Scope of Project:
The Massry Center for Music and Arts was a new facility designed for the College of St Rose in Albany, NY. This 40,000 square foot, $12 Million dollar building houses numerous music department program areas and includes a 400-seat Recital Hall and Art Gallery. The College was committed to making the building a showcase of sustainable architecture and engineering which resulted in a LEED ™ Gold rating.
The building is three floors in height and includes a full basement area. Program areas included individual student practice rooms, general purpose classrooms, specialty music and piano teaching studios, faculty offices, lounges and public areas that double as both circulation spaces as well as exhibit areas for student and professional artwork.
Summary:
Large rehearsal studios were included for full band and choral groups. A 400-seat Recital Hall was designed for performances of both instruments and vocal groups. The acoustics in this space were designed for both separation of this space from the rehearsal spaces directly above and for superior acoustics within the space itself for a variety of different performance group types and sizes.
The mechanical systems installed in the building include a geothermal water source heat pump system utilizing a ground coupled, closed loop heat exchanger. The heat pumps use non-HFC refrigerants with preconditioned outside air delivered by energy recovery ventilation units. Through the use of energy modeling, FFA was able to determine that the proposed system would be up to 40% more efficient than a conventional HVAC system.
Electrical design included all power and lighting within the building. Special lighting systems included highly flexible and variable lighting systems for both the Recital Hall and the Art Gallery. The design maximized the use of natural light to almost every space in the building while utilizing a sophisticated lighting control system for both scheduled lighting control as well as daylight harvesting to minimize energy usage.
Plumbing design included low flow faucets, electronic sensors, waterless urinals and dual flush water closets for maximum water conservation. Additionally, the building was completely protection by a NFPA 13 compliant wet pipe sprinkler system.