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San Jacinto Community College
San Jacinto Community College
Pasadena, TX, United States
Project Featured on Apr 05, 2024
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Other Projects by Walter P Moore
San Jacinto Community College
Pasadena, TX, United States
Project Featured on Apr 05, 2024
Firm
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2022
SIZE
100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft
BUDGET
Undisclosed
When San Jacinto Community College, located in Pasadena, Texas, decided to replace two existing buildings on campus, they turned to Walter P Moore to serve as the structural engineer for a new 120,000-sf mass timber classroom building. When design finished in 2019, this was the largest instructional building in the United States constructed from mass timber. Known as the Anderson-Ball Classroom Building, the three-story building is constructed entirely out of mass timber with the exception for mostly concealed steel bracing used as supplemental lateral support. In addition to the environmental benefits of fully using mass timber, the project demonstrated sustainable design principles in numerous other ways, including by reusing existing foundations, electrochromic glazing, stormwater reclamation, and solar panels.
The project faced an unusual budgetary challenge during the final remaining years of its 2015 Capital Improvement Bond Program. The classroom building was the signature building of the campaign but also one of the last projects to be undertaken in the program, which encompassed three campuses and spanned five years. Being last meant the project faced the most restrictive budget and schedule constraints of the bond program. Going over budget was not an option nor was scaling back the building’s program. The College recognized early in the building’s planning phases that steel prices were quickly trending upward. At the same time, lumber prices were stabilizing after a downward trend. The team converted the challenge into an opportunity by selecting mass timber as the primary structural material instead of a regionally more conventional material like steel or concrete. Mass timber gave the added advantages of schedule acceleration and a major contribution to San Jacinto’s sustainability agenda.
To meet the strict opening deadline of spring semester 2022, the structural engineer led the effort to confirm the selection of wood as the ideal structural material with the design and construction team. Early scheme studies in other materials and regular pricing confirmations gave the College confidence that mass timber was the best choice. As a result of the engineer’s technical leadership, the entire building team quickly embraced the innovative approach.
The project faced an unusual budgetary challenge during the final remaining years of its 2015 Capital Improvement Bond Program. The classroom building was the signature building of the campaign but also one of the last projects to be undertaken in the program, which encompassed three campuses and spanned five years. Being last meant the project faced the most restrictive budget and schedule constraints of the bond program. Going over budget was not an option nor was scaling back the building’s program. The College recognized early in the building’s planning phases that steel prices were quickly trending upward. At the same time, lumber prices were stabilizing after a downward trend. The team converted the challenge into an opportunity by selecting mass timber as the primary structural material instead of a regionally more conventional material like steel or concrete. Mass timber gave the added advantages of schedule acceleration and a major contribution to San Jacinto’s sustainability agenda.
To meet the strict opening deadline of spring semester 2022, the structural engineer led the effort to confirm the selection of wood as the ideal structural material with the design and construction team. Early scheme studies in other materials and regular pricing confirmations gave the College confidence that mass timber was the best choice. As a result of the engineer’s technical leadership, the entire building team quickly embraced the innovative approach.
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