A Residence Hall Rises
Loop Dormitory Called Nation's Largest
by Craig Barner
Chicago buildings have inspired a lot of superlatives, such
as the nation's tallest skyscraper and world's largest store.
The city will soon have another.
The University Center of Chicago, a $150 million project under
construction at Congress and State streets, will reportedly
be the nation's largest joint student residence hall when
complete.
The project is "one of a kind," said Ken McHugh,
president of the Educational Advancement Fund, the project's
Chicago-based construction manager. Three downtown schools
that sometimes compete for students - Columbia College Chicago,
DePaul University and Roosevelt University - formed the nonprofit
EAF in 1999 to develop the facility.
Ten Years After
The project started to take shape about a decade ago when
the city of Chicago issued a request for proposals. Ideas were
sought for the prime downtown site that then held city-owned
surface parking.
The idea for a residence hall came up because of a number of
opportune circumstances.
Each school experienced rapid enrollment growth through the
1990s, including increases of 38 percent at Columbia and 36
percent at DePaul. The location was ideal because the schools'
downtown academic facilities are within a few blocks or less
of the South Loop site.
Most important, the schools needed to be creative about project
development because of their heavy reliance on tuition dollars
to fund their core programs.
"We don't have billion-dollar endowment funds," McHugh
added. "We work for the dollars, so we have to be creative
[about project financing]."
Key elements that affected the design were built into the project
to attract interest from investors in the bond market.
For instance, the different types of living spaces can be converted
to market-rate dwellings, he said. On the structure's south
side, the 195 student apartments can "easily" be reconfigured,
and on the north side, the 514 student suites can also be reorganized,
though for more expense.
"This was really to provide comfort to our bond holders
that in a worst-case scenario, we have a safety net and the
building could be converted to market-rate housing," McHugh
said.
The design features rounded corners on the State Street facade,
calling to mind the venerable Old Colony Building nearby.
1,680 Students in Building
The 18-story structure with penthouse can house approximately
1,680 students, said Pete Woeste, project manager in the Chicago
office of New York-based Turner Construction Co., the general
contractor.
Groundbreaking occurred in June 2002, and completion is expected
next June. The building is slated for occupancy in the 2004-2005
academic year.
A variety of housing options will be available for undergraduate,
graduate and professional students.
The apartments will house about 652 students in two- and four-bedroom
units, and each will include dining room, living room, kitchen
and two bathrooms, McHugh said.
Studios will also be available, and a study room will be located
on each floor.
The suites will house about 1,028 students in two-bedroom units
of four students each that will be connected to a shared bathroom.
The area will also contain study lounges and meeting areas.
Mock-ups were made so contractors could understand the project
and the EAF market the rooms, Woeste said.
The two living areas - sometimes called towers - will be served
by separate elevators, and one tower cannot be accessed from
the other. "If you're a law student, you won't have to
worry about undergraduates," McHugh added.
Some spaces will be shared between the two towers.
The first floor will house 35,000 sq. ft. of retail along State
Street. There will be a 30,000-sq.-ft. food-service facility
on the second floor, which will also house lounges, offices,
multimedia rooms, game rooms, laundry and conference rooms.
In addition to student living spaces, the third floor will provide
access to a 20,000-sq.-ft. landscaped roof garden.
"With increasing enrollment comes the need to provide basic
amenities," McHugh said. "Student housing is definitely
one that has been trending up."
Columbia's and DePaul's stake in the project will be larger
than Roosevelt's.
Two-Section Erection
Completing the massive 702,000-sq.-ft. building in two years
was a primary concern.
The first three levels consume 60,000 sq. ft. of space each,
and the approximately 37,500-sq.-ft. typical floor size above
is three times larger than that of the usual Loop skyscraper,
Turner's Woeste said. "This is like a 60-story building,"
he added.
Because of the typical level's large floor plate, four independent
concrete pours would have normally been needed per floor. Curing
would then consume a large amount of time.
Cladding the building adds further to the project complexity
because about 1,400 precast panels are to be hung. And completing
the cladding is important so the building can be enclosed before
coming winter to complete the interior build-out work.
A double shift would normally have been required, but the project
budget precluded this step, Woeste said. Being a good neighbor
and keeping the noise level down at night also barred this approach.
To meet the timetable, the building was erected in two different
sections. The larger south tower was erected first, the north
tower came next and a 16-ft.-long pour strip - or gap - was
temporarily left to separate the two.
A pattern developed on the south tower's typical floors. Forms
were erected, 12,500 sq. ft. of concrete was poured in two different
cycles, the forms were stripped and the trades came in to complete
the level.
"It was a seven-day cycle we turned into a five-day cycle,"
Woeste said.
After the south portion topped out, the south tower crane was
turned over to the precast contractor to begin cladding. Meantime,
the concrete pours started on the north tower and were done
in one cycle because the typical floor plate for that section
is about 11,000 sq. ft.
Once the north tower was topped out, the pour strip could be
filled on each floor, thereby connecting the two towers. By
mid-August, the strip was nearing completion.
Woeste estimated that three months were shaved from the schedule
by using the two-tower approach to erection.
"It was our No. 1 decision on this job," he added.
"The building had to be erected this way to make the schedule."
State Street Spider Web
Coordinating the building's systems layout was critical.
The number of utility lines on each floor is substantial, Woeste
said. Wires for high-speed Internet access, for example, were
laid.
Approximately 2,000 floor penetrations were made on each floor
to accommodate systems, said Andy Horin, Turner's interior superintendent.
"It's like a hotel," he added.
The process of laying out these systems, intricate in itself,
was complicated further because the building is post-tensioned,
Woeste said. The tensioning wires had to sweep around penetrations
in the deck and not conflict with other lines.
"Once you pour a post-tensioned deck, there isn't much
room for fixing a mistake," he added.
Measures were taken to ensure against problems.
Drawings, for example, were made for each system, and another
drawing was done showing each system together. The systems'
layout was then coordinated with the post-tensioning subcontractor.
The trades were on an hour-by-hour sequence during the five-day
pour cycle to ensure the schedule was kept. Electricians also
helped out by stacking wire much like pipe for plumbing.
Atlantis in Chicago
Clearing the site for the buildings was difficult.
Four different foundation types were found: steel piles with
concrete fill, limestone, a concrete slab and wood piles.
The obstructions were a problem because 174 new caissons were
to be sunk, Woeste said.
The drilled piles were the trickiest element because they had
to be extracted. A line was run between a caisson rig and the
pile, pulled and filled with grout. All the other debris was
dug up.
"I think we found the lost city of Atlantis when we started
digging," the EAF's McHugh said.
Useful Source
Visit www.depaul.edu/UCC/
to see renderings of the completed residence hall and to see
a list of its features.
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