October 9, 2024

Renovation Oregon

Photo by Ken Bisset

Maintaining and matching finishes that remained in the original 1892 building required particular care in preservation and skill in creation.

OSU Fairbanks Hall

Location: 220 SW 26th St, Corvallis

Contractor: Mid-Valley Construction

Architect: Opsis Architecture

Team: International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters

Considered a contributing resource in Oregon State University’s national historic district, Fairbanks Hall, on the university’s main campus in Corvallis, is a three-story, 37,286-square-foot wood structure which has been in continuous use since 1892 as housing, classrooms, faculty offices and gallery space. Opsis Architecture and Fortis Construction chose Mid-Valley Construction as a partner in this delicate undertaking.

Mid-Valley’s scope included changes to meet current building code requirements, specifically seismic, fire, life safety, HVAC systems and accessibility, including a new elevator. The art and graphic design studios were modernized, together with a re-imagined Fairbanks Gallery and Praxis Gallery. The team created multi-functional and flexible spaces for art education inside the restored historic building envelope. Additionally, the scope included the demolition of the metal annex building west of Fairbanks Hall, replacing it with new landscape features and a sculpture court.

Any remodel project must anticipate unforeseen conditions. Once demolition begins, those conditions become seen, especially within a 130-year-old building. Misdocumented or undocumented changes as well as anticipated code changes were a major challenge. Maintaining and matching finishes that remained in the original building required particular care in preservation and skill in creation. Working closely with other subs and the general contractor the entirely successful renovation was completed, furthering the life of this outstanding and long-lived building on the OSU campus.

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