College Planning & Management

MAY 2013

College Planning & Management is the information resource for professionals serving the college and university market. Covering facilities, security, technology and business.

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CHANGING HISTORY FOR THE BETTER EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN. Judd Gymnasia is the most historic building at Springfield College in Springfield, MA. Originally built in 1894 and expanded in 1910, the red-brick Victorian structure underwent an award-winning renovation in 2010 to serve the College's current programming while preserving the building's historic character and many architectural details. 1900 tended to have masonry materials such as stone and brick with windows and an occasional skylight for natural lighting and ventilation. Heating, if available at all, was from fireplaces. Typical roofing materials were shingles of slate, metal, or wood applied to gabled roofs without the use of building papers. In the 20th century until World War II, similar building materials were still used, along with cast-in-place and limited precast concrete. With walls plastered on wood and metal lath applied to furring on the interior face of the exterior masonry, space was available for limited electrical infrastructure. Heating was from central boilers supplying hot water or steam to heating devices such as radiators or convectors, and windows on the exterior and skylights on the interior provided light and ventilation. Roofs were flat with built-up roofi ng materials, typically applied over a small amount of insulation board or constructed of lightweight concrete, and building paper applied to roofi ng only. After the war and until the 1950s when mechanical air conditioning began to be incorporated into new campus buildings, some wall insulation and additional roof insulation were often added to the building, Carmack points out. Today, modernizing buildings with features such as these poses a number of challenges. "An issue often encountered is that the condition of the original structure can make it challenging to successfully install new features, such as windows," says Ryan Moss, a St. Louis-based project manager for McCarthy Building Companies. "And materials and fixtures used in the original construction 80 to 90 years ago are difficult to find or to replicate." Moss is currently managing the renovation of a gymnasium built in 1925 into a 70,000-sq.-ft. state-of-the-art Center for Global Citizenship for St. Louis University. Sealing the Envelope Jonathan Baron, an associate with Shepley Bulfinch, a Bostonbased architectural firm, notes that part of improving IEQ in any building must include a tight building envelope. "In an existing building, it can be tricky to make an exterior wall more airtight, and without a lot of destructive investigation, it can be difficult to know what measures must be taken," he says. "Careful thought must be given to the types of unexpected conditions that might be encountered and potential remediation measures." As an example, he points to the complications that can arise with discovery of problematic materials when adding an air barrier within a wall. "You might not be able to anticipate every potential condition, but some forethought will help you be prepared for whatever surprises are lurking within the existing walls," he says. Special needs, such as preserving delicate items that will be stored or displayed, may also merit consideration. "Colleges and universities often house historical artifacts, works of art, and books that are essential to reflecting a school's culture, history, and mission," says Kerim Evin, senior vice president of operations for Skanska USA Building's New England region. "In order to preserve these pieces, a building's IEQ must be accounted for." 42 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / MAY 2013 WWW.PLANNING 4EDUCATION.COM

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