Completion Time: 550 Days

Project Scope: The 11.4 million dollar Central Mechanical Plant serves the University's chilled water quadrants via 30-inch chilled water mains and 18 inch heated water mains. The project included a new building that houses two 1,400 ton water-cooled chillers, one existing 1,000-ton chiller, one 2,000 ton plate/frame heat exchanger, eleven horizontal split case pumps, and has room for an additional 1,400-ton water-cooled chiller and pumps, which will provide the cooling capacity for the ice storage system. The boiler room houses six 6,000,000 BTUH input condensing boilers, pumps, and enough space for two additional boilers and pumps. The roof of the building supports six 900 Ton Towertech cooling towers, hidden from view by screen louvers that allow for adequate free airflow. There is space for maintenance staff, workstations, tool room, equipment repair bench, and emergency dispatch staff. The design of the CMP attempts to mitigate the imposing nature of a massive mechanical plant. The location of the building forced the designer to consider human scale and find the appropriate balance of functional requirements with the campus's formal and aesthetic precedent. Exterior materials match those of adjacent, existing structures in an effort to fit within the existing fabric. The enclosed walls are brick-faced, concrete block cavity walls with damp-proofing and rigid insulation in the air space and cast stone accents. The roll-up glass doors present the mechanical equipment as if on display for viewing by students and patrons.