Anne B. Pernell of the Turner Construction Company said workers will forge ahead through the winter months, barring the most extreme conditions, with their next major goal finishing the outer skin of the three-story, 800-foot-long structure by Spring 2003.
Currently, the first of the building’s 440,000 bricks are being mortared in place on the façade of the east elevator tower and on the adjacent south-facing wall, Pernell reported. The roof is nearing completion on the third floor and work is set to begin shortly on the second floor roof. In addition, crews also were spraying fireproofing on the building’s structural steel, a task expected to be completed by year’s end, she said.
Pernell said work on the third-floor interior partitions will begin in January and, with the landscape design recently completed, bids will soon be sought for the plantings and green areas around the eastern and western footprints of the structure.
Of earlier note this year was the ceremonial placing of the "last beam" in mid-September. Painted white, the beam was—per tradition—placed on display where it could be signed by faculty, staff, students, and friends of the School of Information Sciences and Technology and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the units that will occupy the structure. The beam was then hoisted high into third-floor superstructure, where it became the 3,256th steel member to be bolted into place for this project.
Work on the $58.5 million building began last fall, with a formal ground breaking ceremony on Oct. 26, 2001. Funding will come from state and University sources, with additional support coming from corporations and individuals. The s-shaped structure will bring together in one place at Penn State the field of hardware and software development with the management and application of information technology.
Designed by the architectural partnership of Rafael Viñoly Architects/Perfido Weiskopf Architects, the building spans Rt. 322 (Business) with a 900-foot walkway that bridges the central and western portions of the University Park campus. At the center of the structure will be a two-story Atrium open to the sky. Just off of the Atrium on the bridge level (second floor) will be a 150-seat Cybertorium, a café, and a demonstration laboratory where visitors can see cutting-edge technology applications firsthand. Classrooms and meeting spaces will extend along the eastern and western corridors of this level.
The third floor will be dominated by laboratories and offices for faculty members and graduate students. Administrative office space and classrooms will be on the ground floor.
