The Dance Floor

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During construction opportunities pop up to see something or be somewhere that will be inaccessible ever after. On a recent tour of McCord Hall, a few of us had a chance to stand in mid-air.

DPR’s Tom Corey took time a couple weeks ago to take Laurie Richmond, W. P. Carey’s lead graphic designer, and me through both wings of McCord Hall. I’ll be posting some of what we saw over the next week.

Dance-floor-scaffolding

Probably my favorite moment was when we walked out onto the platform that spanned the North and South Wings at the fourth floor level. Tom called the platform a dance floor, and it was supported by a forest of scaffolding.

The dance floor gave workers access to the ceiling of that patio and the roof that connects the two wings. They were installing the sheet rock that will give the ceiling a finished look.

Dance-floor-wide

Access to the dance floor was a perfectly vertical ladder. At the top of the ladder you could look across the platform to the sky.

 

 

Dance-floor-in-middle2

From there you could walk out into the middle — to a spot that will be part of the four story shaft from the ground through the open circle of the oculus to the sky. Unless you parachute in, no human will ever occupy that space again.

 

Oculus-400

Walkabout

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Have you seen Executive Dean Amy Hillman’s video tour of McCord Hall? This link takes you to a comprehensive tour, taped in December, where Dean Hillman explains how each area will be outfitted to serve the needs of graduate students, faculty, staff and recruiters. In-person tours are also beginning. Yesterday I tagged along on a tour Mike Nixon did for W. P. Carey MBA and Undergraduate staff — from the left in the photo below are: Shawnna Pomeroy, Brennan Forss, Melissa Stark, Lorraine Protocollo, Mary Latino, Kim Heffernan and Jennifer Wells. It turned out to be a good photo op, so I created an album of some of the things we saw. I always learn something new …

Access to the South Wing classrooms will be an outdoor walkway, one of my favorite features of McCord Hall.

The point of this tour was to show staff around the areas where they will be working. Mike Nixon answered a lot of questions about the MBA office quarters

 

The walls in McCord Hall will be light — the base color is Dunn Edwards’ Silver Bell. Throughout the building, however, you’ll see accent colors that will bring out the tones in the carpet and furniture. Here is the palate, highlighting the splayed windows in the office area. The colors are (from left) Dark Celery, Yellow Marigold, Flame, Grape Juice and Champion Cobalt …

The dominant architectural feature in the  conference room on the third floor is our tilted columns. Below left is the office next to that conference room, where the other treetop makes its appearance. Below right, a welder works on the steel supports for the shade screens on the northeast side of the South Wing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind the group in this photo is the patio on the fourth floor of the South Wing. Check out the great views facing north!

Next we visited the North Wing, where we saw the team rooms and a large area dedicated to recruiting. This is the third floor corridor. Lots of good natural light in this building!

Here the welders are working on the staircase in the North Wing. Encased in glass, it will add to the open feel of the building. This photo doesn’t show much of the stairwell, but I love welder shots — the light is so fantastic.

 

 

 

Windows on the world …

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By the end of the day, the large windows that form the south east corner of the south wing of McCord Hall will be in place. The windows and the brick lean slightly over the ground at a 12.5 degree cant. They encase the top sections of those tilted columns that were so interesting to look at all these months.

The framing for these windows took a week to finish – as long as it took to frame the window wall on the entire south face of the north wing, according to DPR’s Lew Laws. The steel that extends from the top of the frames (see image above) will support shade screens, to be installed later. Walters and Wolf are the glazers. Encore Steel will be supply the shade screen.

 

 

Expanses of glass are mirrors on the world around. Last evening I caught the first of many many sunsets to reflect in the window. On the left, the the reflected palm trees remind me how exotic this place is; on the right, we can see the sky through the stairwell on BAC. As you rush to your car or your next class, don’t forget to look up.

To Your Health!

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How comfortable you feel in a building is to a large extent the result of the temperature of the air. If it’s too warm, you feel sluggish and sleepy: kids fall asleep in classrooms and staff gets less done. But air that’s too cold is also disruptive. Shivering is distracting and at some point it’s hard to type.

But temperature is only one aspect of the indoor environment. Air quality matters, too. McCord Hall is going to be a very comfortable and healthy building – based on air temperature and quality.

“McCord Hall will be probably the healthiest and most efficient building on campus,” said Mike Nixon, W. P. Carey’s director of facilities and space planning. “The indoor air quality will surpass any other building at ASU, and once we get used to it we won’t be happy anywhere else.”

 

McCord Hall has an under floor displaced air system. The floors are actually two feet above the slab. Running through that space, called the plenum, are cable trays and conduits for electricity – and fresh cooled air. Fans in each wing push air down from the air handlers on the roof to the plenums under the floors, and up through grates at our feet. Understandably, the plenums are sealed so that they are airtight.

Among the many advantages of the system is that more fresh air will circulate through McCord Hall than buildings cooled and heated by the older conventional systems. The building occupants should feel more alert, and since we will be breathing less recycled air, perhaps we’ll share fewer colds!

How it works

DPR’s Lew Laws explains that a conventional system distributes air cooled to 55 degrees through overhead ducts. At 55 degrees, he said, the air will fall to the floor – simple physics. The air will pick up heat from the load, which is defined as anything that generates heat in the space — including people and computers. Once warmed, the air will rise again, to the return ducts which move it back through the system to be re-cooled and re-circulated.

 

In McCord Hall, the air handlers — those large silver structures on the roof — will cool the air to 65 degrees. It doesn’t need to be 55 degrees because it will arrive at the room under the floor instead of overhead: it doesn’t need to be cold enough to fall. Propelled at a low velocity by the fans, air will travel up through diffusers in the floor, where it will encounter the load: us, and our computers. It picks up our heat, and – like conventional systems – it rises to the return ducts in the ceiling. Sensors will detect air temperature, and will adjust the diffusers in the floor to let in more or less air.

Lew says that McCord Hall was designed with an under floor displaced air system for three reasons: 1) air quality; 2) flexibility; and 3) aesthetics.

The benefits

McCord Hall’s under floor system circulates warmer air than the conventional systems to achieve the same comfort level for people. Because the air in the system starts at 65 degrees instead of 55, we can provide more fresh air for the same amount of energy used as a conventional system.

In Arizona, 10 percent of the air in most buildings is fresh from outdoors; in California the code requires 20 percent. McCord Hall will run at 20 – 30 percent, and in some seasons the indoor air will be 100 percent fresh. Lew said that the number of days we’ll be able to run on 100 percent outdoor air is greater because we have more 65 degree days in Arizona than 55. (On those few days when it’s very cold outside, heaters will warm the air in the system.)

As for aesthetics, the system reduces the need for overhead ducts, which means ceilings can be exposed, giving the architects more design freedom.

A chilling tale

The way ASU produces air conditioning is itself an interesting story.

In the heart of campus is the Central Plant, a large industrial-looking building between Murdoch Hall and Life Sciences. Lew explained this is where water is chilled to about 42 or 43 degrees, at night when institutional electricity rates are low. That’s important, because 90 percent of the funds spent on HVAC systems is for the operation of the chillers.

The chilled water is stored in six 1 million gallon tanks under the northwest corner of the SRC field. (Interesting point: a huge drainage pipe, laid just before we broke ground for McCord Hall, lies under the south end of the field. So, the fields are probably safe from development for a very long time!)

During the day, cold water is drawn from the tanks in response to demand from the cooling systems in our buildings. Chilled water is pumped from the tanks (which are literally next door) to the roof of McCord Hall, where the air handlers are located. The water flows through coils of pipes, and as air from the returns and from outside circulates around the coils it loses heat. Fans force the cooled air down into the building to the plenums, through the diffusers into the rooms and back to the return ducts which deliver the now warmer air to the air handler.

Bottom line

Everyone involved in the McCord Hall project expects the HVAC system to perform very well. According to Mike Nixon, “if it does what we believe it will, every new building on campus will be cooled this way.”

Over My Head

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As a non-engineer, I’ve always been awestruck by big projects. Watching the construction of highway ramps, I try to imagine the plans that determine where to dig or fill, and how all that information is passed along to the equipment operators who actually move the dirt. I’m filled with respect for the minds that create the plans: the math and technology involved are way over my head. But other than little boys, construction workers and engineers, most of us drive by those projects without a thought.

What a loss — we pass up so many opportunities to be amazed.

McCord Hall is smaller scale than a highway intersection, but it too is a marvel of planning. When we move in, however, most of us will enjoy the fruits without considering how it all happened. Tom Corey, who supervises the various subcontractors working in McCord Hall, took these pictures.

Looking up …

For example, in various parts of the building there might be a lot more over your head than ceiling tiles, lights and sprinklers. This photo, taken in the basement, shows water and waste pipes. In most areas of McCord Hall these are not overhead, and of course this is drawn into those detailed plans. But as buildings become real in concrete and steel, issues that were not foreseen when the plans were drawn come to the fore, and there are decision points. For example, the plans might show a pipe crossing a beam, or several systems might need to run through the building at the same ‘elevation.’

DPR used a BIM (Building Information Management) system to coordinate the installation of these systems. BIM is a software program that generates a 3D model. Every Thursday morning while the systems were being built, the subcontractors walked through the building virtually and identified problems in advance — like the places where pipes and ducts crossed or a beam obstructed access. In one case, the electrical conduit had to be moved to accommodate a staircase, and throughout the building where systems shared the headroom, BIM allowed the contractors to plan how they would stack up.

Above everything is the roof. DPR, the architects and ASU are currently working on a plan to screen the air handlers  from our view, but in fact, most of us would probably have not noticed the big box.

 

ASU air conditions our buildings using chilled water that is refrigerated to a low temperature in the central plant nearby, stored in tanks beneath the SRC fields, then delivered to air handlers in gleaming pipes like these.

…  Looking down

Back inside the building, the floor below your feet is no more dead space than the area above the ceiling tiles.

If you had toured McCord Hall earlier in the project, you would have had to jump down to get from the doorways to the interior spaces. That’s because the floors are about two feet above the concrete slab, leaving room for the cable trays and conduits that carry data lines and electricity and the air distribution balancing ducts that deliver chilled air to the rooms.

This sub-floor chamber is called a plenum – a new word for me that I learned by Googling it during a construction meeting. McCord Hall will use and underfloor displaced air system that will supply a low velocity, low pressure supply of air to the spaces in the building. The plenum is sealed air-tight to keep dust away from these systems: it will be cleaned three to four times before we occupy the building to assure that no construction dust found its way into the space.

… Looking all around

Probably least surprising as you look around inside McCord Hall is the stuff inside the walls. This is where the electricity enters the building …  

… and this is what the wiring looks like inside the walls of what will become a team room. Here as everywhere else, the details matter – like where a light switch is placed. I was curious about the reason for mounting the fire alarm switch higher than the light switches, but apparently that’s a matter of code.

Embedded in the walls in the lavatories are reinforcement plates that will secure fixtures for the repetitive heavy use they will endure.

The day we visited, workers were installing sheet rock, but before they could start, a series of inspectors examined the wiring and cabling. After the ASU and Tempe inspectors sign off, DPR comes through for a “zero defect” inspection, when the plans are double-checked to be sure that what was designed actually got built.

The sheet rocking is an example of crew efficiency. The area is divided into three zones and the crews move through them in sequence. First the dry wall crew does the “one siding,” which means they hang drywall on just one side of the walls then move on to the next zone. The second wave of workers install insulation, the third hang the second wall, finishing the sandwich.

Next we’ll take a look at the ways the indoor environment at McCord Hall differs from any other building on campus.

A New Normal at the Corner

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Winter break brings relative calm to campus – and opportunity to the W. P. Carey School’s construction projects.

It started today as DPR, the general contractor on the McCord Hall project, fenced off the corner of Normal and Lemon and started breaking up the pavement. Normal Street is open to the public only as far as the eastern permit entrance to the Apache Parking Structure, and Lemon is open only to the Visitor Lot entrance.

Basically, our “kiss and drop” zone has been taken out of play temporarily. The new drop off zone will be wider, allowing cars to pull off the street with room enough for the safe loading and unloading of passengers and deliveries. In fact, the new trees are already in place. The cross walk is being redesigned as well.

Say good bye to the mock ups at the base of the BAC stairwell. They puzzled us at first, until we learned they were built so that the contractor, architects and school officials could try out finishes and other details. They’ve served their purpose and will be broken up and sent off for recycling.

The fencing will extend west, encompassing the citrus trees on the south corner of BAC. Construction of the new patio means that those trees – sadly – will go. Fortunately we are getting news trees in their place – ash trees – as well as flowering ground cover. The bike racks were moved too – with bikes still attached! They are now located next to the Spirit sculpture.

Also during winter break, DPR will be removing concrete around the easternmost fountain on the Dean’s Patio. You may have noticed that the concrete in this area of the patio was plain gray, in contrast to the exposed aggregate finish on the rest of the Dean’s patio. That’s because it was temporary — the plans anticipated that there would be a fountain at the new building. When the Dean’s Patio was renovated a year ago, the pipes for the fountain were “stubbed out,” so that additional pipes could be laid someday. “Someday” turns out to be winter break! In the photo you can see the white lines, marking where the concrete will be cut.

By the time classes start on January 7 everything should be back to normal. Meantime, “calm” will not be the right word to describe the corner outside our building!

Top of the Morning!

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About 150 faculty and staff and representatives of the contractors working on the job turned out this morning to witness the topping out of McCord Hall. A 70 foot beam that spans the north east curve joining the South Wing to the North Wing was hoisted from the courtyard just east of BAC, lifted over the South Wing, then delicately set in place.

Before it took flight, however, the beam was signed by the festive crowd. Using a paint pen supplied by DPR, our general contractor, Dean Mittelstaedt penned his name. Executive Dean Amy Hillman followed.

For the next 15 minutes people jostled happily to sign their names on the steel.

 

 

 

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For many, the morning was a great photo op. Jeffrey Hough and Dwain Wiltbank from W. P. Carey’s multimedia team were shooting video — Dwain was on the roof of BAC — and Tom Corey from DPR did his usual fine work, several of them posted here. And of course the cell phone cameras were everywhere…

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, the beam nestled perfectly between the column at the north end of the South Wing’s fourth floor terrace and the point of the North Wing’s prow. Steel workers guided into position with tag lines. Once they settled the beam, the workers secured it with bolts – a process called “making safe.” As the crowd on Palm Walk began to drift back to our offices and classrooms, the workers continued the job of installing the beam before welding and bolting it into its permanent position.

From the ground it looked easy, but a lot of thought went into the job. The beam was measured carefully, as was the building, to be sure it was the right length.

 

We have months more to go before McCord Hall will be ready for us to occupy, but today was a little taste … and a happy memory.

You Are There: What McCord Hall Will Look Like, Inside

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Lew Laws shared this rendering today, showing what the North Wing of McCord Hall will look like. This is the top of the stairway that will be just west of the elevators. I like the ghostly figures. Put yourself in the picture: imagine that you’re the person who’s looking out the window.

While you’re inside the picture, check out the yellow lighting cove on the curved soffit behind you. Last spring we wrote about this lighting treatment: it’s mocked up in the lobby of the second floor of BAC. Laws told me that the mock up was built to see what the yellow plastic translucent material would look like in the building. Plastic was chosen instead of glass because it could be shaped to follow the curvature of the corridors.

 

Mud and heat

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“You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too. That’s a part of it.” Denzel Washington

While crowds of students streamed by McCord Hall on the first day of class last week the site itself was quiet. The subcontractors were sent home because of rain, only the second time since construction began that the job closed down due to weather.

We all pray for rain, but as the actor said, when you pray for rain you also get mud. The heavy rain that woke some of us in the middle of the night last Wednesday created a lot of mud around the buildings. Mud is a problem because the heavy equipment that traverses the site tends to sink in when the ground is soft, but the possibility of getting stuck is not the only concern. Tom Corey from DPR said that the weight of the machinery pushes mud deeper below the surface, actually creating more mud. But even a single day off was not quite enough. The earth needed time for the water to sink into the soil and evaporate so that a crust could form. The site was open again on Friday and the equipment churned the mud further, leaving Cory’s crews with a job this week: regrading the courtyard.

But things are different on the south end of the site where delivery trucks enter. It is covered with course river rock, which provided enough footing last Thursday to support the truck that delivered concrete for the south stairway.

Sizzle

Rain is an anomaly here: the biggest weather factor, of course, is heat. There were stretches this summer when the temperatures topped out around 115 degrees. The crews report for work shortly after sunrise, but temperatures climb quickly through the morning. Those of us who work inside tend to whine about the temperature inside our cars in the parking lots. We really shouldn’t complain.

Lew Laws, who manages the project for DPR, said concrete can reach 160 degrees when the air temperature is 110 to 115.

“Luckily, the brick that they’re doing now [on the east side of the South Wing] is pretty much shaded after about 11, although it’s still plenty hot,” he said. “It should get hotter than concrete being darker in color, but I think the porosity of it keeps it cooler — I’ve never burned my hand on it, but I’ve burned my feet on concrete.”

The danger posed by excessive heat is a recurring topic at the safety meetings held on site. Still, each day of the record-breaking streak earlier this month there were two or three workers who started to get cramps or feel ill.

“Everyone is very aware of the danger, as we preach it at least weekly at the safety meetings, and when they feel anything coming on, they know to get to a shady spot, drink water, and rest,” Laws said.

Every sub is required to provide plenty of water and drinking cups for their work forces, Laws said. “We have filtered water set up by the mockup that most of the crews use to fill up their large 5-gallon jugs,” he added. “You’ll also see a couple of ice machines around the site that the subs use to cool the water down.”

The tools get very hot, so gloves are the rule, and everyone takes care to keep their tools in the shade.

I was really hoping that there were tricks of the trade for surviving heat that I could use, but most of what Lew offered was stuff we already know. For example, just about every worker wears long-sleeved shirts (long pants are required year-round – you can’t even walk onto any job site in shorts or a skirt). “Wearing long sleeves looks weird in the heat, but like the cowboys knew 150 years ago, it does keep you cooler in the long run, and cuts down on skin cancer, of course,” said Laws.

Most also wear “doo rags” under their hard hats that cover their necks. “Many of the guys keep their doo rags wet throughout the day,” he added. Call them personal swamp coolers!

Laws pointed out that most of the concrete work was done before the weather got too hot – but even then, the big pours occurred in the middle of the night. Most work is now in the shade – increasingly so as the building is closed in.