06 Feb Design Assist Delivers Precast Solutions to Higher Education
Longwood University chose renovation over demolition of two 10-story residence halls, which are the tallest buildings in the picturesque town of Farmville, VA. The choice to replace the façades of Curry and Frazer Residence Hall, built in 1969 and 1970, respectively, posed challenges to design firms Little Diversified and Franck & Lohsen. Through design-assist collaboration, GATE and the design team devised a self-supporting insulated architectural precast façade system with long-term sustainability benefits and compatibility with the historic campus architecture.
“The east and west elevations are a retrofit precast lateral force resisting system combined with a high performance architectural façade on an existing structure. We used finite element modeling to distribute the lateral loads through a complex load path to make a pair of 40-year old structures capable of resisting the loads of today’s code. Building Information Modeling technology was used at a very high level of detail to work out the intricate brick and precast features three-dimensionally with the architect.”
Jason Davis, PE
Brentwood, TN, Engineering ManagerThe precast façade system features 3-inch exterior wythes with a variety of significant buildups, including cornices, faux columns and other decorative pieces to create visual interest and serve as the “gateway” to the campus. The renovation of Frazer Hall was completed last fall, with Curry Hall scheduled to be completed in August. Read more about the design challenges and use of BIM technology that saved Longwood University construction time and cost savings in Ascent, Winter 2019.
