Our client
Located in the heart of Chicago, Illinois, DePaul University is a distinguished private university with over 300 undergraduate and graduate programs. With accolades in the Princeton Review, Forbes magazine, and U.S. News & World Report, DePaul particularly excels in business, communication, fine arts, and game design. The school also puts a special emphasis on teaching as a discipline, and with a 15:1 student teacher ratio, the school offers students an excellent standard of academic engagement and rigor.
Project highlights
Their challenge
The Theatre School at DePaul University is a sleek, five-story building located at the West end of DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus. The Theatre School functions as a conservatory for theatrical disciplines as well as a public performance venue, with two sizable theatre spaces (250-seat and 100-seat) and rehearsal studios, lightings labs, classrooms, costume, makeup, and prop shops, and more. The building was designed by Pelli Clark Pelli Architects, and the client engaged Salas O’Brien to provide engineering and technology design support for this complex project.
Our solution
Salas O’Brien provided design and coordination of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems as well as IT for this cutting-edge, 168,000-square-foot structure. Our designs accommodated the university’s aim to reduce energy consumption, which involved the use of fritted glass throughout, green roof areas, and daylighting for offices, design studios, and classrooms.
The results
The finished project is a stunning venue both for students and the community, and it was awarded LEED Gold certification and the 2014 Chicago Building Congress Merit Award.
