Oregon State Cultural Resource Centers
Enriching Campus Life
The campus at Oregon State University is among the most beatiful and diverse in the Pacific Northwest. ILGSE is proud to contribute to the vibrant OSU campus culture with the design of four Cultural Resource Centers.
- Asian & Pacific Cultural Center
- Centro Cultural Cesar Chavez
- Lonnie B. Harris Cultural Center
- Native American Longhouse Eena Haws
Each Cultural Resource Center houses student support services for on-campus and online students. The designs incorporate large welcoming spaces spaces for comminuty events, history and heritage programs, craft nights, holiday celebration and many other programes. The Cultural Resource Centers on the OSU campus provide safe environments where students can share identities and learn about issues of cultures, heritage, history idenity and self-expression.
ILGSE worked very closely with Jones and Jones Architects and Anderson Construction to design each cultural center efficiently as possible. The funding and construction schedules were very tight in order to fulfill OSU's goal to provide diverse gathering spaces as quickly as possible. The bulk of construction of each center was performed over the summer to minimize impacts to student life. As such, the project team completed designs in rapid succession to allow centers to be built over consecutive years. The centers utilize diverse building materials with respect and celebration of each culture they represent.
The Native American Longhouse Eena Haws is designed in the historic longhouse tradition. Full size log beams and columns support the roof structure over the main gathering spaces. The roof is comprised of high efficiency Structural Insulated Panels(SIP). ILGSE worked closely with both log and SIP manufacturers to harmonize modern structural systems with time honorored Native American structures. The exterior walls were framed with engineered timber to maximize the height of inspiring interior gathering spaces.
The Asian and Pacific Cultural Center structure consists of engineered timber roofs and walls with conventional foundations. The distintive roof is framed with a complex system of glulam beams and manufactured joists and custom steel brackets. The roor structures also separate essential building MEP systems from the open gathering spaces. Exterior structural elements contribute to the cultural footprint of this space on the OSU campus and student life.
The Lonnie B. Harris Cultural Center is constructed with manufactured roof trusses, beams, and walls. The large gathering spaces ultilizes parallel chord trusses to eliminate any interior columns while providing essential MEP system access throughout the space. The signature center rotunda roof joins the two wings of the center with a flood of natural light from skylights. The rotunda wall structure is framed with curved glulam beams to maximize relites. The exterior features red and black brick veneer laid in artful patterns.
The Centro Cultural Cesar Chavez consists of engineered trusses, plywood web joists and structrual steel. The roof over the main gathering space is supported with open web trusses with plywood sheathing. Due to the height of the building, structural tube steel frames were required to support the exterior heavy brick veneer. The steel framework also provided support for the cantilevered canopies and unique wooden artwork structures. The heavy walls, sun-drenched colors and spaces reflect contemporary latin american art and architecture.
When people ask us what exactly a structural engineering firm does, we tell them it’s really quite simple.
We keep the floors from touching.