Tag: case studies

{Case Study} Utah Valley University Student Life and Wellness Center

Utah Valley University (UVU), a once small vocational school founded in 1941, has since expanded its mission and focus, growing into a sizeable and respectable university that fosters the education of more than 33,000 students each year. In addition to its focus on academics, UVU also recognizes the importance of recreation and athletics. In order to promote health and wellness on its campus, UVU created its Student Life and Wellness Center (SLWC). Among the SLWC’s expansive list of upgrades are three basketball courts, a climbing wall, fitness areas with cardio and free weights, a bowling alley, an indoor track, game and dance rooms, a massage room, and a reflection center. Construction of the SLWC began in September 2013, and its doors officially opened on April 17, 2014, offering its students, faculty, and staff access to a quality campus recreation facility. As stated in the SLWC’s mission statement, its goal is to “enrich the quality of life for students, faculty, and staff by providing a broad range of recreation, wellness, and student engagement opportunities that complement the academic experience.” “[The SLWC] is a state-of-the-art building,” said Kevin Hirschi, President of Mountain Heights Hardwood, the company involved with supplying the surfacing for this project. Hirschi notes that this building is truly innovative, standing at an impressive four stories tall. One of the main considerations of GSBS Architects and Jacobsen Construction, the two firms involved with SLWC’s construction, was how to reduce sound transmission from the noisy, upper-level athletic arenas to its quiet, (more…)

{Case Study} The Slate in Omaha, Nebraska

Founded in 1988, the NuStyle Development Corporation (NDC) has undoubtedly transformed and revamped the Omaha, Neb. built environment. Today, just over a quarter century later, the NDC is fully owned and operated by Todd Heistand and his wife, Mary. The NDC is most recognized for its impressive refurbishing of seemingly dilapidated properties in downtown Omaha. Throughout the years, Hesitand and their developers have compiled quite the portfolio of renovated buildings, restoring the historic value of the city and attracting commercial attention to the area. The efforts of the NDC have not gone unnoticed by the city of Omaha. In 2013, Heistand’s company was awarded the Omaha by Design’s Laurels Award, which is presented annually to “the organization or business that has made significant contributions to the creation of great public spaces in the metro.” Amongst the many remarkable buildings restored by the NDC is The Slate on N. 19th Street, featuring 117 units and costing developers $13,035,115 to renovate. In addition to the building’s aesthetically pleasing and rustic living spaces, The Slate also provides its tenants with several amenities, including a rooftop deck, a community area, and a fitness center. NuStyle developers approached ECORE International, a company that transforms reclaimed waste into unique performance surfacing, to suggest flooring options for the fitness center in The Slate. They wanted a flooring system that would prevent weight room noise from traveling to rooms below the fitness area. Choosing to start with a more conservative approach, the developers decided to use approximately 1,300 square-feet of 5-millimeter (mm) QT Sound Control Underlayment (scu), ECORE’s original recycled rubber underlayment, in The Slate’s fitness center. The floor system features a loosely bound shoe thread mat with (more…)