Story

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, formerly the Newseum building, underwent a complete structural and programmatic redesign. The building boasts 420,000 square feet of academic, meeting, and gathering space, including 38 high-tech classrooms, a 375-seat theater, numerous areas of group and individual study space, lounges, conference rooms, media suites, and several roof terraces. The structural renovation included removing over half of four large floors between levels one through six, then rebuilding the structure with new floors at a more appropriate cadence for the new building program. This was accomplished without crane access from above or from three of the four sides of the building, due to the existing structure. The structural revisions also included rotating the sheer core of the building by 90 degrees, to support a design configuration for the six-bank public elevators that worked with the new floor programming. A new “floating” cantilevered classroom above a pedestrian bridge was constructed as a distinctive element in the atrium, extending across its length. Likewise, a new complex monumental stair vertically unties the atrium with the seemingly disparate parts of the building, In addition, a terraced amphitheater in the atrium serves as a gathering space to socialize and host discussions or performances. The team removed 9,000 tons of concrete and 3,500 tons of steel from the existing structure to make way for the new design and were able to recycle 98% of the material. The team managed the structural refit scope consisting of 1,800 tons of new structural steel, 6,000 yards of concrete, and jacking of seven million pounds of building structure. The structure, adjacent to the Canadian embassy and a luxury residential building, occupies a tight site and bustling location. This meant safety was critical, not only for people on site but also for the general public. Any demolition miscalculation could have resulted in a structural failure that would have been devastating for the project and adjacent buildings. Construction was completed on time under a 3-year schedule. To plan the work, Clark utilized 4D scheduling in reverse; by using the building model to deconstruct existing elements and build new ones as a visualization tool, while at the same time using the software to then generate a logic-based CPM schedule. Several major subcontractors were brought on board as design-assist partners to help finalize details and constructability challenges. Their design-assist role enabled the team to achieve the desired quality and appearance for the building while maintaining the target schedule. In an effort that exemplifies the attention to detail and quality that was undertaken at every level on the project, the team hand-selected and dry-laid more than one million bounds of Tennessee pink marble during seven visits to the stone quarry, so that the exterior harmonized with the National Gallery of Art across the street.