Chapman University is Working on 'Legacy for the Future'

By Greg Aragon

The 144,000-sq.-ft., four-story Leatherby Libraries replaces the outdated, 32,000-sq.-ft. Thurmond Clarke Memorial Library. The $25 million resource center will house a cyber café and six wings for Arts & Letters; Science & Technology; Business & Economics; Music; Education; and Film and Television. Photo courtesy of Matt Construction.

Compared to some colleges in Southern California, Chapman University's enrollment of 4,800 is tiny. But with nearly $50 million in new campus construction currently under way, the 143-year-old, Orange-based institution is going through a significant growth spurt.

"The projects were undertaken to bring the campus up to top-shelf university standards," said Kris Eric Olsen, director of construction management for Chapman. "We are upgrading it from the small-college standard and designing and building structures to last 100-years plus. The university wants to leave a quality legacy for the future."

For now, the college's future consists of four, multimillion-dollar projects, all managed by Newport Beach-based ABACUS Project Management Inc. The quartet of projects-Leatherby Libraries, Oliphant Hall, Wallace All Faiths Chapel and Chapman House Residence Hall-are expected to be completed in the fall.

Leatherby Libraries

Rendering of Chapman's Leatherby Libraries by AC Martin Partners.

The $25 million Leatherby Libraries and the $8.5 million Oliphant Music Hall are the largest projects. They were designed by Los Angeles-based master plan architect AC Martin Partners and are being built by Santa Fe Springs-based general contractor Matt Construction.

The 144,000-sq.-ft., four-story library, named for donor Joann Leatherby, is currently about 70-percent complete, with brick façade and interior work now under way. The steel-frame structure replaces the outdated, 32,000-sq.-ft. Thurmond Clarke Memorial Library and will house a cyber café and six wings for Arts & Letters; Science & Technology; Business & Economics; Music; Education; and Film and Television.

Oliphant Music Hall

Like the library, the 24,000-sq.-ft. music hall (named after donors Ken and Toni Oliphant) will feature a classic brick exterior. The building is about 85-percent done, with finishing touches under way on the façade and interior. The three-story music hall will include a 60-seat lecture hall, rehearsal hall, teaching studios and practice rooms.

Oliphant Music Hall will feature a classic brick exterior. The three-story, $8.5 million building will include a 60-seat lecture hall, rehearsal hall, teaching studios and practice room. Rendering by AC Martin Partners.

Combined, the two buildings will contain approximately 250,000 bricks and 1,000 tons of structural steel. There also are 520,000-sq.-ft. of gypsum sheathing and drywall, 5,000 cu. yds. of concrete and 475,000 lbs. of reinforcing steel.

All of the materials create a packed 2.5-acre jobsite that's right inside campus.

"At this point, we've only got one way in and one way out with delivery trucks, so we have to be very careful how we schedule everything," said Marvin Wheat of Matt Construction, the project director. "We don't have much room at all to stage materials or move things around."

He added that the constraints have affected steel erection and the backfill operations on below-grade walls.

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"The design of the basement walls incorporated a perimeter tie beam that tied the first-floor deck and the perimeter walls together," Wheat said. "The basement walls were poured prior to steel erection, but the composite perimeter beam could not be poured until the first-floor deck and columns were poured to allow the backfill of the below-grade walls to be completed. The open excavation and the time frame until the placement of backfill, limited the amount of real estate around the buildings for material storage, deliveries and access."

Wheat said his team is overcoming the construction squeeze by staging weekly subcontractor meetings to coordinate when and where deliveries can be made and to make sure they never interfere with concrete pours.

"Everything has to be scheduled; subs can't just show up with stuff," he added.

Project manager Bob Murrin, a principle with AC Martin, said that the four-colored, brick-with-limestone accent bands used on the two buildings were inspired by the school's other turn-of-the-century-styled structures.

"The larger aesthetic challenge at Chapman was to find an architecture that tries to blend the historic fabric of the older buildings and the culture of Old Town Orange with the architecture of today," Murrin added. "We chose to introduce brick, a material that is identifiable with universities across the country and has the warm texture that exudes quality." Old Town Orange has a high concentration of Craftsman houses, some of which are 100 years old or more.

All Faiths Chapel

Besides the library and the music hall, AC Martin also designed the $7.5 million, 13,000-sq.-ft. Wallace All Faiths Chapel, named in honor of donors Ray and Pauline Wallace.

With steel just erected, the 158-ft.-high chapel is currently about 85-percent complete and should be finished by August. It is being built by Irvine-based general contractor Snyder Langston.

The chapel features a sanctuary with curved walls and a lighted beacon, which acts as a focal point, drawing the visitor into a wisteria-draped archway, and creates an outdoor transitional space that plays with shadow and light.

Highlighted by a 50-ft. spire, the chapel used the work of six different artists and a number of recognizable symbols to invoke a variety of faiths.

"Each faith has its own priority, and we were able to create something that has consistent meaning to all," Murrin said. "The design solution demanded an architectural aesthetic that would not be confused with any other building on campus."

Residence Hall

The fourth project under construction is Chapman House Residence Hall, an 82,702-sq.-ft., type V structure that was designed by Tustin-based CRHO Architects and is being built by Seattle-based general contractor Howard S. Wright Construction Co.

The project is broken into three, four-story buildings that house 132 units and 312 students. The buildings will lay on top of a slab-on-grade with a spread-footing foundation. Each will have a blend of exterior plaster, painted finish and mini-brick veneer faux columns.