Knowlton Hall - Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
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> Case Studies: Educational > Knowlton
Hall
 Ohio
State University’s Knowlton Hall is much more than a new home
for the Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture. A showcase for
architectural possibilities, Knowlton Hall serves as a stimulating
learning environment for its students. The new facility brings together
the schools of architecture, landscape architecture and city and
regional planning, which had previously been housed among several
scattered, outdated buildings across the OSU campus. Today, the
four-story, $32-million Knowlton Hall provides a modern, 168,000-square-foot
facility containing classrooms, an auditorium, a 30,000-volume library,
assembly spaces, faculty offices and studio spaces for more than
600 students and faculty who use the building on a daily basis.
 The
architect’s vision for dramatic structure, unique forms and
interaction between spaces to create a feeling of connection for
the occupants could not have been achieved without the use of concrete.
The project includes nearly 7,000 cubic yards of mild steel-reinforced
concrete walls, columns, caissons, grade beams and slabs-on-ground,
and 8,000 cubic yards of post-tensioned elevated concrete slabs.
 Many
of the 12-inch-thick floor slabs are cantilever and are left exposed,
creating an impression of slabs floating in space. The floating
effect is most prominent at the interior edges of the vertically
offset third-floor quadrants, where flights of stairs appear to
defy gravity as they span between the levels. An overhanging cantilevered
slab that supports a walled roof garden above, shelters the main
entrance of the building. This 32-inch-thick post-tensioned slab
cantilevers 26 feet from a cluster of three columns and spans 50
feet across the entrance. The total prestress force in the cantilever
section is 5,000,000-pounds.
On the third level, studios feature ceilings up to 30-feet-high,
with columns spaced as far apart as 40 feet, creating an expansive
space. A majority of the façade juts out prominently at the
third level, requiring the 12-inch-thick slabs to cantilever as
far as 10 feet at the third level and 13-feet at the roof. The designers
took into account the difference in deflections between the studio
roof and floor slabs, which differ greatly in their loadings, cantilever
lengths and support conditions.
 The
spine of the building is a 16-foot-wide, full-height circulation
space that contains more than 1,300 lineal feet of gently sloping
ramps. The ramps seem to float in space as they cantilever seven
feet on either side from 16-inch-thick concrete walls. The ramp
walls are spaced up to 32 feet apart, requiring extensive post-tensioning
and steel reinforcement in the slabs. Placement sequencing and construction
joint location was critical to the performance of the post-tensioned
ramp slabs.
Post-tensioned concrete was selected as the best solution for the
architectural vision of this building. The selected system allowed
for the thin structure, large column spacing, dramatic cantilevers
and high live-load requirements. The post-tensioned concrete system
drastically reduced the quantities and the congestion of steel reinforcing
bars that are prevalent in conventional concrete slabs. Cracking
in the exposed post-tensioned floor slabs has been virtually eliminated,
creating a much more pleasing appearance. The use of exposed concrete
as the finished product helped save hundreds of thousands of dollars
in floor and ceiling finishes throughout the entire project.
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| Owner:
Ohio State University; Columbus, Ohio
Design Architect: Mack Scogin Merrill
Elam Architects, Inc.; Atlanta, Ga.
Project Architect: WSA Studio; Columbus,
Ohio
Structural Engineer: Shelley Metz
Baumann Hawk, Inc.; Columbus, Ohio
General Contractor: P.J. Dick, Inc.;
West Mifflin, Pa.
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