Wesley S. Lawson

Mechanical Option

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, The New Learning Center

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

BUILDING STATISTICS

Building Name:
Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, the New Learning Center

Location and Site:
7301 Germantown Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19119

The New Learning Center is constructed in a way that it is built into the side of an existing historical library on the site.

Building Occupant Name:
This building is owned and operated by the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia Campus.

Building Function:
The New Learning Center will be used as the main Seminary for the Philadelphia Campus.  The main functions are for education and offices.

Building Size:
60,000 Square Feet

Number of stories above grade / total levels:
The building is comprised of a basement and three floors above grade.  The mechanical room is located in the basement.

PRIMARY PROJECT TEAM

Owner:
The Lutheran Theological Seminary

Construction Manager:
Alvin H. Butz, Inc.

Project Manager:
Becker & Frondorf

Architect:
GYA Architects, Inc.

MEP Engineer:
Paul H. Yeomans, Inc.

Structural Engineer:
O’Donnell & Naccarato, Inc.

Civil Engineer:
Boles, Smyth Associates, Inc.

Audio / Visual Consultant:
RJC Designs Inc.

Steel Subcontractor:
Berlin Steel

Window / Glass Subcontractor:
Hutt’s Glass Co., Inc.

Exterior Wall Panel Contractor:
Eastern Exterior Wall Systems, Inc.

Security System Contractor:
Fidelity Alarm Company

Dates of Construction:
Start-March 2004
End- February 2006

Overall Building Cost:
$14,880,000 including all building work and consulting fees

Project Delivery Method:
Design-Bid-Build

ARCHITECTURE

Architecture Design and Functional Components:
The New Learning Center is a partially restored building at the Philadelphia Campus of Lutheran Theological Seminary.  The previous learning center was no longer structurally sound, therefore needed to be completely renovated.  The North exterior wall was left standing in its original stone façade form to help the new building tie in with the remainder of the campus.

The New Learning Center is a 4 level building, including a basement.  The basement is comprised of the mechanical room, electrical closet, as well as an archive and storage section.  The large majority of first floor is comprised of reception halls, lounges, and the kitchen.  The second and third floors are made up of classrooms, conference rooms, and offices.

The New Learning Center is one of the main pieces of the campus quadrangle.  Aside from the wall that was not torn down, it was designed with a metal clad façade.  The first floor is almost entirely glass with an overhang to control direct solar gain into the building.  The second and third floors are decorated with a variety of window shapes including diamonds, circles, and rectangles.  The general areas of the building have tile floors with drywall partitions.

Major National Codes:
2003 International Building Codes
ASHRAE Standard 62.1
ASHRAE Standard 90.1
AIA Building Codes
National Fire Protection Association Standards

Zoning/Historic:
Zoning follows code for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The new learning center must also leave the neighboring historic library undisturbed.  The Northernmost wall was not torn down during the renovation process, leaving the exterior of the building the same height with very little room between floors.

Building Envelope:
There are two different types of exterior walls on the building.  The new exterior consists of exterior metal clad panels.  The panels are back by 5/8” gypsum sheathing, 6” batt insulation, a vapor retarder, and another 5/8” gypsum wall board.  This exterior is supported by 3 5/8” steel studs at 16” on center with 5/8” gypsum wall board as the interior finishing.

The existing stone façade has many of the same components.  Behind the stone and cement exterior if a metal clad flashing, vapor retarder, 5/8” gypsum wall board, and 5 1/2” steel studs at 16” on center.  The interior is finished with 3 layers of 1/2” wall board.
Below grade the exterior wall is mostly comprised of 12” reinforced concrete.  On the outside of the concrete is sheathing and drainage board.  On the interior is 5/8” gypsum wall board.

The outside roof of the New Learning Center is slanted at a 4:1 ratio, while the middle is flat to hold and support the air handling units.  The roof is comprised of metal roof with felt up plywood supporting it on roof decking.  Steel beams are the support for the roofing system with steel trusses. 

BUILDING SYSTEMS

Mechanical System:
The mechanical system for The New Learning Center is designed as a dedicated outdoor air system.  The system is controlled by DDC controls and is all tied back into the main controller.  The system has three packaged DX rooftop units with 100% outside air.  These units have integral heat recovery through a heat wheel, gas heat, direct expansion cooling, and hot gas reheat.  RTU-1 and RTU-2 have 270 MBH of heating capacity and 320 MBH of cooling capacity.  The smaller unit, RTU-3, has 90 MBH heating and 100 MBH of cooling capacity.  These air handlers feed fan coil units in mechanical closets.  The air is mixed within the closet, reconditioned, and then supplied to the rooms.  The fan coils are various sizes, all based upon the room or group of rooms that they supply air to.  In cooling mode the water is delivered to the coil at 45 F and leave at 55F.  When heat is needed the water arrives at the coil at 180 F and leaves at 160 F.  All of the fan coils are equipped with a two pipe system for heating and cooling coils.

The hot water system consists of two gas fired boilers in the basement mechanical room.  Each of these boilers is designed for 1250 MBH.  This hot water is run through variable speed pumps to fan coil units and constant volume pumps to the fin tube radiation.

The chilled water system is fueled by the air cooled chiller on the roof.  The chiller is made for low ambient conditions so it is capable for operation during the colder months to cool rooms with high cooling loads.  It also has variable speed for low load conditions.  The chiller is sized for 150 tons.  The water arrives at the chiller evaporator at 42 F and leaves at 56 F.

Electrical System:
The electrical service for The New Learning Center is the same service to the entire campus.  The building has a transformer rated at 750 KVA, 13.2 KV.  The service to the building is brought in at 480/277V, three phase, four wire.  The service goes directly into the Main Distribution Panel in the basement.  From there, feeders run to all of the other panels, mechanical equipment, elevator, kitchen, and lighting.

Emergency power is provided by code.  The power comes from a self contained diesel fired generator.  The generator is rated at 125 KW.  Emergency power is connected to the emergency lighting, fire alarm, security, and telephone.

Lighting System:
The New Learning Center has many different fixtures such as recessed, surface mounted and suspended fluorescent.  Either fluorescent of halogen incandescent bulbs will be used for dimming.  There is a combination of manual and automatic controls depending on space, function, occupancy, and other factors.  Toilet rooms and normally unoccupied rooms will be controlled by motion sensors.  Exterior lights are controlled by a time clock to turn off when not needed.  Emergency lighting is wired in rooms with 50+ person occupancy, toilet rooms, electrical rooms, mechanical rooms, and the kitchen.

Construction:
The New Learning Center was a design-bid-build project.  The North wall was kept standing when the old building was torn down to serve as the North façade for the new building.  Therefore, they had to reinforce and support the wall to keep it standing during the entire construction process.  The construction started in March, 2004, and concluded in February 2006.

Structural System:
The New Learning Center has a concrete foundation and base.  The base is a 5” slab on grade on 4” crushed stone.  The slab is reinforced with 6x6, w2.9xw2.9 welded wire fabric. 

The rest of the structural system is comprised of structural steel.  The girders are mostly 24” deep with various weights.  The beams are 20k9 that are nominally 3’ on center.  The largest bays are set up at 30’x35’.  The floors are 4” normal weight concrete.  This concrete is supported by 9/16” 26 gauge form deck with 6x6 welded wire fabric.  The tapered roofs are supported by W12 and W14 beams.

Fire Protection:
The New Learning Center is equipped with a wet sprinkler system.  The system has concealed sprinkler heads.  The sprinklers meet all of the requirements set by the City of Philadelphia Fire Codes.  The fire protection system is fed and run in the basement of the building.  The fire alarms are controlled both manually and automatically.  Along with pull alarms, there are duct mounted and room mounted smoke detectors.  The alarm consists of parts such as horns, strobes, tamper switches, and sprinklers.

Telecommunications:
The New Learning Center gets its telecommunications feed from the neighboring Hagan Building.  There are eight 4” conduits that feed these services.  The power to these services is fed by a 120 Volt service, along with feeding the A/V system.

Special Systems:
Due to the fact that The New Learning Center kept the North wall standing of a pre central air building, the distance between the ceiling and floors is not up to par.  For this reason, as much ductwork as possible must be run vertical throughout the building, with only an absolute necessary amount run horizontally.  The fan coil units must also be arranged vertically to allow them to fit in the building.  This is much different than ductwork in a normal building configuration.

Transportation:
There are three staircases and one elevator in The New Learning Center.  The elevator does the majority of its operation as a freight elevator.  The elevator serves the archive areas in the basement as well as storage in the above ground levels.  The elevator mechanical room in located in the basement.