Boston University Arena and Recreation Center
Boston, MA  

                Building Statistics

    General Building Data
Boston University Arena and Recreation Center
Location: 915 Commonwealth Ave. / Boston, Massachusetts
Building Occupant: Boston University
Function: Arena, Fitness and Recreation Center
Size: Arena- 264,635 sq ft
    Rec Center- 267,995 sq ft
    Underground Structured Parking(630 cars)- 289,370 sq ft
        Total- 822,000 sq ft
Levels: 5 stories
Owner: Boston Universityhttp://www.bu.edu/fitrec/about/index.html
Owner Representative: David Flynn http://www.bu.edu/construction/projects/student/index.html
CM: Joint venture between Barton Malow http://www.bartonmalow.com/ and Walsh Brothers Sports Partnership website N/A
Architects and Engineers: Cannon Design http://cannondesign.com/
Dates of Construction: May 21, 2002- April 2005
Cost: $185 million GMP price, which covered total building construction, plus CM general conditions and fees. This price went up a little with owner change orders.
Project Delivery Method: CM/GMP
    Architectural Data
Architecture: The entire hub, featuring a state-of-the-art fitness, athletic, recreational, and entertainment facilities is meant to merge the east and west ends of campus. The facade consists of brick and architectural pre-cast panels. A brick walk separates the Arena and Recreation Center allowing a central circulation path through the hub.
Major National model codes: Massachusetts has their own building code. It is loosely based on BOCA, but it is officially the Massachusetts Building Code.
Zoning: BU previously owned the property which was an existing old armory building.
Historical Requirements: Barton Malow encountered a grass roots "Save the Armory" resistance because an old armory was located on the site before it was demolished. So, the historical society intervened and required several architectural elements to be included in the design, which were mostly armory-symbolic decorative pre-cast medallions located in December 20, 2006 terns reinstalled along Commonwealth Ave and the plaza-alley between the two facilities.
Building Envelope: The façade is mostly brick and architectural pre-cast panels supported on steel frame with several punched windows and a couple large curtain wall sections. The MA Building Code adopted a new energy code which was new to the Architect and Contractors, which requires a full coverage with an air barrier system, and the system specified was a spray on material.
    Architectural Data
Electrical: The Arena and Recreation Center have three unit substations; two in the Arena and one in the Recreation Center. The primary feed comes in at 13.8kV where it is distributed throughout the unit substations. The primary feed then steps down to a 480/277V system. Between the two radial layouts there is a normally open tie-breaker, which can close if the primary feeder or transformer is lost on either side. Most of the Recreation Center power is distributed off a 1600A, 3P, 5W plug-in busway which runs vertically throughout the building and is fed off the main distribution panel.
Lighting: The Recreation Center lighting is mostly 277V fluorescent and metal halide lamps. The ballasts are mostly electronic and electronic dimming with a ballast factor greater than or equal to 0.88. On the 120V system there is a small amount of incandescent and halogen lamps.
Mechanical: The building system includes many mechanical equipment loads. There are 17 AHU's with a total capacity of 650,000cfm; gas fired pre-heat coils with TUR coils, three chillers and three cooling towers. There is a building automation system that operates all heating/cooling on preset temperatures with the ability to manually change by location.
Structural: The site is built on a spread footing foundation with a pile and lagging earth retention system around the site due to close proximity of the existing structures. Cast-in-plast concrete perimieter walls are approximately three levels below grade. The Arena lower level two has a post-tension slab floor, but all other floor slabs are metal decking. There are also steel columns and beams throughout the Arena and Recreation Center.
Fire Protection: The system includes many different detectors such as smoke, heat, and local automatic. They are all programmed to transmit alarms to BU protective services, faculty, central control devices, sound audible alrms, visual alarms, release hold open fire and smoke doors, release lock on fire command center, and signal local lighting control full brightness.
Telecommunications: All offices, classrooms, activity rooms, and team locker rooms have access to the telecommunication and data systems. BU implements ResNet telecommunication with quads and wireless network quads, as well as high intensity data 4-strand fiber optic ports.