PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The 20,000 square-foot addition was needed to meet the College’s expanding performing arts department. The building was constructed east of Oller Hall, the College’s existing main auditorium.
The two and a half-story 20,000 square-foot reinforced masonry bearing wall and steel-framed structure built adjacent to the existing Rosenberger Auditorium.
The unique foundations included approximately 100 lineal feet of soil nailing to permit the addition’s lower level to be constructed directly adjacent to the existing building. Also, a framed slab-on-grade lower level was designed to accommodate the expansive shale materials located below the addition.
Maximum and minimum allowable bearing pressures were required to be maintained. The superstructure required multiple steel-framed catwalk levels to occur above the black-box theater’s 60-foot clear octagonal floor level.
The theater’s sloping roof includes a lantern-type cupola. Structural renovations to the auditorium included a new two-story covered entrance along with stage accessibility improvements.