Green Games

Small N.J. University’s Athletic Facility Goes Green

Georgian Court University is pursuing LEED Silver certification for new sports complex

A $26 million Wellness Center Complex under construction at Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J., will be completed this summer, bringing to the school modern athletic facilities required by NCAA Division II teams.

But university officials are heralding the numerous sustainable design features – rather than the athletic facilities themselves – as the center’s calling card.

Founded in 1908 by the Sisters of Mercy, GCU serves 3,000 students in a residential Women’s College and a coeducational University College.

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In 1923, GCU purchased the 155-acre George Jay Gould estate in Lakewood, N.J. The University transformed the Casino, a circa 1898 structure that housed Gould’s polo ring, bowling alleys and swimming pool, into an all-purpose facility with a basketball court, volleyball arena and fitness center.

Despite a series of upgrades, the athletic facilities in the Casino became outdated. “The casino is a beautiful old building but it just doesn’t cut it,” says Sister Rosemary Jeffries, GCU president.

During a master-planning process in 2003, GCU focused on opportunities to build a new athletic facility and upgrade nearby playing fields to the quality deserved by a Division II athletic program, says Andrew Christ, assistant vice president for operations at GCU.

Designed by Philadelphia-based Bohlin Cywinski Jackson the new 67,000-sq-ft Wellness Center encompasses a 21,340-sq-ft arena; 4,260-sq-ft fitness center; 4,210 sq ft of dance and aerobic studios; classroom space; team training rooms; locker rooms; athletic offices; and a 3,760-sq-ft bookstore.

Adjacent playing fields will be upgraded to include two soccer fields, two softball fields, six tennis courts and a track facility.

The Wellness Center Complex will enable GCU to expand its academic offerings with degrees in dance, exercise science and a program training coaches for women sports, Jeffries says. NCAA Division II varsity sport programs will be broadened to include track and field, lacrosse, hockey and golf.

The project is currently on schedule with completion targeted for July.

Design Goals

Early in the design process GCU decided to seek LEED silver certification for the center. “We’ve made a commitment to live in harmony with all of creation and be environmentally conscious and good stewards of the Earth,” Jeffries says.

Christ credits the integrated design process, which brought together architects, construction managers and owners early in the process, for helping GCU understand the costs of sustainable options and make smart choices to attain project goals.

To keep costs down, GSU selected a slightly lower grade of wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which enabled the use of 100% FSC wood and earned an exemplary LEED point, Christ adds. The project team also earned exemplary LEED points by recycling 95% of the construction waste.

Stormwater management strategies gained LEED points and dealt with drainage problems that had plagued the northern portion of the campus around the Wellness Center and athletic fields.

“That portion of our campus is essentially lower than the surrounding area,” Christ says. GCU is unable to tie into the township’s stormwater system due to the lower elevation and limited capacity of the system.

The one-story steel framed Wellness Center is faced with stucco and designed in three segments separated by two garden courtyards. A winding colonnade forms the spine of the facility, passing through the arena lobby and connecting the segments along the east elevation. Floor-to-ceiling windows cover the façade of the colonnade.

The building’s center segment contains a double-height space with 36-ft ceilings housing a 1,200-seat arena.

An undulating canopy caps the arena’s main entrance. Its lobby is faced with floor-to-ceiling windows and its wood ceiling echoes the curves of the canopy. Dance studios, locker rooms and a fitness facility are also located in this segment.

Team training rooms, lockers and offices and the exercise science facility are located in the north segment while the bookstore is in the south.

Landscaping and grading around the Wellness Center and fields created depressions that act as collection points for stormwater and allow water to percolate into the soil, says Bernard J. Cywinski, principal at BCJ. The centerpiece of the system, and the largest collection point, is a 67,500-cu-yd stormwater retention pond.

The pond also serves as a design feature that is integrated with the buildings and other outdoor landscape components, says Brian Yachyshen, associate at BCJ.

Underground pipes channel runoff from the track, playing fields and the Wellness Center to the pond, supplementing the natural drainage. In total, 4,500 lin ft of drainage was installed, says Michael Parnell, project manager with general contractor Hunter Roberts Construction Group of Bedminster, N.J.

Prior to construction, drywells located beneath the Wellness Center’s footprint needed to be moved. The underground structures were designed to dissipate storm waterrunoff from the roof of the library near the site.

Drainage piping for the library was rerouted to a newly constructed retention basin underneath a soccer field, Parnell says. The basin holds a series of 24-in. perforated pipes in a stone field. Any overflow from the basin is directed via underground piping to the pond.

Excavations of the pond, basin and drywell removed 102,685-cu-yds of material. The excavated material was used to build up the footprints of the playing fields and Wellness Center. Reusing the materials secured LEED points and minimized trucking costs, Parnell says.

Green Roof

An adjunct to the stormwater management system is the green roof atop the 5,375-sq-ft curved canopy covering the arena entrance. A green roof is a lightweight vegetated roof cover, which serves as an architectural highlight and a means for mitigating stormwater runoff.

To prevent soil erosion on the sloped portions of the canopy, the team selected an American Hydrotech vegetated roofing system. The system is made up of a series of 4-in.-high circular trays made from perforated vinyl, which hold the soil and plants. The trays are attached to cables anchored to a stainless-steel angle that runs along the peak of each side of the roof curve, Parnell says.

Engineering of the curved, 120-ft-long purlins supporting the canopy presented another challenge. The team was concerned that the rolling process to manufacture the wide-flange beams, which are shaped like an “H,” might produce waviness in the flanges. “Because these are focal point architecturally and will be exposed from both outside the canopy and inside the lobby, we started to look into other avenues of how they could be constructed,” Parnell says.

As a solution, the five purlins were fabricated out of plasma-cut sheet steel and welded together, Parnell says. “It took .5 mi of full-penetration welds to weld the top and bottom flanges to the web,” he adds.

To improve the energy efficiency of the arena’s HVAC systems, the team installed linear diffusers 16 ft above the arena’s floor on the sidewalls, instead of employing overhead ducts blowing air down to the floor. Reducing the volume of conditioned air reduced the size of the mechanical equipment and motors, Yachyshen says. “We are only conditioning the lower half of the volume of air in the space, where the people are,” he adds.

During periods when air conditioning or heating are not required, the arena is designed with louvers on the sidewalls that automatically open to let in fresh air. Exhaust fans on the roof facilitate ventilation of the space.

Natural lighting is employed throughout the facility to reduce electricity usage. Dividing the building into three segments separated by gardens expanded the available perimeter space and allowed for more windows, Cywinski says.

In the arena, the west wall provides natural lighting. The bottom half of the wall is faced with translucent panels while the top half is filled with windows.

Team Box:

Owner: Georgian Court University, Lakewood, N.J.
Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Philadelphia
Construction Manager/General Contractor:  Hunter Roberts Construction Group, Bedminster, N.J.
MEP Engineers:  Bruce E. Brooks & Associates, Philadelphia
Structural Engineers:  CVM Structural Engineers, Wayne, Pa. Site,
Civil and Geotechnical Engineers:  CMX Engineering, Manalapan, N.J.
Building Steel: Lynchburg Steel, Lynchburg, Va.
Shaped Steel: Littel Steel, Pittsburgh
Site Work / Athletic Fields:  Almasi Contractors, Woodbridge, N.J.