June 1, 2013

SPSCC - Building 22

Image of the South entrance to the renovated Building 22 at the campus center.

General Project Info

Location: Tumwater, WA
When: 2011 - 2013
Company: Leo Finnegan Construction
Footprint: 89,311 sq.ft.
My Role: Laborer Foreman

History of the building

In 2006 SRG began working with South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia to revamp its campus master plan. At the heart of reinventing the college’s future was figuring out what to do with a 1970s-era metal shed, Building 22.

Known as the Center for Student Success, Building 22 was the largest structure on campus, set in the middle of others that had grown up around it over the years. Completed in 1976, it was the first and only permanent building on campus, below-average condition, and still used primarily for the automotive and welding programs on which the college was founded.

Building 22 has housed many functions during its life and been through a number of renovations, repairs and expansions.

In the fall of 2008, the college developed a learning plan for the new Building 22 program, which focused on library, student services and e-learning. Produced through a series of four all-day work sessions with the planning team, the plan highlighted and synthesized the strengths of the existing institution and made a set of recommendations.

Building 22 is now alive with the buzz of students all the time. Representing what the college has become since the 1970s, it realizes the new master plan with program uses (library, media and student services) that touch all disciplines and functions. What began as the automotive and welding facility at the center of a vocational institute has been transformed into a light-filled place promoting student interaction on the campus of a modern, comprehensive college.

🧩 Construction Project Features

Aggressive construction schedule in the middle of an occupied campus
Conversion of a ‘metal shed’ into a modern educational building with spaces for various programs
Modified roof structure for large clerestory
Multi-story glass curtain-walls
Terrazo flooring at the main hall

💡 Technologies and Skills I used

Elevation control
Reading plans
Reading shop-drawings
Planning and schedule coordination
Forklift operation
Organized and led safety meetings and performed safety inspections
Led concrete placements and finishing operations

Photos

What used to be the automotive center…

Photo, taken from inside, of the existing automotive shop inside building 22.

…Became the new library

Photo of the interior in the new library space. If you look closely, you can see some of the existing roof structure above the new ‘drop-ceilings’ and you might also notice the new ‘quiet-cubbies’ built into what used to be the rool-up door openings of the old shop.

The aging spaces on the second level…

Photo of old interior second-level of the building showing exposed concrete elevator shaft and drab gray colors.

…Were transformed into a vibrant atrium

Photo of new atrium from the top of a staircase with warm natural light flooding in. Again, you can see alot of the steel ‘super-structure’ intact (although it looks alot better painted, in my opinion.) The wood-slat ceiling is the largest installation of this style that I’ve been involved in. I really like the look of it and it has excellent sound-diffusion qualities which is great for such a large hall.

The new Student Services Center

Photo from the second floor, different angle, and featuring text on solid-glass railing that reads: 'Student Services'.

End-to-end terrazo flooring

Photo taken from the ground floor looking down the length of the hall with the vaulted wood ceilings of the atrium above. Terrazo! It’s like concrete, except with epoxy!

3-story glass curtain walls let lots of light in

Photo of the North entrance taken from outside featuring the floor-to-roof glass curtain-walls. Mission Glass did an excellent job on these curtain walls (and the whole project in general.)

The old skybridge was preserved and lighted to maintain the existing path from the other buildings

Photo taken from the exterior south side of the building featuring the existing steel framing of the old sky-bridge. Some features like this were strange to see when the building was gutted and demolition was complete. I also remember they were a pain to work around more than once during construction, but in the end, it all looks great!

Shade-louvers allow light in all-day without disrupting reading in the Library

Photo taken from the South-West exterior of the building featuring shade-louvers at the exterior of the Library storefront windows. This project was the first time I’d see these type of shades installed. I’m sure they are less maintenance than the blinds you’d typically get for your windows but there was a lot more involved with installing these!

🌐 More Info

👉 Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce

👉 SRG Partnership

🎯 Objective / Learnings

Extensive selective demolition of the existing building with only minimal struture left intact.
Significant modifications to the second-level floor plan including new elevator shafts, atrium, and cantelevered floors at level 2
Significant coordination involved in performing construction activities in the heart of campus
Rigorous safety inspections for both on-site and surrounding campus
Large terrazo installation and logistics