Credits
We would like to extend our gratitude to all who have contributed to the development of Chadron State College Rangeland Complex, including the college administration, Rangeland Management faculty, the Rodeo Club, and the Foundation.
Nebraska State College System
Stan Carpenter, Chancellor Ed Hoffman, Vice Chancellor Carolyn Murphy, Vice Chancellor
Chadron State College Administration
Dr. Janie Park, President Dale Grant, Vice President for Administration and Finance Blair Brennen, Coordinator of Physical Facilities Kathy Stokey, Office Administrator
CSC Rangeland Management Department
Dr. Chuck Butterfield, Professor and Department Chair Dr. Georgia Younglove, Professor Dr. Teresa Zimmerman, Assistant Professor Lucinda Mays, Adjunct Professor
CSC Rodeo Club
Dustin Luper, Rodeo Coach
Chadron State College Foundation
Connie Rasmussen, Executive Director Karen Pope, Director of Alumni & Annual Giving
Project Team
Architect: BVH Architects Associate Architect: Populous Construction Manager: Sampson Construction Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing Engineer: Engineering Technologies, Inc. Structural Engineer: R.O. Youker, Inc. Civil Engineer: M C Shaff
6 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
RANGELAND COMPLEX Chadron State College | Chadron, Nebraska
7
The High Plains & Chadron State College Chadron State College has been involved in ranching, agriculture, and wildlife in the Panhandle of Nebraska and the four-state region for 100 years. Chadron State graduates often return home to continue the tradition on the family farm or ranch. Other graduates of Chadron State’s Rangeland & Agriculture Program enter into such professions as Veterinarian Medicine, Agricultural Banking and Finance, Ranch Management, Agricultural Conservation, Wildlife Management and other professions that bring vitality to our four-state region.
Region
The Great Plain’s ocean of rolling, grassy swales and ranchland erupt abruptly into the rugged country called the Pine Ridge, where Chadron, Nebraska is nestled. This unexpected region owns an uncommon diversity of plant and animal life. The timbered canyons and open parks mix western and eastern plants, grazed pastures and sprawling timberlands. While the Ridge is no wilderness, it is still wild. The Pine Ridge is an escarpment between the Niobrara River and the White River in far northwestern Nebraska. Over time the high tableland between the rivers has eroded into a region of forested buttes, ridges and canyons. The plant and animal life in the Pine Ridge is atypical for Nebraska; the ecology is very similar to the Black Hills, which are 50 miles to the north. The area is surrounded by short-grass prairie with a ridge of lightly forested hills to the south.
Tradition
CSC students routinely compliment Chadron State’s Rangeland, Agriculture & Wildlife Programs. They are proud to say that Chadron State dirties their boots and their hands—learning lessons that can only come from being with professors in the fields and on the prairie of Nebraska. The program is the second largest on the Great Plains, second only to Texas A&M, and is the fourth largest program in the U.S. For years Chadron State’s faculty members have served as advisors and “sounding boards” to area veterinarians, ranchers and farmers. The College’s Rodeo Club has a rich history and consistently produces nationally recognized champions. Rodeo itself is an honored tradition in this part of America. It is this tradition upon which Chadron State College seeks to expand resources and programs dedicated to making farming and ranching a viable and meaningful way of life in the 21st Century. As other colleges and universities move away from rangeland and agriculture programs, CSC is looking to make it an even greater priority. To this end, Chadron State College is seeking to invest new resources in facilities, programs, and scholarships.
8 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
A Sense of Place Land is family. Land is purpose. Land is life. Land is everything. Ranching and farming have a rich history in this region. Most of the ancestors track their roots to agriculture. Learning the lessons of the land—discipline, sacrifice, hard work—they earned the rewards that can only be understood by those who have
“lived the land.”
9
Case statement Since its founding Chadron State College has been engaged in the ranching, farming and rural life of the panhandle of Nebraska and the four-state region. Each year more and more students enroll at CSC because of its “hands-on, boots-on-the-ground” rangeland and agriculture degree offerings. These degrees have helped to expand and continue generations of family ranches and farms and have catapulted graduates into related professions. In addition to ranching, graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of fields that have expanded opportunities for people and communities in rural America.
The Vision
CSC’s vision is to have even more graduates engaged in the work of rural America. They do so by investing significant new resources into the expansion of their Rangeland, Agriculture, & Wildlife programs. The Rangeland Laboratory and Live Animals Facility is the lynch pin for connecting and expanding programs and degree offerings in this field of study. Because of its tradition and history and because of its unique geography, Chadron State College is committed to making its Rangeland, Agriculture, & Wildlife programs more accessible, better equipped and higher profile.
What Is Achieved? • • • • •
Rangeland, Agriculture, & Wildlife classes and programs will be consolidated within one complex, maximizing schedules, staffing and class offerings for students. Animal sciences will be greatly enhanced with appropriate laboratory and expanded classroom space. Grass and plant sciences will be greatly enhanced with appropriate laboratory and expanded classroom space. Animal sciences and the College’s Rodeo Club will benefit dramatically from the Live Animals Facility which houses an indoor arena. The indoor arena or Live Animals Facility will be used by Chadron State College to host rangeland and agricultural exhibitions.
Important Dynamic
This project has been approved by the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges and the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education. This approval requires that Chadron State College secure a minimum of $2 million in private gifts to supplement the state funding request of $3.5 million for the $5.5 million project. Construction will move forward once private gifts and state funding is secured. 10 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
Rangeland laboratory and live animals facility
The center piece of Chadron State College’s expanded commitment to rural America is a Rangeland Laboratory and Live Animals Facility. These facilities will allow CSC to expand its Rangeland, Agricultural, & Wildlife programs. Range management, domestic livestock, wildlife management, soil and plant sciences and production processes and technique classes will be greatly enhanced. The Rodeo Club and animal sciences will benefit dramatically from an indoor arena which is part of the facility. Equally as important, the College and the faculty will work and share with students the “sense of place” that only Chadron State College can share with its students. Sitting on the high plains, removed from large cities, Chadron and the region it serves communicates to students the values and character required to be successful in rural America. It is this unique dynamic our graduates say makes Chadron State’s Rangeland and Agriculture programs practical and special.
Rangeland—land that naturally produces forage plants suitable for
grazing but where rainfall is too low or erratic for growing crops
11
Land cover of Nebraska
Vital resource
The rangelands of North America occupy approximately one-half of the continent. Likewise rangelands comprise nearly one-half of Nebraska. From these rangelands emerge a variety of products and industries that include traditional domestic livestock production to water, wildlife and timber management, and recreation. Often viewed as the original sustainable agriculture, rangeland management is based on a wide variety of sciences such as animal science, ecology, wildlife management, economics, soils, forestry, and watershed science. The managers of these rangeland resources face many challenges today and in the future. To meet these challenges the Agriculture & Rangeland Management Program at Chadron State College has developed a unique program that allows students to tailor their educational paths. 12 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
Agriculture & rangeland management Mission
The mission of the agriculture program is to address the educational needs of individuals interested in range management, domestic livestock, wildlife management, soil and plant sciences, and production processes and techniques unique to the Nebraska Panhandle and the four State Region.
Student learning outcomes
Students in this program will develop the knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes so they will be able to: • Attain a career in an agriculture- or range management- related field • Recognize the highly-competitive and global role of agriculture in the local, national, and world marketplaces • Achieve entrance into graduate programs in agriculture- or range management-related fields • Interpret and utilize current theory and research findings to enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for agriculture- or range management-related careers
Student learning outcomes
Life is not a spectator sport, nor is learning! Many of our classes have labs which include field work, allowing for our students to tailor their educational paths
13
Project history Rangeland Management is a growing and viable academic focus offered at Chadron State College. The educational opportunities for the students and ranchers are pertinent to the continued vibrancy of the rangeland region. The Rangeland Management Department, CSC Rodeo club, and associated student activities currently operate in deficient spaces. The lack of quality space to instruct and demonstrate rangeland practices has quickly become a hindrance to the program. Likewise the Rodeo Club’s rise to national prominence has exposed the need for facilities for competition, as well as recruitment. Currently the Rodeo Club is forced to practice and compete at a less than adequate off-site venue and putting the students at a competitive disadvantage. Student activities require adequate space to function, gather, and promote their interests. Social gathering spaces for students and faculty to engage in impromptu instruction can be reinforced through a facility that is integrated in the teaching landscape. The 2001 Campus Facilities Master Plan identified the need for a facility to address the deficient spaces. Subsequently an agricultural classroom, laboratory and arena needs statement was drafted and presented to the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees. It is the intent of CSC to construct two new facilities as phase one of an animal science masterplan. The initial design consists of two new facilities: a new soils and animal science laboratory and a live animal facility. These new buildings would provide necessary space for instructional, office and arena spaces for the Rangeland Management program.
14 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
15
“Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.” —ALDO LEOPOLD
The Rangeland Complex is founded on intrinsic design informants rooted in the pastoral landscape, agrarian building vernacular, and alive to the nuance of place. Design solutions influenced by these informants create a practical building relatable to the end user. 17
PlaCeMeNT
18 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
oRgaNiZaTioN
eNViRoNMeNT
PRojeCT iNfoRMaNTS
DeMoNSTRaTioN
MaTeRialiTy
19
PlaCeMeNT
The project site is remotely located from campus atop a rolling hill of the short-grass prairie. Furthermore the site experiences blustery north winter winds making it necessary to shelter students and faculty. The design directive of the complex is to place the buildings on the site to create a connection to campus and block the winter winds. Two axes shape the complex by orienting the office segment toward campus and the lab classrooms toward the Pine Ridge. Coupled with the axes the design strategically places screen elements to block winds, glass to take advantage of views, and utilizes the natural topography for floor levels.
NoRTh WiNTeR WiNDS
aXiS
PRojeCT SiTe aToP hill
VieW CoRRiDoR
PM
AM
Sun pAth 20 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
aXiS
ORGANIZATION A rangeland building naturally wants to assume an agrarian aesthetic as well as function. After studying ranches and farms it becomes evident that buildings are added over time to create a complex of buildings (as shown below). The COMPLEX buildings typically are situated around a common space, used as shelters from the wind, and to gain maximum solar exposure. The Laboratory facility takes cues from the ranch complexes for the organizational layout of the spaces. The office and lab volumes are linked by a common space, the lobby. Site and fence walls are used to block prevailing winds in addition to creating a unifying element to stitch the two buildings together. The casework bar organizes miscellaneous lab equipment and creates spaces to present memorabilia in the Live Animals facility. The dominant casework feature in the buildings also is used as a circulation spine.
SITE WALL
CASEWORK BAR
FENCE WALL
LAB VOLUME
OFFICE VOLUME 21
eNViRoNMeNT A sustainable facility is the responsible solution for all building designs but is imperative for the rangeland facilities. A building which houses instruction on land management, soil exploration, and wildlife must strive to be a good steward of the environment. Therefore the complex is designed to achieve a LEED速 rating. The Rangeland Complex is carefully situated in the landscape to compliment the natural forces observed on site. Environmental strategies integral to the design are directly influenced by the site. The marriage of the building to the site compels an interdependency, allowing them to act as one. The coupling of the building and site, natural daylight, natural ventilation, prevailing winds, and other informants bonds the building to the site.
22 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
12:00 pm
9:00 am
SolAr Study
6:00 am
nAturAl dAylight & VentilAtion
23
6:00 pm
3:00 pm
24 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
“The land is not the setting for the work but a part of the work.” —Walter de Maria
1 geothermal
2
3 windbreak
4
solar power
DEMONSTRATION
5 trails
6
2
native plants
7 pervious paving
8
wind power
9 7 water retention
5
outdoor class
Experiential learning is a powerful educational tool, a directive the Rangeland Management program is predicated upon. The ability to see technologies and systems used firsthand offers a tactile experience, which directly translates into a deeper understanding of the unfamiliar. To satisfy this goal:
The Rangeland Complex will utilize sustainable methods to demonstrate practices for rangeland management that can be applied to a ranch.
6
1 8
4 9
3
25
26 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
Rammed earth
Corn-crib siding
Wood siding
Corrugated metal
MATERIALITY
Material selection for the Rangeland Complex is inspired by typical ranch and farm buildings. The familiarity of the regional materials will unify the buildings to the site and tell the story of the rangeland. 27
MATERIALITY A strong connection to define a building within a region is through material selection. Applying materials readily available and typically used on vernacular buildings evokes a familiar response by all that use the facilities. However materiality is a multivalent approach, exposing depth in a design to enrich and enable the user. The layers of a composition of materials compels an experiential connection to the building and to the site. The dance of light through corn-crib siding, the texture of boardformed concrete, the repetition of cedar siding, the rhythm of the exposed wood structure contributes to the user’s experience. These qualities, which bring life to a building, reveal the building differently depending on the vantage point seen from, the time of day, or the season of the year. For example the main circulation corridor changes throughout the day with filtered light through corn-crib siding. The textured light will wash across the red casework wall adding a red hue to the lighting of the corridor. The corridor terminates in glass which offers a view out for wayfinding and humane architecture.
28 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
29
2
1 3
4 7 6 7
8
12
5
10
7
14 11 13
9
16 20 15
17
19
18 17
SITE PLAN 30 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
1 windbreak 2 12th street 3 trails 4 future road 5 pervious paving 6 future addition 7 ‘chuck’s prairie’ 8 walks 9 outdoor classroom 10 future head house/greenhouse 11 future storage building 12 laboratory facility 13 live animals facility 14 loading dock 15 future outdoor arena 16 future outdoor pens 17 pasture 18 gravel paving 19 service drive 20 water tower
Nestled into the site, the rangeland complex overlooks campus and the expansive pine ridge.
32 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
The approach to the complex reveals buildings with a low profile rising out of the prairie.
33
LABORATORY FACILITY
34 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
4
19
3
5
6
5
18
2
7
2
1
7 9
8
3 16
9
17
10
19
11
12
13 1
7 18 18
18
15 14
LOWER LEVEL PLAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ENTRY LOBBY OFFICE OUTDOOR DECK RESTROOM OVERLOOK STORAGE
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
SOILS LAB CORRIDOR FREEZER COOLER LAUNDRY ANIMALS LAB DOCK
7
UPPER LEVEL PLAN 15 16 17 18 19
DIRTY AREA WORK ROOM HERBARIUM MECHANICAL UNFINISHED
35
36 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
Passing through the native plantings of the prairie, you enter the building, drawn to the expansive glass, only to realize you are now observing the prairie from above.
37
38 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
39
40 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
From the deck you reconnect with the campus and the sea of prairie 41
42 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
43
44 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
The experience of the building changes, nearly, as frequently as the prairie.
45
46 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
47
Live animals FACILITY 1 2 3 4 5
COVERED ARBOR ENTRY CONCESSIONS CONCOURSE RESTROOM
6 7 8 9 10
ARENA FLOOR EXTERIOR ARENA FLOOR RODEO PINNING SQUEEZE SHOOT EXTERIOR PASSAGEWAY
1 5
2
3
4 5
6
7
8
8
9
10
48 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
49
50 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
Passing through the memorabilia wall, the concourse level offers spectators an unobstructed view of the arena floor supplemented with natural daylight.
51
52 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
53
54 | RANGELAND COMPLEX
Bahr Vermeer Haecker, founded in 1968, has offices in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Our award-winning work is recognized for exceptional design— inspired by place, and for a focused commitment to our client relationships. BVH is comprised of 10 principals, 17 additional registered architects, and a staff of 22 people that offer a diverse skill-set . These attributes enable the practice to address a wide range of challenges—demanding budgets and time constraints, unique sites, guiding the public process, re-purposing or preserving existing structures, and the complexities of new construction. Our portfolio of work ranges from personal residences, historic preservation, and restaurants to academic, civic, and corporate buildings. Inherent in each project, regardless of the scale, is a solution that responds to the particular circumstances and the client needs. BVH’s mission of design excellence is strengthened by our commitment to client relationships. We actively engage our clients in a design, encouraging them to be a voice during the process. Each voice is heard, ensuring a meaningful response to their project. Through this proven collaboration the process of designing and constructing a building is a rewarding experience. Green building design and sustainability have long been an integral part of BVH’s core values. BVH is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and has LEED® accredited professionals on staff who are able to guide clients in decision-making that will facilitate the building to achieve a LEED® rating. 55