April 11, 2024

CWU project preserved existing buildings to help reduce costs

Photos by Doug Walker Photography [enlarge]

The project included major upgrades to Nicholson Pavilion (right) and Purser Hall (left), which are now connected by a new infill addition.

Student athletes and individuals in the Sports and Movement Studies Program at Central Washington University are now training and taking classes in a dramatically upgraded and expanded Health Education complex.

The complex comprises two existing buildings — Nicholson Pavilion and Purser Hall — and 86,000 square feet of new construction.

Around 108,000 square feet has been modernized in the existing buildings. The addition, adjacent to Nicholson Pavilion, has an auxiliary gymnasium, dance and studio space, weight rooms for physical education and athletics, bathrooms and locker rooms, classrooms, meeting rooms and administrative spaces.

The project scope also included a full renovation of Nicholson Arena at Nicholson Pavilion and renovations to an existing performance gymnasium/convocation center, locker rooms, a classroom, and office and meeting spaces in the building.

An existing field house was expanded and kitted out with new synthetic turf and a running track. Renovations to Purser Hall focused on creating additional classroom and meeting space.

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Nicholson Arena, home of the Wildcats, has been fully renovated.

Nicholson and Purser are now linked by a new infill addition, and a new lobby/vestibule area has been added to further knit the complex together.

The adaptive reuse/expansion project was designed by architect Studio Meng Strazzara (SMS) and built by Lydig Construction. SMS is based in Seattle. Lydig is based in Bellevue.

Ground was broken in December 2021 and the project was officially completed in late 2023 — just in time for the CWU men's basketball team to win the 2024 GNAC Championship.

Nicholson Pavilion is one of the most well-known buildings on CWU's Ellensburg campus. It was constructed in 1960 and stands out for its cable-suspended roof, which the university says was one of the first to be built in the country. That roof was not affected by the project.

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A new lobby/vestibule area helps knit the complex together.

SMS says the design team worked carefully to preserve as much of the existing structures as possible. This reduced the cost of the project and resulted in the diversion of tons of waste from the landfill and, according to the architect, prevented 6.74 million kilograms of embodied carbon emissions.

The facility is currently on track for LEED Silver certification.

The Health Education project cost $60.5 million and was funded via a state appropriation. CWU says the project accommodates future growth of its Sport and Movement Studies Program while providing best-in-class facilities for student athletes.

The project team also included Hastings+Chivetta, associate architect; Nakano Associates, landscape architect; LPD Engineering, civil; PCS Structural Solutions; and MW Consulting Engineers, MEP.