University of Delaware Carpenter Sports Building
Project Location
Newark, DE
Project Type
– Civic/Government
– Education
Services
– New Construction
Expansion of a 1970s sports facility into a contemporary student recreation venue while maintaining its historic context.
The Project
New one and two-story 41,000 SF addition to the 1970 Carpenter Sports facility to turn it into a contemporary student recreation venue while keeping its historic context. The three-level addition is structurally separate from the existing sports complex but was designed to reflect the style of the original Delaware Campus buildings. This new facility provides a full array of fitness and recreation programs and amenities.
Structural Features
The building is steel-framed with steel joist and metal deck roof and composite concrete and steel beam floors. The lateral system is moment frames. The main feature is a distinctive gable roof laid out with steel beams and joist-supported by custom fabricated scissor truss girders spanning 50 feet and spaced 20 feet on center. This framing allowed the ceiling to be placed high in the space producing a very pleasant workout environment.
Another issue was the site was underlaid with numerous utilities that needed to remain active until a new mechanical room part of this building could be operational. We produced a spread footing foundation design that coordinated with these existing utilities and allowed the building to be constructed. The façade is brick veneer with cast stone accents and a distinct cast stone corbel at the roof line.
