UNIVERSITY SERIES

Building Better Outcomes with ReinfORced cOncRete

An honors Approach for University facilities

Reinforced concrete: University

systems. Reinforced concrete can be be constructed quickly, reducing expense of temporary facilities and minimizing disruption of schedules.

Lower Long-Term Costs. In addition to lowering construction budgets, reinforced concrete buildings also offer opportunities for long-term operating savings in a variety of ways. Its durable construc-tion minimizes long-term maintenance expenses. Efficient leveraging of the material’s thermal mass can lower demand on HVAC require-ments, thus reducing operating costs and impact on the environment.

Durability. The long life of reinforced concrete buildings saves future construction money by extending the useful life of a facility, while reinforced concrete’s inherent resistance to damage and dete-rioration keeps maintenance budgets low every year. Administrators can afford to plan for changes in needs over the life of a facility since reinforced concrete systems can be designed to offer greater capacity and adaptability at a minimal increase in cost. Interior concrete walls protect buildings from laboratory equipment and normal wear and tear from student use.

Aesthetic Variety. Reinforced concrete’s versatility provides an unlimited palette with which to create the image and environment required. Its surface can be adapted with many types of reveals, finishes, colors, stains and embedments. Significant savings can also be realized by minimizing curtain wall systems.

Architectural Enhancements. Reinforced concrete provides a durable appearance projecting a strong image that can blend with existing campus buildings whether the style is historic or contemporary. It can be fabricated to replicate granite, stone and brick finishes, thus eliminating the costs associated with addirional cladding. Columns, embossed letters, university logos and other decorative elements can easily be added to façades, help-ing to project a specific image for the university’s overall thematic design.

Lower Initial Cost. Reinforced concrete creates efficient structural frames without the need for early deposits on materials shipped from distant places. Efficient construction makes effective use of available budgets. The shallow depth of floor and wall structural components minimizes material needs and reduces floor-to-floor heights, while providing the required interior space compared to other structural

Administrators at colleges and universities must meet a wide range of campus needs, including those for classrooms, office spaces, laboratories, libraries, and athletic facilities. These buildings must work together cost-effectively to meet all students’ necessities on the campus.

Each structure must be capable of adapting to new requirements and systems, as educational specialties evolve, technologies progress, and career choices emerge. New buildings must blend with existing ones while projecting a unique image that reflects the facility’s core mission.

Reinforced concrete scores highly with administrators, designers and users because it can meet every challenge. Both cast-in-place reinforced and precast concrete designs ensure new buildings remain flexible, aesthetically pleasing, cost effective, and functionally efficient.

CHALLENGES:

VERSATILITY:

MAKING THE GRADE:

the Benefits...

facilities’ hidden Strength

Sustainable Design. Reinforced concrete can be leveraged in many economical ways to create more sustainable environments for research and learning. Reinforced concrete’s unique benefits are immediate, long-lasting, and set a tone for tomorrow’s leaders. It can help achieve the goals set by the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council. Reinforced concrete is made with locally available materials, minimizing trans-portation and staging costs. It typically is cast to specifications, with little excess and any waste created can be recycled for further use.

The steel reinforcing bars used in reinforced concrete consists of nearly 100% recycled material. Concrete mix designs typically incorpo-rate industrial by-products that would otherwise be considered unusable waste. Fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, silica fume, and other supplemental cementitious materials reduce the amount of cement required while significantly improving durability. At the end of the structure’s useful service life, the concrete and reinforcement can be recycled. Many concrete plants and steel mills have instituted waste-product fuel, water recycling, and other processes to minimize the environmental impact.

Design Flexibility. Reinforced concrete’s capa-bilities allow open layouts so buildings can adapt as they are developed for future laboratory spaces, classrooms, and other requirements. Its capabili-ties for handling heat-generating equipment and

vibration damping allows reinforced concrete buildings to efficiently be adapted to rapidly advancing technologies years later.

Speed of Construction. Reinforced concrete provides a faster start to construction because concrete and reinforcing steel are supplied locally. Reinforced concrete routinely leads other framing materials in time to completion compari-sons because concrete construction produces the building’s shell quicker, allowing interior trades faster access to the jobsite. Using modern technology and time-tested methods, work on reinforced concrete structures can continue year-round through hot or cold weather. This consistency eliminates the need for additional time contingencies in the schedule that can make it difficult to estimate timetables, ensuring the project is completed on time.

Energy Efficiency. Reinforced concrete’s ther-mal mass helps lower HVAC needs and improve energy efficiency. Its ability to absorb heat by day and release it at night is especially effective for buildings with significant heat-generating equip-ment, such as laboratories or computer centers. This characteristic may also help move peak en-ergy consumption into non-peak hours, reducing the burden on equipment and energy suppliers.

Improved Indoor Air Quality. Indoor air quality is a key concern for buildings that are used by large groups of people, such as classrooms. The monolithic nature of concrete construction reduces hidden spaces where

insects, rodents, and biological hazards can accumulate and infiltrate into the occupied spaces. The impervious barrier provided by reinforced concrete helps keep the outdoors outside and lets the interior environment be controlled by the HVAC systems. Further, reinforced concrete does not contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which threaten people and the environment.

Safety. Unique capabilities allow reinforced concrete structures to serve the entire com-munity as critical safe havens during many types of disasters.• Reinforced concrete’s inherent non-combustible

composition aids fire safety by reducing the fire’s ability to spread. Time-consuming and costly fireproofing and fire-blocking details do not need to be added.

• Seismically resistant reinforced concrete build-ings can withstand earthquakes and create a building that can be quickly reoccupied to help fulfill needs after a seismic event.

• Very high winds associated with tornadoes and thunderstorms are no match for the strength of properly designed reinforced concrete struc-tures, helping to protect students and staff from the effects of sudden storms.

• Returning to normalcy following disasters of all types is important to communities and reinforced concrete helps assure that the facilities will be available to be part of the recovery effort.

Montage photos: ©Shutterstock.

Administrators at the University of Washington decided to eschew the Gothic style of their main campus when they designed the School of Fisheries Building, one of the leading schools of fishery science in North America and a world leader in research related to salmonid species. Designers chose a cast-in-place, reinforced concrete structure as the best approach to housing state-of-the art equipment, consolidating the school’s faculty for improved communication, and reflecting the facilities’ technological sophistication.

The three–story building terraces toward Boat Street, maximizing the views along the city’s waterfront and complimenting nearby structures. A reinforced concrete moment frame allowed greater flexibility for the varied configurations of plan elements and the large laboratory HVAC systems that were required. In addition, reinforced concrete was determined to provide the safest, most dependable, and most cost-effective way to control vibrations, which was required for the school’s sensitive scientific instruments.

Built in a Zone-3 seismic region, the building was designed to use 80% of the structure as concrete moment frames to resist seismic loads. This allowed for less reinforcement congestion than comparable structure types where only specific members are part of the lateral load-resisting system. Cast-in-place, conventionally reinforced concrete was used for all primary structural elements, including columns, beams, walls, slabs, foundations, stairs, and ramps.

The focus on function didn’t detract from the school’s aesthetic design. Designers played up the concrete elements, making them clearly visible throughout the building. This approach allowed the components to reveal their strength, versatility and integrity, which emphasized the school’s serious approach in an attractive way.

School of fisheries Building, University of

washingtonLocation

Seattle, Washington

OwnerUniversity of Washington

Seattle, Washington

ArchitectBohlin Cywinski Jackson Inc.

Seattle, Washington

EngineerKPFF Consulting Engineers

Seattle, Washington

ContractorTurner Construction Co.

Seattle, Washington

Researching Schools of fishSchool of Fisheries Building, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

to resist lateral seismic forces, reinforced concrete moment frames were used in 80% of all gravity-framing members.

Photos: Art Grice Photographer.

The north and west elevations form a brick ‘edge’ to the site and relate directly in material and scale to other buildings along the street. These elevations were critical to establishing an approach to the campus and expressing the façades to the laboratories and service spaces. The south and east elevations feature a cast-in-place reinforced concrete frame with an aluminum and glass curtain wall to take advantage of water views. Great care was taken to articulate and reveal the nature of the two contrasting exterior skins, and to establish strong relationships between interior and exterior spaces.

Reinforced concrete allowed the architect to achieve a range of cost-effective contextual finishes and provide greater freedom of ex-pression and flexibility. This can be seen in the three-story convening space, which features a glass and reinforced concrete staircase. This structure acts as a lantern for the major pedestrian route through the south campus. A second stairway ascends through the conven-ing space to the third floor clerestory and connects all three floors.

Total project size:

125,000 sq ft

Total project cost:

$33.6 million

School of fisheries Building by the numbers.

Total project size:

617,000 sq ft

Total project cost:

$140 million

technology Square by the numbers.

Technology Square, the $140-million, five-building technology complex on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta’s vibrant midtown business district, serves as a strong example of how cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures can meet the needs of high-tech buildings today while creating a sustainable future for tomorrow’s students.

The five-building complex comprises the College of Management, the Global Learning Center, the Economic Development Institute, a hotel/conference

center, and a parking structure. Four of the buildings feature cast-in-place reinforced concrete frames, including the College of Management,

which received a Silver certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program developed by the U.S.

Green Building Council. The parking structure features precast reinforced concrete components.

Adapting to constant changeTechnology Square, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia

Reinforced concrete was specified for all five structures to enhance their sustainable-design attributes and reduce overall costs.

technology SquareLocation

Atlanta, Georgia

OwnerGeorgia Institute of Technology

and the Georgia Tech Foundation Atlanta, Georgia

ArchitectThompson, Ventulett,

Stainback & Associates Atlanta, Georgia

EngineerWalter P. Moore Atlanta, Georgia

ContractorHolder/Hardin, a Joint Venture

Atlanta, Georgia

Reinforced concrete was chosen for the structures to enhance the building’s sustainable-design attributes, such as its use of locally sourced materials. Reinforced concrete also helped keep the massive project cost effective by using the available local labor force.

The building’s exteriors were designed to bridge the aesthetic gap between the “tech-nologically infused environment” of Georgia Tech and the character and scale of the existing campus. To accomplish this, designers combined traditional architectural elements and materi-als such as reinforced concrete with modern, sleek, transparent components for major circulation nodes.

Precast reinforced concrete lintels, finished with a limestone appearance, serve as accents over window openings, providing a nod to the more traditional brick campus buildings that comprise most of the campus. Limestone-colored precast reinforced concrete also was used for large planar areas in the buildings, forming solid elements to contrast with the transparent glowing “lantern gateway” elements that serve as the complex’s focal point.

Throughout the project, versatile reinforced concrete floor systems were used to meet each building’s specific needs, owing to their shallow structural depths and minimal restrictions for core drilling. The College of Management, Global Learning Center, and Economic Development Institute all utilized modular pan-slab construction with post-tensioned beams. The hotel employed a flat-slab floor system with conventional reinforcement. The hotel was specifically designed for future expansion, with inserts cast into the slab and beams for later tie-ins to the structural framing system.

Precast reinforced concrete pavement was used extensively on street level sections to provide a pedestrian-friendly streetscape and courtyard.

Reinforced concrete aided designers in the project achievement of Leed certification.

University of florida cancer & Genetics

Research center Location

Gainesville, Florida

OwnerUniversity of Florida Gainesville, Florida

ArchitectHunton Brady Architects

Orlando, Florida

EngineerWalter P. Moore Orlando, Florida

ContractorTurner-PPI, A Joint Venture

Gainesville, Florida

Opening a GatewayUniversity of Florida Cancer & Genetics Research Center, Gainesville, Florida

The goals set for the new research center at the University of Florida were visionary: create a gateway, multi-disciplinary biomedical research institution that would allow a large and diverse group of scientists whose work could change the world in a produc-tive work environment. To help meet these challenges while adhering to the univer-sity’s strict architectural guidelines, precast reinforced concrete panels inset with brick were used to clad the 280,000-square-foot facility.

Total project size:

280,000 sq ft

Total project cost:

$72 million

Univ. of florida Research cntr. by the numbers.

The $72-million project is comprised of two towers, a five-story cancer-research wing and a six-story genetics wing. The towers connect via a five-level, common concourse that facili-tates researcher collaboration. The complex is the largest research building on the university campus.

The structure’s exterior had to follow the university’s “collegiate gothic” architectural style, which placed an emphasis on vertical orientation: a segmentation into base, middle, and top expressions; windows that reflected the type of space contained within; asymme-try on building façades; and modern adapta-tions of materials.

The required brick façade was achieved with thin-brick-faced, precast reinforced concrete panels. A comparison of energy resources and costs for this approach as compared to using masonry walls showed that the precast reinforced concrete panels provided a savings of 1.2 tons of material due to using thin bricks rather than full bricks. Additional savings were achieved by lessening material needs through such reductions as requiring 2,790 fewer Millions of British Thermal Units

MMBTUs to fire the brick, 51 fewer trips to transport the materials to the plant, and 88 fewer trips to ship the materials to the site.

These savings helped the project achieve certification by the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council. Designers also credited the concrete panels with helping to achieve certification by incor-porating integrated design, using materials efficiently, reducing construction waste and site disturbance, improving energy efficiency, improving indoor environmental quality, and reducing noise.

Use of the panels accelerated the construc-tion schedule and allowed the contractor to install all fenestration systems earlier in the schedule. That, in turn, allowed the building to be enclosed prior to installing the mechani-cal systems, which reduced the likelihood of airborne contaminants. Substantial long-term savings will be realized through the use of the concrete foundation and panel system, which was estimated by the design team to have a service life in excess of 200 years.

Total project size:

156,000 sq ft

Total project cost:

$42 million

center for Biohealth by the numbers.

Located on the southeast corner of the University of North Texas campus, the new Center for BioHealth serves as the welcoming gateway to the school’s Health Science Center complex. The building’s diverse and technical program needs were joined with a distinctive, yet sleek aesthetic design to create a contemporary building that is functionally efficient and cost effective.

The six-story facility was designed to offer maximum flexibility for floor designs. The structural system consists of cast-in-place, conventionally reinforced concrete framing consisting of columns and girders. Lateral loads are resisted by rigid concrete moment frames in each orthogo-nal axis. The floors were constructed using a pan-joist system, which minimized forming costs, provided a suitable finish, and offered inherent fire resistence for the exposed structure in laboratory, service, classroom, and utility spaces.

Reinforced concrete was selected for the structure because of its ability to respond to the laboratories’ needs to dampen transient vibrations, which could disrupt or distort delicate instrumentation and imaging

Maximizing flexibility and functionalityCenter for BioHealth at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas

equipment. Cast-in-place, reinforced concrete construction also allowed an early start to the project and an accelerated construction schedule, which saved costs on this publicly funded project. The concrete used in the structure included a high proportion of fly ash, adding to the project’s sustainable design.

The architects considered the surrounding neigh-borhoods, including the adjoining Fort Worth Cultural District, in their approach to aesthetics. The building’s curved façade was created with precast, reinforced concrete panels attached to the formed concrete frame. Exterior materials, shapes, and surfaces were chosen to comple-ment those of the existing campus buildings, as well as those in the adjacent cultural district. Inside, the exposed, cast-in-place reinforced concrete joist ribs were ground smooth to provide a desirable aesthetic for the exposed elements.

The cast-in-place reinforced concrete system will allow easy adaptability to future needs as technologies change and the school’s needs evolve. The load carrying capacity of the pan-joist floor framing will allow the laboratories to be re-configured as needed to support new spaces and loading requirements. The structural modules and laboratory modules were coordinated on each of the 26,000-square-foot floors to provide flexibility in locating partitions.

The cast-in-place, reinforced concrete design provided a variety of short- and long-term advantages, including allowing cost-effective increases in live-load capacity during design, inherent stiffness, and excellent vibration damping. The inherently corrosion-resistant character of concrete also offered an effec-tive way to provide a crawl space below the ground-level floor for access to mechanical piping and electrical systems, without concern about premature structural deterioration.

designers specified reinforced concrete to assist with vibration control.

center for Biohealth at the University of

north texas health Science center

LocationFort Worth, Texas

OwnerUniversity of North Texas

Fort Worth, Texas

ArchitectCarter & Burgess, Inc. and Polshek

Partnership

EngineerCarter & Burgess, Inc.

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