Memorial Field House, once the lovely Collegiate Gothic (ca. 1933) centerpiece (along with neighboring University Hall) of the University of Toledo campus, took its share of abuse after a new athletic arena made it redundant, in 1976. The ultimate insult occurred when the ROTC used it as a paintball venue.
All that changed in 2006, when the university, facing a burst in student enrollment, an expansion of program offerings, and concern about future space needs, commissioned a major overhaul that, three years later, recast the 134,200-sf gymnasium into a LEED Gold learning environment housing classrooms, teaching labs, faculty offices, and space for future growth.
The extensive Building Team, led by Cincinnati’s BHDP Architecture, literally constructed a building within a building, expanding the single-floor high-bay arena into three floors within the existing building envelope. The tri-level structure, with its exposed steel truss supports, features a dramatic cruciform skylight above a “Town Hall” atrium that has become one of the most popular meeting and study spaces on campus.
Planning for the project ensured that the university would have sufficient classroom space to meet its enrollment projections through 2020. Fifty-four classrooms, varying in size for classes of 20, 30, or 40, were built. A practice gym was converted into a 250-seat, three-screen auditorium; another was repurposed for language laboratories. The “Collegiate Loft” on the new third floor houses the UT Center for Teaching and Learning. The latest A/V equipment—flat panel monitors, electronic whiteboards, audience response systems—enables multiple teaching styles.
Memorial Field House was the university’s first LEED Gold building. Two noteworthy innovations: 1) the Building Team kept a chilled water plant housed in the building’s central courtyard fully operation, along with a 15kV electrical substation and main campus communications fiber; and 2) the team field erected new air-handling units in two old basketball gyms and integrated engineered smoke control with the new skylight system.
“They definitely did their homework,” said jurist Tom Brooks, VP of Reconstruction at Chicago’s Berglund Construction. “They maintained the façade, which is important to me, and did it all on a budget so low it almost looks like a typo.” For the record, construction costs were $21.5 million, or $160/sf. BD+C
PROJECT SUMMARY
Building Team
Owner: The University of Toledo
Submitting firm: BHDP Architecture (architect, interior designer)
Civil/structural engineer: Poggemeyer Design Group
MEP engineer: Heapy Engineering
Program analyst: Comprehensive Facilities Planning, Inc.
General contractor: A. Z. Shimina, Inc.
A/V, IT, acoustics consultant: The Sextant Group
Steel construction: Mosser Construction
Cost consultant: ProjDel Corp.
General Information
Area: 134,200 gsf
Construction cost: $21.5 million
Construction time: January 2006 to January 2009
Related Stories
Sponsored | | Nov 26, 2014
Virtual reality in 3D models, iPhone thermal imaging: Inside one very cool tech toybox
A little over a year ago, I embarked on a search to find individuals in the AEC space who were putting new hardware to work in the field.
| Nov 25, 2014
Behnisch Architekten unveils design for energy-positive building in Boston
The multi-use building for Artists For Humanity that is slated to be the largest energy positive commercial building in New England.
| Nov 25, 2014
Study: 85% of employees dissatisfied with their office environment
A vast majority of office workers feel open floor plans cause multiple distractions and that more private spaces are needed in today's offices, according to a new study by Steelcase and research firm IPSOS.
| Nov 25, 2014
Emerging design and operation strategies for the ambulatory team in transition
As healthcare systems shift their care models to be more responsive to patient-centered care, ambulatory care teams need to be positioned to operate efficiently in their everyday work environments, write CannonDesign Health Practice leaders Tonia Burnette and Mike Pukszta.
| Nov 24, 2014
Midsize construction firms see a brighter business horizon
Uncertainty about government spending clouds an otherwise positive economic outlook among 59 middle market construction firms polled recently by GE Capital.
| Nov 24, 2014
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill-designed crystalline tower breaks ground in southwestern China
Fitted with an LED façade, the 468-meter Greenland Tower Chengdu will act as a light sculpture for the city of Chengdu.
| Nov 21, 2014
Rental apartment construction soars to 27-year high: WSJ report
The multifamily sector is now outpacing the peak construction rate in the previous housing cycle, in 2006, according to the WSJ.
| Nov 21, 2014
Nelson adds to its stable with EHS Design acquisition
This represents Nelson’s fifth merger or acquisition in 2014, during which the firm’s net fee revenue has increased by 60% to $65 million.
| Nov 21, 2014
Nonresidential Construction Index rises in fourth quarter
There are a number of reasons for optimism among respondents of FMI's quarterly Nonresidential Construction Index survey, including healthier backlogs and low inflation.
| Nov 21, 2014
NCARB: Number of architects in U.S. grows 1.6% in 2014, surpasses 107,500
The architecture profession continues to grow along with a gradually recovering economy, based on the results of the 2014 Survey of Architectural Registration Boards, conducted by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.
