Brandeis University

Office of the Executive Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer

MEMORANDUM

A number of projects will be underway this summer, either in construction, under design, or in planning. I would like to provide the community with information and updates on those. As in the past, this and previous memos are available on the website of the Office of the EVP/COO, at www.brandeis.edu/evpcoo (click on the Documents link).

To go immediately to information about any of the following, please use these links:

Projects in Construction This Summer:

• The Schneider Building for the Heller School for Social Policy and Management
  
• Gordon Residence Hall Renovation
  
• New Soccer Field
  
• Infrastructure Renewal Project, Phase 2
  
• New Superconducting Magnet Facility
  

Projects in Design:

• Rose Art Phase 2 Renovation and Expansion
  

Projects in Planning:

• Science Complex Renewal Project
  
• Edmond J. Safra Center for the Arts
  
• Village 2 Residence Hall
  

If you have questions about any of these projects, please refer to the contact information provided at the end of this memo.

Projects in Construction This Summer:

The Schneider Building for the Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Construction is about to begin on the Schneider Building for the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. The Schneider Building will add approximately 33,000 square feet to the Heller School and will include classrooms, offices, and a "forum," a three-story central space that will provide a prime venue for lectures, presentations, and events. The forum will also include a café and grouped lounge seating on several levels. The Schneider Building has been designed with a focus on sustainable (i.e., environmentally friendly) design, accessibility for all users, and appropriate technology in support of teaching, learning, and research at the Heller School.

Through a competitive process, Bond Brothers has been selected as the general contractor for the Schneider Building. A protective fence will be put in place around the construction site beginning next week. This fence will temporarily enclose the area in front of Heller Brown where paths will be reconfigured. As that work is completed, the fence will be moved back closer to the site of the new building, west of Heller-Brown. Further information about the impact of construction on circulation and parking in the vicinity of the Heller School is being provided in a separate memo to the community. Construction is scheduled to be complete by early summer 2006, and building occupancy is expected in time for the fall 2006 semester.

Gordon Residence Hall Renovation

Gordon Hall, in the North Residential Quad, will be renovated beginning in mid-August. Improvements will be similar to those completed this past January in Scheffres Hall. Lounges in Gordon will be renovated with new furniture, carpets, ceilings, lighting, and paint, bathrooms in Gordon will be completely updated, carpets will be replaced throughout the building, ceilings will be replaced and new lighting installed in all hallways, hallways will be painted, and individual rooms will receive touch-up painting as needed. In addition, as part of the residence halls fire safety upgrades within the infrastructure renewal project, sprinklers will be installed and fire alarm systems updated in Gordon Hall. All work in Gordon is expected to be complete by mid-December.

New Soccer Field

This summer, the soccer field behind G-Lot, adjacent to the baseball field, will be replaced by a regulation-size soccer field, to be constructed using synthetic turf. Synthetic turf, which has become the standard on high-end fields, is significantly more durable than grass and has excellent performance and safety characteristics. Creation of the new soccer field is beginning this week and is expected to be complete before the start of this coming fall semester. Surrounding the soccer field, preparations will be made for a new six-lane track, which is scheduled to be installed in the second phase of this project, during summer 2006.

Infrastructure Renewal Project

The first phase of work in connection with the $25M Infrastructure Renewal Project was successfully completed last summer, on time and somewhat below budget. Following are brief status reports, by category, for the second Phase of the Infrastructure Renewal Project, to be carried out this summer.

Residence Halls Fire Safety

All University residence halls are fully code-compliant. The University's highest priority for the infrastructure renewal project continues to be the acceleration of upgrades to these systems to bring them up to the latest standards for fire-safety. As of the conclusion of summer 2004, over 50 percent (1,348 beds) of the University's housing stock (2,678 beds) meets the latest fire protection system standards. The renovation of Scheffres during the semester break added 80 beds to this count. In summer FY05, fire systems in additional residence halls will be upgraded, covering 1009 additional beds. This will bring to 91% (2,437 of 2,678 beds) the portion of the University's housing stock improved in accordance with the latest fire protection standards.

Residence halls to be upgraded in summer 2005 include:

• North Quad: Reitman, Cable, Gordon;
  
• Massell: Renfield, Usen;
  
• Foster Mods;
  
• Charles River: 150, 164;
  
• 567 South St.
  

Steam Network

This summer, a major segment of the steam network running from the peripheral road up the pathway that leads to Hassenfeld and the Faculty Center will be replaced. Additional work to replace steam lines connecting Rabb, the north residential quad, and the Castle, is being considered for summer 2006.

Electric Network

Beginning this summer, a new substation will be installed across from the University's main entrance, along Old South Street at the end of G-Lot. The grade change relative to South Street in this area, and the plantings to be added as part of the proposed work, will ensure that the new substation is only minimally visible from South Street. This work, which is expected to improve reliability and redundancy in the University's electrical system, is scheduled to be completed before the end of the calendar year.

Water System

Work already completed in this category has resulted in a water system capable of supporting all anticipated fire-protection improvements — the primary goal of work in this category. As a result, additional work on the water system this summer will focus only on areas being excavated in connection with work on the steam system, to take advantage of the resulting cost efficiency. These improvements will further add to the reliability of the University's water system.

Roofs

All Phase 1 work was completed on schedule last summer. Additional work on roofs planned for summer 2005 includes portions of Red Square, in the Science Complex, including the areas that connect to the Volen Center. Plans are being developed now for additional work on roofs this summer.

Roadways and Pedestrian Safety

This category of the Infrastructure Renewal Project includes the comprehensive campus signage project began last fall. Jon Roll Associates, the selected planner and designer for the project, has proposed sign standards and a sign placement plan for the campus. These are have been reviewed by the project Advisory Committee, including faculty, staff, and student members. Plans will be finalized this summer, and beginning in the fall, the University expects to begin the first phase of a multi-phased installation of the new signs. Overall, this plan will put in place new signs ranging from front entrance identification, directional, and events signs to individual building identification signs, parking signs, maps, and many others.

Also in this category of the Infrastructure Renewal Project, additional priorities have been compiled for added sidewalks and paths and for safety and capacity improvements to parking lots. Implementation of these improvements will also be phased. Initial work this summer is expected to include the addition of sidewalks along the loop road in highest-priority segments, including the segment leading from Shapiro Admissions to the front entrance, and from the front entrance up the loop road below the Science Complex.

Classroom Improvements

For summer 2005, improvements are planned in two tiered classrooms: Olin-Sang 101 and Lown 2. Based upon feedback gathered from faculty and students who have used the six pilot-project classrooms improved in summer 2004, Dean Jaffe has identified other flat-floor and seminar-style classrooms to be improved, consistent with available funding in this category. These improvements will include many additions of technology in support of new modes of teaching, as well as new carpets, blinds, and other improvements.

Energy Savings Program

Brandeis has recently embarked on a multi-phased energy savings program. The overriding goals of this program are: 1) to reduce the demand for energy through a methodical program of instituting utility efficiency improvements; 2) to prioritize and address key deferred maintenance items; 3) to develop, implement, and monitor new standards for energy usage; and 4) to improve the University's "environmental footprint" through responsible energy-usage practices.

Implementation of Phase 1 of the Energy Savings Program is now in progress for no-cost and low-cost operations and maintenance measures and deferred maintenance items (addressing most buildings in the Science Center, Spingold Theater, Sachar International Center, and the University's central heating plant). Planning for Phase 2 is complete, to address needs in additional buildings including the Athletic Complex, Usdan Student Center, Sherman Hall/Hassenfeld Conference Center, Goldfarb/Farber Library, and Kalman.

The Energy Savings Program's success will rely, in part, on the institution of numerous conservation initiatives that will need the support of the Brandeis community, including students, faculty and staff. University leadership is working closely with the student-led organization BEST (Brandeis Environmental Sustainability Team) to develop a plan to educate the entire Brandeis community about ways in which we all can contribute to reducing energy use and improving the University's practices from an environmental perspective. This plan is expected to be rolled out to the community beginning this coming fall.

New Superconducting Magnet Facility

In 2003, the University received a grant award of two million dollars from the National Institutes of Health for the purchase of a new superconducting magnet. The University has a number of other such units, which are used as research tools by the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry. This new unit will allow faculty to look at the structure and motion of health-related proteins with a detail not possible on existing magnets at the University or elsewhere in the Boston area.

A new facility to house this research tool is now under construction adjacent to the Nessel Academic Center (the Golding Health Center), in the space framed by Nessel/ Golding, Stoneman, and Mailman. The new Brandeis facility has been designed by Payette Associates Architects, who have successfully designed many such facilities. Construction began in January 2005 and completion is expected by the end of July 2005.

Projects in Design:

Rose Art Museum Phase 2 Renovation and Expansion

The Phase 2 renovation and expansion project is intended to address the Rose Art Museum's needs for: storage space for paintings, sculpture, and prints and drawings; reception space; administrative support space; programmatic support space including workshop, preparation space, loading dock, and receiving area; and flexible education space. The project is expected to include creation of a new gallery space above the existing support building, reconfiguration of the support building, and renovation of the original Rose Art Museum. The architects, Shigeru Ban and Dean Maltz, expect to complete schematic design by mid-May.

Projects in Planning:

Science Complex Renewal Project

In accordance with President Reinharz's commitment to renew the University's science facilities through the addition of new space and the selective renovation of existing spaces, the University has engaged Payette Associates, a nationally recognized architectural and planning firm with extensive experience in the planning and design of science buildings and hospitals (Payette is the designer for the University new Superconducting Magnet Facility [see above]), to conduct the Programming Phase for the Science Complex Renewal Project. The Programming Phase is taking as its point of departure the vision statement developed by the School of Science and will result in recommendations as to how existing spaces, through renovation and reconfiguration, can be made to best serve the University's goals for the sciences, and what sort of new space should be added to the science complex  where such new space might be located, how much new space might be required, and what activities might be housed in it. Meetings are underway with focus groups (which include faculty, staff, and students) to allow Payette to fully understand the University's needs for the sciences. This crucial first phase of planning is expected to be complete by the end of 2005.

Following completion of the Programming Phase and trustee preliminary approval of the project, an architect will be selected to undertake project design. The duration of the Design Phase and subsequent Construction and Renovation Phases will depend on the overall approach decided upon and the likely associated need to carry out the project in stages (to accommodate the ongoing needs of the faculty and students to continue normal activities in the science center, and consistent with available resources).

Edmond J. Safra Center for the Arts

The University is currently in the Programming Phase in preparation for the creation of the Edmond J. Safra Center for the Arts. The purpose of the Programming Phase is to determine the types, quantities, and proximities of spaces to be incorporated into the Center. The University is looking beyond simply meeting existing needs toward creating a fine arts facility that will serve the University programmatically for decades to come, providing a high degree of flexibility to accommodate changes in pedagogy and changes in fine arts practice—new media and new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration—while also properly addressing the needs of traditional and existing disciplines and practices.

To conduct the Programming Phase, the University selected Polshek Partnership, of New York, a firm with extensive experience in planning and designing facilities for higher education, museums, and performing and fine arts. Included in the Programming Phase are considerations of: present and projected future space needs within the Fine Arts; interdisciplinary collaboration and efficiency of space use across the arts; coordination with schematic design for the Phase 2 expansion and renovation of the Rose Art Museum and the Spingold Theater Master Planning work underway; sharing of library/technology resources; the Fine Art Department's image digitization initiative; and new media across the curriculum; and facilities, infrastructure and campus planning issues.

The Programming Phase is expected to be complete by late-May. Following that, selection of a design architect will take place, at which point the design process for the Edmond J. Safra Center for the Arts will begin.

Village 2 Residence Hall

Programming will begin later this month for a new residence hall to be located on the site of the current Ridgewood Residence Quad, which is slated to be removed. This programming work will result in definition of the type of housing, the configuration of rooms/suites, and the types and quantities of common spaces the University hopes to include in the new residence hall. This first step toward creation of Village 2 is expected to be completed by September 2005.

Questions?

Please contact Dan Feldman, Associate Vice President for Planning, Design, and Construction, at x6-8405 or by email to feldman@brandeis.edu, with questions about any of the following projects:

• The Schneider Building for the Heller School for Social Policy and Management
  
• New Soccer Field
  
• New Superconducting Magnet Facility
  
• Rose Art Phase 2 Renovation and Expansion
  
• Science Complex Renewal Project
  
• Edmond J. Safra Center for the Arts
  
• Village 2 Residence Hall
  

More information about these and other capital projects can be found on the website of the Office of Capital Projects, at www.brandeis.edu/capitalprojects.

Please contact either Mark Collins, Associate Vice President for University Services, at x6-4564 or by email to collins@brandeis.edu, if you have questions about any of the following projects:

• Gordon Hall Renovation
  
• Infrastructure Renewal Project, Phase 2 (for Classroom Improvements and for Roadways and Pedestrian Safety categories, please contact Dan Feldman)