Washington University's new Danforth University Center — completed last summer by Clayco Inc. — has achieved LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Finished in just 16 months, the 115,880-square-foot Danforth University Center is located between Simon Hall and Mallinckrodt Center on the Washington University campus. The new three-story University Center houses WUTV-TV, Student Life newspaper, the student union, student and faculty dining areas, conference rooms, campus life offices, a game room, and a common area. Built over a pre-construction, three-story, 520-car parking garage which was an earlier Clayco project, the University Center features reinforced concrete with a granite stone façade, complementing the collegiate Gothic architecture displayed throughout the campus.
In addition, Clayco completed a variety of other projects to improve the campus infrastructure prior to the facility's construction. These included incorporating extensive landscaping to conceal the garage, installing underground utilities to support the central underground garage and main garage, and building a 92,000-square-foot addition to the Snow Way parking garage.
TSOI/Kobis & Associates, Cambridge, MA, was the architect. Joining Clayco on the project were CommArts, interior designer; Woolpert Inc., civil engineer; KPFF Consulting Engineers, structural engineer; Bell Electrical Contractors, electrical engineer; Murphy Co., mechanical engineer; Corrigan Co., plumbing; and Ahern Fire Protection, fire protection.
