Wake Tech Community College RTP Campus General Classroom Building
Morrisville, North Carolina
Wake Tech Community College introduced the first phase of their Research Triangle Campus with a New Classroom and Administration Building, simply called Building 1 or RT1. The 3-story building, designed to serve 1,050 students, spans an impressive 109,000 square feet, and had a construction budget of nearly $47 million. Thorburn Associates played an integral role in the design of this flagship building by providing both the acoustical and technology design.
Audiovisual technology design was required for all fifty-five spaces and twenty-two distinct room types, including various classrooms, labs, both large and small conference rooms, a library space, collaboration/huddle spaces, divisible meeting rooms, and testing rooms. Thorburn Associates worked closely with the design team to determine the goals for the project, discussed the technology system requirements, defined the end-user’s needs, and developed a preliminary budget for the technology systems to foster an environment where technology seamlessly intertwines with the Wake Tech’s pursuit of a hub for advanced learning and collaboration.
As part of the acoustical design of the building, Thorburn Associates conducted acoustical noise measurements, both long term and short-term readings of specific noise events such as aircraft flyovers and train pass-bys, to document the existing acoustical environment. Because of the nature of the noise sources, particularly the campus’ proximity to Raleigh-Durham International Airport and aircraft flyovers, no part of the building was truly shielded from the noise, therefore all exterior surfaces needed to be considered. As a result, façade recommendations were provided for the roof system & exterior walls systems. In addition, a sound isolation review was performed for interior walls, doors & glazing (on windows) as glass is a common acoustical “weak point” in partitions.
The (RT1) Building was awarded the 2020 AIA Triangle Merit Award and the 2019 AIA North Carolina Merit Award.
Audiovisual technology design was required for all fifty-five spaces and twenty-two distinct room types, including various classrooms, labs, both large and small conference rooms, a library space, collaboration/huddle spaces, divisible meeting rooms, and testing rooms. Thorburn Associates worked closely with the design team to determine the goals for the project, discussed the technology system requirements, defined the end-user’s needs, and developed a preliminary budget for the technology systems to foster an environment where technology seamlessly intertwines with the Wake Tech’s pursuit of a hub for advanced learning and collaboration.
As part of the acoustical design of the building, Thorburn Associates conducted acoustical noise measurements, both long term and short-term readings of specific noise events such as aircraft flyovers and train pass-bys, to document the existing acoustical environment. Because of the nature of the noise sources, particularly the campus’ proximity to Raleigh-Durham International Airport and aircraft flyovers, no part of the building was truly shielded from the noise, therefore all exterior surfaces needed to be considered. As a result, façade recommendations were provided for the roof system & exterior walls systems. In addition, a sound isolation review was performed for interior walls, doors & glazing (on windows) as glass is a common acoustical “weak point” in partitions.
The (RT1) Building was awarded the 2020 AIA Triangle Merit Award and the 2019 AIA North Carolina Merit Award.