DePaul Building Wins Construction Award

June 25, 2014July 2, 2014 2287 Views Alabama, Arkansas Department of Corrections, Arkansas Sheriffs’ Associations, campus architecture, Eastern U.S., green project awards, LEED for Existing Buildings, Teaching Strategies GOLD, University of Nebraska Medical Center

CHICAGO — The Chicago Building Congress (CBC) and Construction Owners Association of America (COAA) International recently recognized the DePaul University Theatre School in Chicago, Ill. 2014 with a CBC/COAA Owners’ Choice Award. International engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti served as the project’s structural engineer, while international design firms Pelli Clarke Pelli and Cannon Design contributed to the facility’s design. W.E. O’Neill Construction of Chicago served as the project’s general contractor.

Awarded since 1956, the Chicago Building Congress’ Merit Award Program celebrates achievements across the building industry. A panel of 40 CBC member volunteers judged the projects, submitted across nine categories, for safety record, impact on the community, quality of construction, and distinctive, functional or innovative design.

The five-story, 169,000 square-foot, steel and reinforced concrete building, houses a 250-seat thrust theatre, a 100-seat flexible theatre, rehearsal, scenery and costume space, classrooms, and administrative offices. Though primarily made of limestone, it also features both translucent and transparent glass, allowing passersby a glimpse of the building’s interior while also giving the building’s users a view of the surrounding community.

However, according to Thornton Tomasetti the building’s location also presented the design team with a few challenges, including a small site space and strict zoning laws in the historic Lincoln Park neighborhood. To accommodate the site while still providing the necessary square footage, the five-story building’s design includes a gradual stepping out of the higher floors from the base at the northeast corner, increasing the floor space at each level. Support for the design feature is provided by cantilevers that, with each step of the terrace, extend in length beyond the cantilever at the floor below.

According to Pelli Clarke Pelli, wide corridors, open lounges and rooftop courtyards, encourage interaction between users. An interior courtyard introduces light and air into the surrounding offices and design studios. The facility’s entrance opens into a lobby, lounge and concessions space, while the thrust theater lobby serves as the “living room” of the building, where theater patrons and students congregate.

Designed to a high level of sustainability, the facility also minimizes energy consumption through the use of fritted glass, green roof areas and daylighting for offices, design studios, and classrooms. Outdoor terraces on the upper floors also contributed to the building’s LEED Gold certification, and many recycled content and regionally sourced materials were integrated into the design.

Bob Janis, vice president for facility operations at DePaul commented in a release that the certification was no small feat, as the building contains a number of large volume spaces and operates long hours. The Theatre School was the third campus facility to earn LEED Gold.

“DePaul’s new Theatre School underscores the fact that Chicago is a great theatre city, and a great architectural city,” said Brian Imus, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council-Illinois, in a February 2014 release. “Our city now boasts a performing arts building that is a role model for sustainability, and that deserves a thunderous round of applause.”

The facility was completed and dedicated in 2013.