Missouri State University-West Plains, West Plains, Mo., prides itself on being a university dedicated to providing education to many first-generation college students from surrounding rural areas of southern Missouri. The campus had been successfully supporting students’ educational needs, but lacked a central gathering place for its predominantly commuter students. By salvaging a ramshackle post office, the campus now provides desperately needed study areas and social spaces for its growing student enrollment.
Ramshackled post office transforms into a collegiate student union
PHOTOS: GAYLE BABCOCK, ARCHITECTURAL IMAGEWORKS LLC
The new, 20,000-square-foot facility is called Hass Darr Hall and it combines admissions offices, honors classes, tutoring services, student veterans lounge, college bookstore and student center all under one roof. It’s prominently located along Missouri Avenue, the primary street through campus. With construction costs at $232 per square foot, the architecture is straightforward, utilizing corrugated metal wall panels (from Petersen Aluminum Corp., Elk Grove Village, Ill.) to achieve a shimmering skin inspired by the college mascot: the grizzly. South-facing glass is protected by a broad overhang extending the student union to the exterior and pointing toward the academic core of campus.
POST OFFICE ORIGIN
As the campus grew, it began to inhabit the land surrounding the post office. The post office brought heavy vehicular traffic into the heart of campus, with a steady stream of customers’ vehicles, as well as post office trucks making their daily deliveries.
This vehicular traffic cut off the east side of campus from the west side of campus and was a hazard for campus pedestrians. Also, because of this required vehicular circulation, the school’s long-term vision to turn West Trish Night Avenue into a pedestrian-only quad could not be achieved. “Converting this into the student union, united both sides of the campus, as well as placed the student union, welcome center and bookstore in the center of campus, providing easy access from the surrounding classroom buildings,” says Bethany Henry, AIA, LEED AP, Dake Wells Architecture, Springfield, Mo.
The existing post office was built in the 1960s and was comprised of block-bearing walls with brick veneer. The majority of the building was one, large, open mail sorting room that had long-span joists, which made it conducive to converting into classrooms. “The retrofit was extensive,” Henry says. “Everything was removed down to the structure. Block- and brick-bearing walls, steel joists and columns, metal deck and floor slab was all that remained.”
After demolition, what remained of the existing post office did not meet current seismic structural requirements. The exterior block walls did not have rebar in the cells and were not adequately secured to the foundation. “New internal shear walls were added to the perimeter block walls and consist of metal stud framing with plywood on the interior face which were fastened back to the existing walls at 12-inches on-center,” Henry says. “Additional footings were also installed below these new shear walls. Additional reinforcement was also added to two of the long-span bar joists.”
METAL WALL PANEL FAÇADE
The majority of the hall’s façade is composed of metal wall panels. This was done because of the cost-effective and durable nature of metal wall panels, but also because the project is located within a seismic zone. “With the large, floating overhang on the south side of the building, the lightweight metal wall panels allowed the steel beams and columns that support it to be minimized,” Henry says. “Also, with the limited budget, it was important to use standard metal wall panels, in lieu of custom metal wall panels, to develop a clever design that would allow this building to be prominent and to relate to the University’s brand and campus identity.”
The campus Grizzlies mascot provided inspiration for the development of the building’s metal wall panel envelope. By coordinating two different, but interlocking metal wall panels of the same color, the building skin reflects sunlight differently, creating an ever-changing and “grizzled” surface. “A gray metallic color was selected to highlight the shadow and reflection of the sunlight and to tie into the gray color of the surrounding campus architecture,” Henry says.
“On the south façade, a gradient blend of the metal wall panels was developed to accentuate the large, angled overhang, starting with the majority of panel A at east end and ending with the majority of panel B at the west end. The south façade is on the campus side and as students walk past the building, the façade changes and appears to be animated. On the north façade, where there is not direct sunlight, only one panel is used. It was also important to detail and design integrated concealed corner trims to allow the façade design to be uninterrupted.”
OTHER FEATURES
The general contractor was Cahills Construction Inc., Rolla, Mo., and the curtainwall manufacturer was Dallas-based Oldcastle Building-Envelope. Springfield-based Cardinal Roofing Inc. was the project’s fabricator and installer.
“We installed the roofing and all the exterior metal wall panels and trim on the project,” says Shelly Phillips, COO/CFO/owner, WBE-certified contractor at Cardinal Roofing. “The challenges were minimal as far as installation of the product. A good portion of the work was completed from lifts, and aligning the panels and keeping them straight is part of what we do, so no extra challenge, per se. Our work completed the entire exterior of the building. We installed all the metal wall panels, coping cap and trims, as well as the flat roof.”
In terms of thermal performance, the existing building lacked perimeter insulation. By cladding the existing building, insulation was installed, which increased overall thermal performance. “Under the metal wall panels, a continuous layer of insulation was installed, which thermally improved the existing post office building with continuous R-23 insulation,”
Henry says. “By adaptively reusing the post office, significant construction waste and resources were saved. The newly insulated and skinned project achieves a predicted EUI of 39, a 68% improvement over ASHRAE 90.1 baseline.”
In its first two years, Hass Darr Hall has proven to be a success. “This new space has brought to life a vision of a student services-centered building that is the first stop for campus visitors and potential students,” says Scott Schneider, director of business and support services at Missouri State University-West Plains.