8 minute read
Education
SLAM Completes Med Ed Facility at Drexel University
The new 6-story facility for Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health Photos by Paul Burk Photography
Wyomissing, PA – The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM) announced the recent completion of the 180,000sf, 6-story facility for the Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health in Wyomissing. SLAM’s integrated team provided full architectural design services, programming/planning, interior design, structural engineering, and landscape architecture.
The four-year, regional medical campus is in partnership with Tower Health. Students will receive clinical training at Reading Hospital, Tower Health’s Magnet-recognized facility and flagship hospital located less than one mile from the campus.
The medical college will help to expand the class size and medical training in the region, and increase the ability to recruit and retain doctors in the Reading area. The new facility features enhanced teaching and learning environments with appropriately sized instructional labs, five simulation in-patient rooms, one for surgery simulations, 12 clinical training exam rooms, and an anatomy laboratory. Also included is a fitness center with indoor and outdoor recreation space. Students will have access to the Information Commons (a library), lounge area, game room, and cafe.
The spaces were designed with flexibility and technology, to reconfigure as medical education, research, innovation, and collaboration evolves. The facility offers an open environment with “touchdown space” to encourage staff and faculty from other locations to stay and work at the building. Large, open general-purpose space is available for receptions, donor events, and graduations, including a 120-seat auditorium.
Robert F. Pulito, AIA, SLAM
Student lounge
Simulation observation room for viewing an in-patient room training lesson president, says, “Because of our expertise and synergy between the development, design, and construction team, we were able to complete this project in 30 months, staying on a track from the first programming meeting to occupancy, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Ebbrell Redesigns Newton School
Newton, MA – Ebbrell Architecture + Design announced it completed the renovation of Clearway School in Newton, which opened to students in the fall.
After a years-long search for a new space, the school finally found its new home in a former parochial school. However, despite its history as a place of education, it lacked the necessary amenities and layout, particularly as it relates to modern teaching practices.
Jessica Cargile, NDICQ, LEED AP and interior designer with Ebbrell, said, “We stripped walls, re-lamped existing lighting fixtures, updated
Clearway School
the HVAC to meet health specs, and revamped the teacher’s lounge, among a lot of other renovations.”
Among the major renovations completed was converting larger classrooms into smaller, intimate settings for learning while doubling classroom count. Antiquated chalk boards were removed to lighten and brighten to classrooms and hallways, and existing restrooms were refreshed. The Ebbrell team also created a clean color palette using the school’s signature blue to create a cohesive, calming, modern learning environment.
One of the biggest challenges, according to Cargile, was the existing flooring. “It was a mess, and we decided the best approach would be to go over it with something new,” she said. “We went with a Marmoleum floating floor in most areas and then used Flotex from Forbo in others. That worked out well because Flotex has the acoustics of carpet but the cleanliness of vinyl.”
Clearway School administrator, Mary Ryan, said Cargile’s knowledge of available materials in this supply chain-challenged world really made a difference. “Jess was great,” said Ryan. “She brought forward design ideas and helped me envision the different options.”
Let TOPAZ Transform Your Office and Improve Your Efficiency.
We offer award winning products for printing, copying and scanning your small format office documents and wide format CAD and graphics.
ENGINEERING SUPPLY, INC
For over 41 Years, the Trusted Choice of Architects, Engineers and CAD Departments Throughout New England.
35 Pond Park Road, Hingham, MA 1.781.749.8687
Marr Shores Harvard’s Randolph Hall
Cambridge, MA – The Marr Companies announced that Isaac Blair is back on campus at Harvard University for the renovation of Randolph Hall (1897), Phase II of the Adams House renovation project.
Adams House, Harvard University’s historic undergraduate residence in Cambridge, is undergoing a multi-year renewal project. The seven residential halls that make up Adams House were built at the turn of the 20th century and have been recognized for their eccentric character and Germanic architectural style. Early in 2020, Marr’s specialty shoring company Isaac Blair provided shoring services during Phase I of the project, which included the renovation of Claverly Hall (1893).
In the fall of 2021, Isaac Blair contracted with Unified Construction Group of Woburn and general contractor Lee Kennedy of Quincy to shore Randolph Hall during the demolition and reconstruction of the residence hall’s interior. Built as one of three “Gold Coast” dormitories, Randolph Hall was a privately owned residence designed to provide wealthy Harvard men an alternative to the antiquated Yard dormitories, with amenities including running water, steam heat, electric light and indoor bathrooms. Thick walls,
Needle beams support an elevator pit’s surrounding walls during construction of the elevator pit. vertical entryways and “Germanic gloom,” as described by The Harvard Crimson newspaper, were standout characteristics of its architecture.
Isaac Blair has shored various areas of the residence hall to prepare for the construction of a new entrance, multiple elevator pits, the removal of chimneys and more. Beginning this past September, a crew of four installed needle shoring, Aluma beams and tilt-up bracing to support the demolition of floors and load bearing walls in the four-story structure.
In preparation for the construction of the new entrance on Plympton Street, Isaac Blair installed needle shoring to support the exterior wall above two existing large windows slated for removal. To aid with the construction of the elevator pits, needle beams were brought in to support the adjacent walls for the installation of the shaft. Over the course of two weeks, the crew used chain falls and human strength to feed in three, 25-foot-long, 1,200 pound beams through openings cut into the walls. A shoring tower located on the exterior of the building’s first level was used to support one of the interior needle beams, while an additional tower was built inside to support the two additional needle beams. Above the fourth floor in the attic space, needle shoring was installed to hold the chimney in place so the full length of the stack could be removed. Finally, to support additional renovation work in the East Wing of the hall, ten tilt-up braces were installed so the ground floor and a load bearing wall could be removed. Aluma beams were suspended from needle beams, installed on the first floor, to hold the floor from the top down.
This project represents one of Isaac Blair’s more complex shoring jobs, with shoring strategically laid out to support not one but five areas of the structure at once. While much of the shoring is now dismantled, Isaac Blair continues to provide various levels of support as the restoration of Randolph Hall proceeds.
Aluma beams were suspended from needle beams, installed on the first floor, to hold the floor from the top down.
Loan Helps YMCA Build Childhood Care Center
Hyannis, MA – MassDevelopment has provided a $350,000 loan to the YMCA Cape Cod, which will use proceeds to construct a new 5,314sf early childhood care center, named the Hyannis Village Marketplace Early Education Center, in the building it leases at 261 Stevens St. in Hyannis.
The build-out will expand the YMCA’s existing childhood care program to serve 65 additional children. The $1.7 million project is also supported by a $1 million Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) grant and an additional $350,000 in donations and contributions.
“Access to reliable, quality childcare is vital to the well-being of our children and necessary for parents who are returning to work,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s board of directors. “The Baker-Polito Administration is committed to working with organizations like YMCA Cape Cod to ensure that childcare is an essential component of the Commonwealth’s economic recovery.”
“Families and local economies are held back when there is a lack of affordable childcare in the community,” said MassDevelopment president and CEO, Dan Rivera. “MassDevelopment is proud to play a role in helping the YMCA Cape Cod build out a new childhood care center that will address a critical shortage on the Cape by welcoming 65 additional children through its doors.”
Founded in 1966, the YMCA Cape Cod has spent more than 50 years serving the most pressing community and social needs of various towns across Cape Cod, from delivering affordable early childhood education, to offering teen leadership and career development opportunities, to teaching children on the Cape how to swim. The YMCA currently provides childcare and associated services to approximately 202 children through seven early education centers throughout Barnstable, Brewster, Falmouth, and Harwich.
“At the Y, we take immense pride in our work to strengthen communities
Hyannis Village Marketplace Early Education Center / Rendering courtesy of the YMCA Cape Cod
and support everyone to grow into being their best selves,” said YMCA Cape Cod president and CEO, Stacie Peugh. “We are excited to build upon our early education offerings in Hyannis by welcoming hundreds more children and families, expanding on our Head Start and Early Head Start programs, and growing as a positive fixture in the community.”
