McNeese State University Health and Human Performance
Gate Precast Company

Involved Companies

Background

This project is a 138,000 SF multi-story arena for the University's athletics and Health and Human Performance programs. General seating is 4,000 seats in the main arena and 600 seats for the volleyball court. The building includes six classrooms, twelve faculty offices, and a sports training center that serves as a hands-on learning laboratory for exercise physiology students.

The Joint Venture Architects’ team pooled their expertise to tackle the complex multi-functional project. The precaster provided the precast concrete design by the Joint Venture as a concept to consider the building form, exterior materials, functionality, and aesthetics.

Precast concrete insulated panels helped keep costs down while providing both the exterior and interior surfaces. The team took the design one-step further and embedded terra cotta tiles into the precast wall panels. The advantages of precast offered project resiliency, durability, cost efficiency, and quality control at the plant versus something constructed on-site.

Using precast as the cornerstone of the building enabled the team to align all of the façade elements and, ultimately, created the best chance for the building to withstand a catastrophic event.

Challenges

The design of arenas needs to be resilient by nature due to the program within the building but also due to the number of people that engage the space every day. The materials selected need to be attractive, durable, and operationally efficient to allow the University to maintain the building on a day-to-day basis. Precast became the correct solution to meet these needs for both interior stadia and the exterior walls.

While tan brick is traditional on campus, the team wanted to achieve a modern aesthetic using a similar color palette with this project. Precast alone would not achieve the design aesthetic for the University. The introduction of terra cotta embedded into the exterior wall panels allow the design and construction team to create unique textures and patterns to represent the campus architecture while using modern techniques.

As one of the first arenas in the country to incorporate terra cotta into the design, terra cotta was fired at three different temperatures to achieve different textures. The team used BIM Modeling and a random number generator to develop a range of colors to create a mottled appearance on the façade. This resulted in a beautiful material that is smooth to the touch, self-cleaning in the harsh Louisiana summers, and eliminates the need for additional building materials.

The amount of square footage the State University Health and Human Performance building consist of lends itself to coming up with cost-efficient solutions. The exterior precast wall panels allowed the team to construct both the exterior and interior finishes in a singular panel system. The dual benefit for the precast to be used as an interior finish allows the building to handle the roughness typically shown at a sporting event and the ability to be maintained by the University with minimal repairs throughout the seasons.

Not only is precast used on the exterior, but it was also used for the risers inside the arena as well. The precast was supported by steel so our team needed to coordinate with the precaster and the steel supplier to understand all the requirements before we got out in the field. This process helped minimize issues by having everyone at the table, especially the precaster.

The arena needed to have an intimate setting with excellent sightlines. With precast structural stadia seating, we were able to achieve steep seating to provide the best fan experience. Gate Precast installed the riser units around the bowl first and then the precast wall panels enclosed the building.

Daylighting and sun control are critical in arena design. There was a need to control natural light in certain areas because of the glare on the high gloss floors. Precast panels worked to create a black box for the main arena where you want artificial light for TV Broadcast and the fans and players.

Just two years after the building was completed, Hurricane Laura, made landfall in Southwest Louisiana as a Category 4 storm and thoroughly devastated this State University. Despite the damage sustained during the storm, the precast panels performed perfectly. Due to the positive pressure inside the building, metal panels on the side were blown outward. Overall, while there was substantial interior damage, if the precast and terra cotta panels had failed in any way, the damage would have been catastrophic.

Innovations/accomplishments

The innovative design draws heavily on Resilient Design Principles that inform the building form, exterior materials, daylighting & sun controls, and interior spaces to create good value, iconic and durable environments that function flawlessly and are easily maintained.

One of the most imperative design challenges was selecting a maintainable and durable exterior. The project is located in Southern Louisiana, which is known to see a lot of rain, humidity, and extreme weather. Mold will grow on everything. A fully contained precast panel with minimal points of moisture can access the interior makeup of the wall system is a huge benefit to the overall integrity of the exterior system. It was important to choose a precast that would hold up to the harsh environment and still provide an iconic look to the facility. The moment you see the terra cotta precast panels, you know you are at the University’s Health and Human Performance Building.

The Health and Human Performance building was designed to withstand 140 mph winds, but Hurricane Laura had sustained winds of 160 with gusts up to 180mph. The precast façade system on the building undoubtedly withstood repeated debris impact during the storm like other buildings on its campus and in the area. That demonstrates the resiliency of these panels that can take that abuse and still provide an economical façade.

• Increased open space of floor plate (e.g. reduce no. of columns, obstructions, etc.): The insulated precast walls allowed us to meet ASHRAE 90.1 and local code required R-values using materials from a single source precaster allowing the tolerances of the wall system to be stricter since the panels are built in the factory in lieu of several trades overlaid in the field.

• Aesthetic versatility (helped meet project’s aesthetic requirements): The ability to embed terracotta into the precast as a unified system. Not a rain screen system typically used with terracotta.

• Cost-Benefit : As mentioned above, the precast concrete walls featured embedded terracotta on the exterior, a hard interior wall, and XPS (extruded polystyrene) insulation sandwiched in between. Exposing the interior concrete wythe was for two reasons; we wanted a surface that was easy to maintain as well as a durable interior. Fans are rough on stadiums and we didn’t want to see holes in gypboard. The result is a nice aesthetic that is smooth to the touch and doesn’t require constant maintenance like brick would and it eliminates the need for additional building materials, which all equals major cost-savings.

• Improved blast resistance: With all stadium and arena designs, blast resistance is always a concern. As not one of the primary requirements of the project, the building’s use of precast along with the major access points to the site provides blast resistance above the use of typical built-up exterior wall systems.

• Minimized construction site disturbance (e.g. tight site): The use of large exterior and stadia precast panels allows for minimal site disruptions as well as quicker installations. Picking of the panels to be placed into position was the only need for site use as all materials and forms are built off-site at the plant.

• Increased service life/durability: Compared to the built-up exterior wall system in Southwest Louisiana, the precast panels are expected to have a much longer life span. The expectations of the arena are to last up to 50 years.

• Contributed to improved IEQ (e.g. no mold, no VOCs, rapid enclosure…): One of the most imperative design challenges was selecting a maintainable and durable exterior. The project is located in Southern Louisiana which is known to see a lot of rain, humidity, and extreme weather. Mold will grow on everything. A fully contained precast panel with minimal points of moisture can access the interior makeup of the wall system is a huge benefit to the overall integrity of the exterior system. It was important to choose a precast to ensure it would hold up to the harsh environment and still provide an iconic look to the facility. The moment you see the terra cotta precast panels, you know you are at the State University Health and Human Performance Building.

• Reduced long-term life-cycle costs: Compared to the built-up exterior wall system in Southwest Louisiana, the precast panels are expected to have a much longer life span. The expectations of the arena are to last up to 50 years.

• Resilient design: Just two years after the building was completed, Hurricane Laura made landfall in Southwest Louisiana and thoroughly devastated this State University. Despite the damage sustained during the storm, the precast panels performed perfectly. Due to the positive pressure inside the building, metal panels on the side were blown outward. Overall, while there was substantial interior damage, if the precast and terra cotta panels had failed in any way, the damage would have been catastrophic.