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
| Jul 8, 2013
RSMeans cost comparisons: offices, daycare centers, convenience stores, fast food
Construction market analysts from RSMeans offer construction costs per square foot for offices, daycare centers, convenience stores, fast food.
| Jul 8, 2013
RSMeans cost comparisons: hotels, motels, and apartment buildings
Construction market analysts from RSMeans offer construction costs per square foot for hotels, motels, and apartment buildings.
| Jul 8, 2013
Learn from the world’s fastest animal: speed isn’t everything
Every schoolchild knows that the cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal—70 mph, no sweat. And, as we all know from National Geographic television documentaries, it is speed that makes Acinonyx jubatus such a fearsome hunter, right?
| Jul 3, 2013
Mid-year special: Top 13 stories for 2013 (so far)
Every six months, we like to take a look back at the stories that generated the most interest from our readers. Here's a roundup of the top 13 articles on BDCnetwork.com for the first six months of 2013.
| Jul 3, 2013
World's biggest freestanding building opens in China
Measuring a stout 100 meters high, 500 meters long, and 400 meters wide, the New Century Global Centre in the Tianfu New District of Chengdu, China, is officially the world's largest freestanding building.
| Jul 3, 2013
Mall of America will double in size after $2.5 billion expansion
The nation's largest indoor mall will undergo a $2.5 billion, 10-year expansion project that will add attractions like an NHL-sized skating rink and an indoor water park.
| Jul 3, 2013
Architects team with HUD to promote 'Rebuild By Design' competition for Hurricane Sandy recovery effort
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today announced a communications campaign urging its membership to enter the “Rebuild by Design” multi-stage regional design competition announced by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan on June 20.
| Jul 2, 2013
LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall
The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.
| Jul 1, 2013
Firestone Building Products Company LLC Announces Sustainability Report
Firestone Building Products Company, LLC, the leading manufacturer of superior “Roots to Rooftops” products for commercial building performance solutions, today announced the release of its 2012 Sustainability Report. The report, the first for Firestone Building Products Company, covers the fiscal 2012 year and is available for download at firestonebpco.com.
| Jul 1, 2013
LEGOLAND builds 12-foot replica of One World Trade Center
The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester in Yonkers, N.Y., celebrated the completion of a LEGO replica of One World Trade Center by lighting the 12-foot-tall, 100-pound model.