Opus Group Digital Package

School Spirit THE OPUS GROUP

The Opus Group has designed more than 30 buildings for the University of St. Thomas and recently the firm added two more.

ARCHITECTURE LEADERS TODAY T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R C A P TA I N S O F I N D U S T R Y www.architectureleaderstoday.com

September/October 2012 $24.95 USD $26.30 CAN

ANDERSON STUDENT CENTER (ASC) Signage (Interior Specialty, Garage and Exterior): Archetype Signmakers Food Service Equipment: Boelter Contract & Design Design Consultant: Shepley Bulfinch Atrium Smoke Control/ Fire/ Life Safety Consultant: Summit Fire Consulting Acoustical Consultant: ESI Engineering, Inc. Abatement Consultants: Liesch Associates, Inc. Food Service Consultant: Robert Rippe & Assoc.

Architectural Precast Concrete Material: International Concrete Products Bowling Center Equipment: QubicaAMF Bowling Worldwide Carpet and Resilient Flooring: Acoustics Associates Concrete Material: AVR Inc. Commissioning: Edward H Cook & Associates P.A. Doors/ Frames/ Hardware: Wheeler Hardware Company Glass & Glazing: Interclad, Inc. Grilles & Shutters/Overhead Doors: Twin City Garage Door Co. Gypsum Drywall (Materials): Tamarack Materials, Inc. Landscaping: North Metro Companies Mechanical & Plumbing : Metropolitan Mechanical, Inc. Millwork: Aaron Carlson Woodwork Miscellaneous Metals: Metro Manufacturing Inc. Operable Partitions: W.L. Hall Company Painting and Wallcovering: Rainbow, Inc. Structural Steel Erection: Danny’s Construction Company, Inc. Waterproofing (Consultant / Testing & Inspections): Architectural Testing Waterproofing (Horizontal): SPS Infrastructure Inc. Window Treatments: Custom Drapery & Blinds by M Esch L.L.C. Wood Ceilings: Architectural Sales of MN Inc. Epoxy Flooring: Stonhard, Division of StonCor Group Fire Proofing: Olympic Companies, Inc. Stone Material: Vetter Stone Company Athletic Equipment: Haldeman-Homme, Inc. Structural Steel & Decking: LeJeune Steel Structural Steel Erection/Reinforcing Steel Installation/ Reinforcing Steel & PT Erection: Sowles, Inc. Testing & Inspections Consultants: American Engineering and Testing Earth Retention Wall System/ Grading & Utilities: Carl Bolander & Sons Company Cable Communication/ LOW VOLTAGE/Design Services/ Materials: Collins Electrical Construction Co. Electrical: APi Electric Elevator: ThyssenKrupp Fire Sprinkler: Viking Sprinkler Ceramic Tile/ Terrazzo Flooring: Twin City Tile & Marble Landscape Architect: Damon Farber Associates Traffic Consultant: SRF Consulting 2 Architecture Leaders Today

The new student center is located at the heart of campus and acts as a focal point between the academic and the residential portions of UST. The center houses student services and organizations as well as serving as the main dining space on campus.

educational | midwest

School Spirit The Opus Group has designed more than 30 buildings for the University of St. Thomas and recently the firm added two more.

Story by Drew Grossman Photos by Joel Koyama Photography except where noted.

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educational | midwest

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The University of St. Thomas has strong guidelines for their academic buildings on campus. The architecture is done in a collegiate gothic style, with heavy use of a local limestone called Kasota stone from the southern portion of Minnesota.

The central organizing element of the student center is a dramatic three-story atrium that overlooks the expanded campus quad. A four-story elliptical stair is the focal point of the atrium and is prominently situated in the space.

The new facility helped to integrate the student dining experience and the clube activities. This is the place on campus where students come to eat and hang out and see each other.

Photo by Katie Pope, Opus AE Group The Anderson Student Center is more than just a building that students come to fulfill a certain need. Students come her during their downtime and in between classes. Photo by Dan Young Dixon, Opus AE Group The student center design was driven by a concept that the architects dubbed as energy, flow and utilization. They wanted to design a building that was highly efficient in terms of the square footage, the functions and the programs. The space needed to be exciting and exude energy to invigorate the campus.

T

he Opus Group of Companies is a fully integrated design-build firm, with the capability to see a project through from design to construction, and departments to handle project management, architecture, engineering and development. This is the kind of approach that has led the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. to entrust Opus with more than 30 of their campus buildings in a relationship that is more than 50 years old.

Most recently, Opus has built the Anderson Student Center and the Anderson Athletic & Recreation Complex on the Catholic university’s St. Paul campus.

The University of St. Thomas has strong design guidelines for their academic buildings on campus. The architecture is done in a collegiate gothic style, with heavy use of a local limestone called Kasota stone from the southern portion of Minnesota.

The new student center is located at the heart of campus and acts as a focal point between the academic and the residential portions UST. The center houses student services and organizations as well as serving as the main dining space on campus. Also found in the student center are large meeting and multi-purpose rooms, three major dining facilities, student recreation areas and a campus store.

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midwest | educational

ANDERSON ATHLETIC & RECREATION COMPLEX (AARC) Structural Precast: Fabcon, Inc. Wood Fitness Flooring: Athletic Performance Solutions Acoustical Consultant: EMI Audio Lockers: Wenger Corporation Civil Consultant: MFRA Athletic Equipment: Haldeman-Homme, Inc. Architectural Precast: American Artstone Bleachers: Seating and Athletic Facility Enterprises, L.L.C. Blinds and Windows Treatment: American Drapery Systems, Inc. Brick Veneer: Metro Brick, Inc. Pool ( Swimming): Badger Swimpools Fieldhouse Flooring: Kiefer Specialty Flooring, Inc. Concrete Material: Cemstone Concrete Solutions Demolition/ Grading/ Utilities: Frattalone Companies, Inc. Structural Precast Panels and Erection: Molin Concrete Products Co. Glass & Glazing: Brin Contract Glazing Roofing and Sheet Metal: Dalco Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc. Stone Material: Vetter Stone Company Structural Steel & Decking: LeJeune Steel Structural Steel Erection/Reinforcing Steel Installation/ Reinforcing Steel & PT Erection: Sowles, Inc. Testing & Inspections Consultants: American Engineering and Testing Earth Retention Wall System/ Grading & Utilities: Carl Bolander & Sons Company Cable Communication/ LOW VOLTAGE/ Design Services/ Materials: Collins Electrical Construction Co. Electrical: APi Electric Elevator: ThyssenKrupp Fire Sprinkler: Viking Sprinkler Ceramic Tile/ Terrazzo Flooring: Twin City Tile & Marble Landscape Architect: Damon Farber Associates Traffic Consultant: SRF Consulting

“This new facility helped to integrate the student dining experience and their club activities while creating this family room space that is the heart of the campus as a whole, where students can come and eat and meet, see and be seen,” said Dan Young Dixon, a principal at The Opus AE Group.

The central organizing element of the student center is a dramatic three story atrium that overlooks the expanded campus quad. A four-story elliptical stair is the focal point of the atrium and is prominently situated in the space.

“Rather than having to go to some back area to the exit stairs or take the elevators, the feature stair is the main vertical artery connecting all of the buildings horizontal circulation paths to the family room space,” 6 Architecture Leaders Today

Young-Dixon said.

Along with the great views of the quad, the atrium is also designed to let in a lot of natural light. According to Opus, letting daylight and views into the building in as many places as possible not only conserves energy needed for interior illumination, but it provides an opportunity for an innovative experience for the building’s users. The views also really open up the atrium and make the already large space seem even grander. Daylight and views were one of the many sustainable concepts utilized in the design of the Anderson Student Center in its goal to achieve LEED Certification.

“The student center design was driven by a concept we dubbed as energy,

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Athletic Performance Solutions is the Midwest dealer of Connor Sports Flooring, the leading manufacturer of maple hardwood courts and synthetic sports flooring, and the NCAA’s choice as the official basketball court of the Men’s and Women’s Final Four.

Athletic Performance Solutions has installed the sports flooring systems in many of the leading schools, universities, fitness centers, churches and arenas in the Midwest, including the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas, Bemidji State University, Williston State College, St. Cloud State University, Minnehaha Academy, St. Peter Community Center and many others.

Customers can visit their design center near Saint Paul to test drive 10 different flooring systems. Bounce a ball from one floor to another for comparison, feel the difference in performance between flooring systems and see different subfloors and how they affect stability.

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Fabcon, Inc.

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The complex provides student athletic and recreation functions as well as many of the school’s varsity sports programs. Before the complex was built, several varsity sports teams held their competitions off campus because of UST’s outdated facilities. Photo

by Ryan Siemers Photography and Design

flow and utilization,” Young-Dixon said. “We wanted to design a building that was highly efficient in terms of the square footage, the functions and the programs, and yet was a wow space that exudes excitement and energy and helped invigorate campus flow.”

The new student center adds an important academic and social element to the University of St. Thomas campus and the Opus Group’s Anderson Athletic & Recreation Complex contributes a state-of-the-art center for students, faculty and staff to sweat it out and stay in shape.

The complex not only provides student athletic and recreation functions, it also houses many of the varsity sports as well. Before the complex

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was built, several varsity sports teams held their competitions off campus, because the outdated UST facilities no longer complied with the requirements for NCAA/MIAC schools.

“This new facility gave them program spaces that allowed UST to bring these sporting events back onto campus,” Young-Dixon said. “Now they can hold these major competitions on site, which is good for the student body, campus life and recruitment.”

It creates an interesting dynamic to have the varsity sports teams share facilities with the overall student body, faculty and staff. The design promotes a collective spirit that UST is proud of.

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CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: Schoenecker Arena is home to men’s and women’s basketball, and volleyball. The 2,250-seat arena has a classic Parquet-style maple floor, a 10 by 16 foot video display and sound system with 36 Bose speakers. Photo by Ryan Siemers Photography and Design The new sports complex took the varsity sports and made them a part of the whole campus experience. Photo by Dan Young Dixon, Opus AE Group O’Shaughnessy Stadium is a 5,000-seat outdoor arena where UST plays football and holds track events. A state-of-the-art FieldTurf synthetic surface was installed in 2004.

St. Thomas’s school colors are purple and gray and the athletic teams are called the Tommies. UST is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which plays at the NCAA Division III level. Photo by Ryan Siemers Photography and Design

8 Architecture Leaders Today

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Using a combination of precast concrete wall panel and steel beam/steel column structural systems, Opus compartmentalized the 180,000 square foot facility into four major spaces, the field house, arena, aquatic center and classroom/ athletic offices.

The Fitness Center at ARC features 90 pieces of the highest quality cardio equipment. The room also features multiple 52 inch flat panel televisions.

The aquatic center contains an eight-lane swimming pool, diving area and spectator seating. The deep-water pool was intentionally designed to create fewer waves and less turbulence for competitions.

The field house houses a 200-meter, six-lane indoor track and an additional four basketball courts and four volleyball/ tennis courts. Protective barriers can be lowered from the ceiling for batting cages and throwing sports like discus.

All photos above by Ryan Siemers Photography and Design

“It took the varsity sports facilities from being kind of unique, separate and special, to making them just part of the whole campus experience, which was really a great thing,” Young-Dixon said. “It greatly supports the university’s philosophy and values in terms of providing a sense of ownership by the UST community as a whole and facilities that promote pride in the Tommie Experience.”

Using a combination of precast concrete wall panel and steel beam/steel column structural systems, Opus compartmentalized the180,000 square foot facility into four major spaces, the field house, arena, aquatic center and classroom/athletic offices.

The Opus Group is a leader in sustainable design and construction.

Young-Dixon has been involved on over 30 LEED certified projects and is a LEED fellow, one of only 34 in the world. ALT September/October 2012 9

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