Severance Chemistry Building

The project consists of a comprehensive renovation of the 28,000-gsf existing building and a 14,000-gsf addition that provides an entirely new facility for the Department of Chemistry. The building contains undergraduate teaching laboratories, independent study, faculty research laboratories, support space, lecture areas, and faculty offices.

The placement of the addition sites the new entrance opposite the Timpkin Science Library and student pathway. It incorporates the same materials as the existing Severance Hall and is contextual in massing and detail to the existing Jacobean architectural character of the College of Wooster campus.

The addition, however, responds to existing paths and adjacent buildings with a distinct and decidedly un-traditional character. The building's form, especially the new main entrance, recognizes new patterns of pedestrian traffic from the student center, housing, athletic facilities, and the science library. The two-story entry lobby forms a new centerpiece of the facility. The addition is placed on the east side of the existing Severance Hall and provides the new main entrance. It provides the large programmatic spaces that the turn of the century Severance Hall cannot accommodate, which includes a large lecture hall and two large teaching laboratories. Further enhancements include a new shared student lounge between Severance and the adjacent Mateer Biology Building which opens onto a landscaped garden.

The College's appreciation for the old Severance building led to the architectural solution of retaining the soaring height spaces by adding tall, graceful windows; natural light floods all spaces except for instrument rooms.

The two general chemistry teaching laboratories are placed next to each other on the first floor with open passageways between them, allowing flexibility in class sizes and teaching methods. All of the laboratories are arranged to allow pre-lab discussions with clear sightlines to the front of the room. The organic chemistry laboratory is arranged with 12 six-foot chemical fume hoods around the perimeter that are shared by two students each. The center of the room is an instrument space with a ring of counter-top surrounding it, used for laptop computers and textbooks. Instructors can easily observe activity in the hoods from the bench area in the middle of the labs, and they can conduct discussions with the entire group of students while they are seated at the counters.

Project Information

Building Owner:

College of Wooster

Owner Contact:

Dr. Richard Bromund, Professor of Chemistry

Building Location:

Wooster, OH UNITED STATES

Project Type:

Expansion,Renovation

Principal Building Function:

Academic, lab, research, teaching

Project Timeline

Jun 1992	Planning Start
Jun 1992	Design Start
May 1998	Construction Start
Sep 1999	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Construction Cost:

$8,500,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$186

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Chemistry
Education
Education: Faculty Office
Education: Lecture Or Seminar Hall
Laboratory: Research
Laboratory: Teaching
Library
Office

Total GSF:

42,000

Total NSF:

21,870

Efficiency:

47%

Building Population:

450

People Density:

104 gsf/person

Building Services:

Vacuum

Office Size:

200 NSF

Power Req:

42 w/nsf

HVAC Req:

3.2 cfm/nsf

Structure/Foundation:

Steel moment frame, concrete spread footings

Laboratory Parameters

Lab Module:

12' spacing

Casework Mat'l:

Red oak casework with epoxy resin countertops

Fume Hoods:

Seven 4', Six 5', Thirty Six 6'

Project Team

Architect

Payette

Builder

Bogner Construction Management Company

Consultant - Cost Analysis

Vermeulens Cost Consultants

Consultant - Fire Protection

R.W. Sullivan, Inc.

Consultant - Plumbing

R.W. Sullivan, Inc.

Consultant - Structural Engineer

Souza, True & Partners

Engineer - HVAC

BR+A/Bard,Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers Inc.

Supplier - Casework

Fisher Hamilton

Profile Created 02/01/2001

Last Updated 04/04/2006

About the Reported Cost Figures

The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments.

Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.

Fig. 1

Severance Chemistry Building