EDUCATION

Project

The team from L.R. Costanzo was called upon to construct the college’s showcase building, Ideal Saldi Hall. This new building welcomes all students and houses administration offices, classrooms, computer labs, financial aid, student area, advising, Hallway of Industry, and Alumni Heritage Room. The cantilevered, two storied, approximately 20,000 SF structure, along with its accompanying outdoor Alumni Garden, serves as a gateway for all visitors and students entering the campus.

CHALLENGES

• Maintaining the budget through design while in the midst covid 
• Remaining on-schedule. Although LRC worked the budget with the owner and received approval, LRC’s next critical task was to advance the project to construction to prevent any further/additional schedule delays
• Performing construction on an active campus with both new and existing students naturally walking through green spaces that have become part of the construction area

SOLUTIONS

• Employed value-engineering ideas to provide the same project quality at a lower cost
• Selected the right contractors that had the availability to begin construction within a few weeks of award and obtained materials in a timely fashion. Closely coordinated the schedule maintain consistent work flow
• Project team placed signage to redirect and prevent students from walking through construction area; worked diligently with college administration to ensure proper communications

CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

• The non-standard design featured an exposed interior for intuitive learning experiences.  The design intent was to leave the interior building envelope open to allow students to have a hand’s-on, immersive educational encounter
• Student engagement was at the forefront, therefore both LRC’s Project Engineer and Project Manager visited classrooms every 2 weeks. In addition, they also conducted live labs to the site, demonstrating the various facets of the construction process, allowing students to gain a deeper understanding of the various career opportunities
• The coordination required to erect the 21 foot second floor cantilever was critical with the architectural and structural steel components to allow for this impressive design detail