May 15, 2015

Centralia College will start work in July on TransAlta Commons

Images by Rovelstad Architects

TransAlta Commons will replace a 15,000-square foot student union that is more than 50 years old. That building that will converted to administrative space.

Centralia College plans to start construction in July on TransAlta Commons, a 70,000-square-foot student union designed to be the heart of the campus in downtown Centralia.

Construction is estimated to cost between $24.5 million and $27 million, and be complete by late 2016.

Bids are due May 21, according to a notice in the April 15 DJC.

The building will be on the college's pedestrian esplanade, adjacent to Washington Avenue and Pear Street. One block of Washington Avenue directly west of the student union will become a continuation of the esplanade, with pervious pavers and a large circular plaza.

The team includes MSGS Architects, executive architect and architect of record; Rovelstad Architects, design lead; PCS Structural Solutions, structural engineer; Wood Harbinger, mechanical and electrical engineer; Saez Consulting Engineers, civil engineer; Jeffrey B. Glander & Associates, landscape architect; Interface Engineering, communications and information technology engineer; Clevenger Associates, food services consultants; Cite|specific, specifications writer; and Sparling, acoustical designer.

TransAlta Commons will replace a 15,000-square foot student union that is more than 50 years old. That building that will converted to administrative space.

The project team is targeting LEED gold.

The commons will house student programs and services, the campus bookstore and cafeteria, lecture halls, faculty offices and classrooms.

The steel structure will have non-bearing metal stud walls. The exterior will be dominated by large windows, and brick and pre-finished metal panel cladding used in a rain-screen application.

There will be LED lights, radiant heating in the cafeteria floors, and a variable refrigerant flow heating, ventilating and cooling system in all but a four-story day-lit atrium. The atrium will be naturally ventilated with glass garage doors and louver windows controlled by computer.

The atrium will connect the cafeteria/multi-purpose room with the main building.

Pervious paving, rain gardens and native plants will be installed outside the building.

Centralia College was founded in 1925, and is the oldest continuously operating two-year public college in Washington. It serves students from Lewis and south Thurston counties. Annual enrollment averages 10,444 total students, with 2,300 full-time equivalent.