Last month, a building team managed by Turner Construction completed a $3.12 renovation of Emily Thigpen Hall, a 30,000-sf, three-story women’s residence hall on the Huntsville campus of Alabama A&M University.
The renovation didn’t alter the building’s basic footprint, and the construction crews took care to maintain its historical exterior. The building’s original ceilings, bathrooms, and flooring were demolished and then updated with modern finishes.
Turner has been the university’s construction manager, and essentially its owner’s rep, since 2016. The building team on the Thigpen Hall project included Nola Van Peursem Architects, Moody Nolan, Lee Builders, Mims Engineering, and EE Group. The project, whose construction started in July 2018, was brought in on time and under budget, according to Turner.
“Turner has not only worked to restore and modernize Thigpen Hall, one of the historic structures on the campus, thus demonstrating the university's commitment to historic preservation, but they also continue to invest in the future of Alabama A&M by providing our students with practical experience,” said AAMU President Dr. Andrew Hugine Jr.
According to a spokesperson, Turner has been working with alumni and interns from Alabama A&M on all of its projects for the university.
Since opening its office in Huntsville in 1955, Turner has been involved in numerous local buildings, including the Davidson Center for Space Exploration and its freestanding Saturn V rocket, the Huntsville Botanical Garden Welcome Center, the Von Braun Center, ADTRAN, Torch Technologies, Davidson Technologies, the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, and the Huntsville Public Library.
It is currently in preconstruction for AAMU’s new events center and arena.
Emily Thigpen Hall is named after the Dean of Women for Alabama A&M College from 1944 through 1951.
Related Stories
| Nov 14, 2014
What college students want in their living spaces
In a recent workshop with 62 college students, architects from Little explored the changing habits and preferences of today's students, and how those changes affect their living spaces.
| Nov 7, 2014
Arts college uses creative financing to build 493-bed student housing
Many states have cut back funding for higher education in recent years, and securing money for new housing has been tougher than ever for many colleges and universities. A recent residence hall project in Boston involving three colleges provides an inspiring example of how necessity can spawn invention in financing strategies.
| Nov 7, 2014
Prefab helps Valparaiso student residence project meet an ambitious deadline
Few colleges or universities have embraced prefabrication more wholeheartedly than Valparaiso (Ind.) University. The Lutheran-based institution completed a $27 million residence hall this past summer in which the structural elements were all precast.
| Nov 6, 2014
Studio Gang Architects will convert power plant into college recreation center
The century-old power plant will be converted into a recreation facility with a coffee shop, lounges, club rooms, a conference center, lecture hall, and theater, according to designboom.
| Nov 3, 2014
An ancient former post office in Portland, Ore., provides an even older art college with a new home
About seven years ago, The Pacific Northwest College of Art, the oldest art college in Portland, was evaluating its master plan with an eye towards expanding and upgrading its campus facilities. A board member brought to the attention of the college a nearby 134,000-sf building that had once served as the city’s original post office.
| Oct 28, 2014
Kean University creates Michael Graves School of Architecture
Winner of the AIA Gold Medal, the National Medal of the Arts, the Topaz Medallion and the Driehaus Prize for Architecture, Graves is best known for his contemporary building designs and prominent public commissions.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 14, 2014
Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows
This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
