Western Washington University's Campus Recreation Center

Crews Keep Rolling Despite Tough Soils Conditions

by Sheila Bacon

For awhile, things got a little rocky for the project team building the new Campus Recreation Center at Western Washington University.

It wasn't because of any setbacks. Construction of the $18 million, two-story facility is progressing smoothly, with plans to open to students this fall.

Rather, an uneven and unpredictable layer of sandstone beneath the site meant that workers had to conduct an extensive soils investigation before construction started, boring in more than 30 places in an attempt to determine the depth of the material.

On similar projects, soil testers may conduct a half-dozen site drillings. Here, in order to determine how long the pilings would have to be so contractors could bid on the job, the full soils investigation included 33 individual borings, said Gil Aiken, project manager for WWU.

"For example, with one boring we'd find stone 10 ft. down, the next 25 ft., the next, perhaps 8 ft.," Aiken said. "It's like taking depth soundings in a lake or ocean."

Soils investigators weren't the only ones dealing with the site's conditions. Excavation crews had to cut into a sandstone bank to establish a footprint for the structure.

Western Washington University's new Campus Recreation Center will feature two rock walls for rock climbers. Photo courtesy of WWU

The 98,000-sq.-ft. building will serve the campus recreation program, freeing up the existing Carver Gymnasium for use by the university's athletic teams. One of the new facility's more interesting components will be a two-story climbing wall with removable handholds and a smaller free-form bouldering wall. The larger wall's handholds can be reconfigured to create varied climbing routes for the avid climber, while the smaller wall features handholds closer to the floor for the novice.

A three-court gym can be used for basketball, badminton and volleyball. There's also a cantilevered running track around the courts' perimeter for joggers.

The new recreation center features a separate, versatile gymnasium for rollerblading, hockey and social functions; a six-lane swimming pool; 25-person spa; two aerobics studios; and two cardio equipment areas.

Crews from Dawson Construction of Bellingham, the general contractor on the job, had to deal constantly with the project's tight site and had to rethink their building methods when it came to equipment and material lay-down. Trees line two sides of the site, a running track abuts the third and a road borders the fourth.

"We had to stage our work from the inside and build it from the inside out," said Don Lindsay, the job's project manager and estimator.

Open Architecture

The building's interior layout is open and airy. From just about anywhere inside the building, one can see into two or three other areas.

"It creates excitement," Aiken said.

Architects worked to ensure the building shared a sense of belonging with the site. BJSS Duarte Bryant's Seattle office used wood glued laminated beams, wood decking and cedar siding - materials that blended well with the rest of the campus. Cast in place concrete and glu-lam beams were chosen following a study of the cost, performance and integrity of several structural systems.

"We wanted the building to have a Northwest feel," Aiken added. "A lot of the buildings we toured had a lot of metal decking and steel joists, giving them more of an industrial feel."

BJSS joined with Opsis Architecture of Portland, Ore, on the design of the recreation center. The university looked to Opsis for its past experience with recreational facilities and BJSS for its larger staff, CAD and other technical abilities, said Aiken.

The university is seeking LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council - a designation saved for buildings that feature environmentally friendly design and construction practices. The inside of the building is kept cool by solar-rejection tinting and some sunscreens on south-facing windows; large roof overhangs; and a perforated metal panel surrounding the running track, which serves as both a guardrail for the track and shading for the court below.

Crews even salvaged a few trees before excavation - root ball and all - and transplanted them to the banks of a nearby river. Other nonsalvageable trees were ground up and used along the river's bank to enhance salmon habitat.

The Campus Recreation Center was substantially completed in July and will open to students when classes start in this fall.

Western Washington University's Communications Facility