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Lecture Room 218
Remodeling
A well-used lecture room in the historic
Ceramics
Building
at the
University
of
Illinois
, Room 218 underwent a complete renovation to bring it up to the
quality of other University lecture halls.
Eta’s design included retrofitting ductwork for central
air, upgrading the existing lighting with energy-efficient lighting,
and routing voice telephone lines and CAT5 data cabling for the
modern audio/visual systems required in new lecture halls.
All this mechanical and electrical work was designed in close
concert with the Architect on the job to ensure that the historic
nature of the room was not compromised.
All new conduits were routed behind walls, all new ductwork
was hidden inside existing chases, and all new data/telecomm cable
was routed inside wiremold that was integrated with architectural
details.
Orpheum
Children’s Science Museum
A beautiful historic landmark
in downtown
Champaign
,
Illinois
, the Orpheum Theater served as a movie theater for decades before
falling into disrepair. Purchased by an insightful developer of
historic buildings in the 1990’s, the theater is undergoing major
renovations. Recognizing that the building is not economically
viable as an historic movie theater in the new millennium, the
developer is changing the building space use while maintaining the
interior and exterior historic integrity of the building. Eta
Engineers’ involvement came in the second renovation phase (of
three anticipated) which renovated the lobby/main foyer and
entrances to accommodate a children’s science museum. Eta’s
design retrofitted central cooling in these areas where there
formerly had been none, provided exhibit and general area lighting,
and provided new toilet rooms to accommodate the anticipated crowds.
Eta’s involvement and support continued through the construction
phase, addressing and solving the myriad of field issues that
historic renovation projects inevitably present.
Fort Riley
,
Kansas
Historic Preservation Offices
The U.S. Army’s
Fort
Riley
houses a vibrant and active Historic Preservation Office (HPO) that
collects, catalogues, and curates Native American remains found on
post. Given its
continually expanding mission, the HPO required new office/curation
space and opted to renovate the long-unused jail for its new office.
Consistent with their mission, the HPO directive to Eta was
to maintain all elements
historic significance while upgrading the space for modern-day use.
Eta’s heating design reused the existing floor-mounted
radiators and converted the single-zone steam system to a multizone
low temperature hot water heating system.
Eta’s design for the retrofitted central cooling systems
routed all ductwork out of view and located registers/diffusers
inconspicuously to minimize visual impact on the spaces.
McKinley Foundation
Limping along with a failing central steam heating system for years,
the
McKinley
Church
and Foundation hired Eta to analyze the existing heating system and
design new heating systems for the three buildings.
Eta reused the existing floor-mounted steam radiators and
designed a new low-temperature hot water heating system utilizing
staged modular boilers controlled electronically.
Warner
Theater
,
Washington
,
DC
Originally built in 1924
Washington
,
DC
, the original
Warner
Building
was a visionary concept, linking the vitality of a 2000-seat grand
movie theater with the economic stability of four floors of leased
office above the theater. However, over the ensuing decades it fell
into extreme disrepair until it was renovated in the early 1990’s.
As lead designer and project manager for the mechanical/electrical
engineering design firm on the job,
Alan Chalifoux
was responsible for ‘shoehorning’ modern air conditioning,
plumbing, smoke control, fire protection, and electrical systems
into the existing theater, while maintaining the historic integrity
of the building and paying strict attention to minimize the
acoustical effects of the new systems. The mechanical systems
incorporate an energy-efficient central chiller plant with
primary/secondary pumping, waterside economizer, and a modern direct
digital control (DDC) system. The project was generally recognized
as a huge success, and the
Warner
Theater
has become a major attraction in downtown
Washington
,
DC
, and the "flag ship" for its developer, the Kaempfer
Company. |
