Room to Learn
Contractors Build Social Science Complex
By Tony Illia

The fast-growing University of Las Vegas, Nevada has built 15 new facilities, acquired three more and renovated six buildings since 1995.

The 99- building, 337-acre campus, located in metropolitan Las Vegas, has seen its student enrollment increase by 18.5 percent in the last year alone to 24,965 students.

"Las Vegas has increased its population more than tenfold, but UNLV has increased its enrollment almost a hundredfold," said Carol C. Harter, UNLV president. "From humble beginnings in the 1950s and ''60s, we have become increasingly a major resource to the community and state."

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To keep up with the growth, the 47-year-old school is currently undergoing a $175 million capital construction program that includes, among other things, a new anthropology, history and political science complex. The $13.89 million John S. Wright Hall broke ground in August. Burke & Associates Inc. of Las Vegas is the general contractor.

"With the UNLV campus growing like it has been, this is a great example of a project needed to keep pace with growth," said Anthony Dazzio, Burke''s vice president of business development.

The 16-month undertaking calls for three parallel buildings, totaling 89,241-sq.-ft., connected by breezeways. Designed by KGA Architecture, the steel-framed masonry-block structures are set atop concrete spread footings with EIFS, stucco and glass exteriors. Natural stone is used throughout the complex.

One of the buildings is a pre-existing structure that is being renovated and rebuilt, while the other two are new construction.

"A linear colonnade wall serves as the connecting element and gathering space in which all of the disciplines come together," said Jim Lord II, principal of KGA Architecture. "Sandstone envelops the colonnade wall, which is the common thread of the complex, giving it a sense of permanence."

The biggest building is a new three-story, 50,574-sq.-ft. facility. It houses two 130-seat lecture halls, seven classrooms, two physical research labs, offices and storage space.

Burke will also build a new three-level 18,961-sq.-ft. building and refurbish a 39-year-old two-level 19,706-sq.-ft. structure. One will have 66 graduate assistant offices while the other will house classrooms and administration areas.

A 30-ft-tall, 130-ft.-long concrete pedestrian bridge set on steel-columns runs between all three buildings.

"The buildings are located right in the heart of the campus so the logistics of getting the supplies in and out is challenging,"said Tim Lockett, UNLV's assistant director of construction. "

An exterior atrium with a desert demonstration garden also ties the buildings together. The linear colonnade wall opens to a radial plaza, which faces the Moyer Student Union and the north-south University Mall.

"This is a confined job site with heavy pedestrian traffic," said Rick Ernest, Burke' project manager. ""It has required attention to safety and careful coordination among our subcontractors."

The project remains on schedule for its Nov. 10 scheduled opening. The new John S. Wright Hall will take 162 tons of steel and 2,310-cu. yds. of concrete to complete. There will also be 30 subcontractors and 200 workers onsite during the height of construction activity.