Edward Colligon
Structural Option
Building Statistics
General Building Data
Building Name
Location and Site
Occupancy
Size
Number of Stories
Total Levels
Dates of Construction
Cost Information
Delivery Method
Smeal College of Business Building
University Park, PA (Penn State Main Campus)
Education (Penn State Smeal College of Business)
210,000 gross SF
Four above grade, one below grade
Five
July 2003 - July 2005
$68,000,000
CM at Risk
Project Team
Owner
Architects
Structural Engineers
MEP Engineers
Civil Engineers
Landscape Architects
AV/Telecommunications
Construction Manager
The Pennsylvania State University
Robert A. M. Stern & Bower Lewis Thrower (Joint)
Keast & Hood Co.
BR+A Consulting Engineers
Gannett Flemming
Lager Raabe Skafte
Shen Milsom & Wilke, Inc.
Gilbane Building Company
Architecture
The Smeal College of Business Building (henceforth known as simply the Business Building) is an educational facility at The Pennsylvania State University – University Park Campus that was designed to give the undergraduate and graduate divisions of the business school a home. The 5 level – 4 above grade – brick, limestone, and glass curtain wall building adheres to the newer style of architecture at Penn State, which combines the classic brick and limestone materials seen in older buildings on campus with the more modern use of glass curtain walls.
Codes
-
IBC 2000
-
ASCE 7-98
Building Enclosures
The exterior of the building consists and two main styles. First, the two main wings, which contain most of the classrooms, are mostly red brick walls with limestone accents. The second main façade style is the lobby space, which is dominated by massive curtain walls. On the North side of the building is the largest section of curtain wall, but there is a smaller curtain wall on the South facing façade.
Primary Engineering Systems
Structural
The super structure of the building is comprised mostly of wide flange members, including beams, girders, and columns. Slabs are normal weight concrete on composite deck, and vary in thickness of both concrete topping (from 2" to 5.5"), and deck height (from 1.5" to 3"). The composite action is caused by the 3/4" diameter shear studs in the concrete deck. The lateral system is made almost entirely of steel moment frames. There are a few braced frames within the structure, but are very rare. Horizontal members range in size from W10x15 up to W27x178. Wide flange columns are as small as W8x48 (for gravity columns) up to as large as W14x211 (for combined loading). The foundation of the building is made of concrete piers on pile caps atop drilled micro piles.
Material strength varies throughout the project. Structural steel members are rated at 50 ksi, while shear studs are listed as 65 ksi. Concrete strengths vary from 3,000 psi in the foundation (excluding piers) up to 3,500 psi in all other uses of the building.
Construction
Construction of the Business Building was managed by the construction manager at risk, Gilbane Building Company. Construction began in summer 2003, and was completed two years later, in July 2005, before being opened for the Fall 2005 Semester.
Electrical
Power to the building is provided via Penn State's campus power system, which also controls emergency power. There are three main transformers which reduce the power to 480/277V three phase power. Where necessary to step down voltage further, additional transformers are located throughout the building.
Lighting
The building is primarily lit by flourescent fixtures which are recessed within various parts of the structure, be it the ceiling or walls. Exterior lighting is all rated for "Wet" locations as U.L. listed, with fluorescent and metal halide lamps. The atrium is lit with recessed apertures and track mounted metal halides. The metal halides shine on the walls, while the recessed aperture lights only provide direct light to the atrium floor.
Mechanical
There are ten air handling units in the building, all located on the mechanical penthouse level. They range in capacity from around 8,000 CFM to almost 39,000 CFM. The air handling unit for the kitchen uses 100% outside air, while other AHUs vary in the amount of outside air. All are 3 phase, 480V powered, and none of the units are hook up to emergency power. Heating is done via steam, while cooling utilizes water.
There are various control systems in the building. The majority of the system is on a variable system, while the remaining approximately 40% is constant volume.
Civil
All utilities for the building tie in with the campus utility network, including telecom, water, and others. Storm water management is an important concern on Penn State's campus, and as with the incoming utilities, the storm water system also ties into the existing network. During construction, many measures were taken to prevent water contamination from construction byproducts. Stone inlet protection was used, as well as sit fences. Inside of drains, silt bags were used to catch dirt and other unwanted contaminants and keep them out of the system.