Archive for the ‘Construction Updates’ Category
Directors in an Altered State
Friday, June 27th, 2008Fox directors toured Alter Hall for the first time Thursday. They saw first hand where their centers, departments, and offices would be located, how Alter will be joined to Speakman, and just how impressive the new facility will be.
Below, the group stands at the rear of the 272-seat Auditorium on the lower level.
What’s Been Added?
Thursday, June 19th, 2008In the photo below, a new element has been added to the main entrance side of Alter Hall. Can you tell what it is?
The Blogger is Baaack.
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008Temporary Entrance to Lower Level
Well, what have they done to our familiar and functional Speakman Hall? My first day back (Tuesday) I had to enter through the handicap entrance, take the stair tower to the lower level, then grab the elevator to the Dean’s Office on the 1st floor. Today there’s a new temporary entrance next to and below the handicap entrance that takes you to the LL5 Suite outside Fox Computer Services. Once there, you navigate Speakman by using the stairwell or elevator (preferred).
Glass Installed in “Bays”
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008One of the unique features of the Michael Graves-designed structure is the “bays” which protrude on the east and west sides of Alter Hall. Together with the mansard roof, they provide a 19th Century-inspired modernist touch.
Here you see a curtain wall of glass stopping at the 6th floor on the Liacouras side nearest Montgomery Avenue. If you look closely you can distinguish the shadow detail that defines the shallow bays. BTW, the office immediately below on Level 3 is mine. The one at the far right is the Dean’s.
Note: Thursday, May 22, all construction work in Speakman Hall and Alter Hall has stopped to celebrate Temple students and their families at Commencement.
“Dirty Jobs” Underway in Speakman Hall
Monday, May 19th, 2008Beginning May 16, demolition and construction crews were hard at work preparing the 1st and 2nd floors of Speakman Hall for new smart classrooms and terrazzo floors that will match finishes and technologies to be found in Alter Hall. Below is a quick slide tour of “abatement” to remove old floor tiles, temporary walls built to protect the interior during the demolition of two entrances, and “deconstruction” of Speakman classrooms.
Dirty Jobs Begin In Speakman from John DeAngelo on Vimeo.
13th Street Speakman Entrance To Close
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Beginning Thursday, May 15, work on a new facade for the 13th Street entrance to Speakman Hall will begin, requiring that that the current entrance close for much of the summer. During construction you must use the handicapped entrance on the Northwest corner of Speakman Hall opposite Shusterman Hall.
The Liacouras Walk entrance facade will also be removed in the next 7-10 days, after which the handicapped entrance will be the only way to enter and exit the building.
All summer classes originally scheduled in Speakman have been moved to other buildings. Undergraduate enrollment, advising and honors have been temporarily relocated to the 4th floor of SAC II.
Another Building Tour
Saturday, May 10th, 2008This past Wednesday, a small group of us toured Alter Hall. Progress on all floors is substantial, with drywall completed in many spaces, and framing for classrooms, lecture halls and the auditorium sufficient enough to reflect the spaces they will soon become.
In the photo above, Fox Director of Computer Services Vik Singh shares notes with Special Events Coordinator Nancy Korotkin outside of one of the 15 undergraduate breakout rooms on the 2nd floor.
West Wall Revealed
Thursday, May 1st, 2008Some of the scaffolding on the lower three levels has come down on the Liacouras side of Alter Hall exposing recently completed brick work. Also pictured is the second floor undergraduate student lounge outside collaboration/breakout rooms, and a third floor area where several members of the Dean’s Office will reside.
A Year of Progress
Thursday, April 17th, 2008To appreciate how far L.F. Driscoll and the contractors have progressed from last April until now, you have only to compare the two images below. The one at left was shot April 25,
2007, the one at right, April 17, 2008. Basically, the Alter site was a big hole!
Today those walls are in place, and the brick, glass, and stone facade is nearly completed. By summer most of the exterior work will have been done while interior work is progressing nicely.
Then There Was Glass
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008Those construction devils snuck in some glass while I had my back turned. This photo shows placement of the first glass in the “punched” windows on the north side of Alter Hall.
With temperature in the 70s and trees blossoming all over campus, I wandered out on Liacouras Walk and caught a glimpse of Alter Hall looking south.
John DeAngelo