TCU Neeley School of Business

Fort Worth, TX

Expertise

  • Education

Services

  • mechanical / plumbing engineering
  • electrical engineering

Size

  • 125,000 SF

Baird, Hampton & Brown provided mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering services for the new Neeley School of Business facilities at Texas Christian University. This $75 million phased construction project included the demolition of Dan Rogers, renovation of Tandy and Smith Halls, and construction of a new four-story connector building between the two (Spencer Hays Hall). An auditorium was also added onto Smith Hall. The project’s total square footage adds up to 125,000 square feet of new and renovated spaces, creating a more contemporary and collaborative environment for both undergraduate and graduate business students and faculty. These new and expanded facilities, called the Spencer and Marlene Hays Business Commons, are LEED Silver certified and include innovative classrooms and learning spaces, a large auditorium, a commercial kitchen, and an atrium. Image Credit: CannonDesign

An MEP assessment was completed at the start of the project to verify existing locations of electric, gas, and chilled water utilities within the affected buildings, determine capacity, and identify options to upgrade existing systems to serve new building loads. An existing generator was relocated to serve the new building, and a new electrical distribution system was designed for the entirety of the new construction; temporary electrical service was also provided to Tandy during construction to minimize disruption of ongoing classes. Keeping in mind space constraints and owner preferences, the electrical team was also tasked with a new power and data layout for the building and lighting controls for new LED fixtures. Image Credit: CannonDesign

The Auditorium addition included a boiler room with three boilers, two chilled water pumps, two hydronic heating water pumps, and a mechanical room with two air handling units. The boilers and hydronic heating water pumps were sized to serve all of the Neeley School of Business including future renovations to Tandy and Smith Halls. Strict design guidelines had to be followed in the auditorium to maintain a noise control (NC) value less than 20. The Spencer Hays Hall addition has two mechanical penthouses with air handling units in each penthouse, a single rooftop air handling unit, fan coil units (FCU), computer room air conditioning units (CRAC), and a Dx ductless split ceiling cassette. Image Credit: CannonDesign

Key People

  • Ian Bost, PE, LEED AP

  • Craig Gregory, PE

  • Allen Grammer, PE, NSSA AP