
| Nov 11, 2011
Streamline Design-build with BIM
How construction manager Barton Malow utilized BIM and design-build to deliver a quick turnaround for Georgia Tech’s new practice facility.
| Nov 11, 2011
AIA: Engineered Brick + Masonry for Commercial Buildings
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES learning units by studying this article and successfully completing the online exam.