State Electric Corp. (SEC) has completed the $1.9 million electrical construction of Brandeis University's new 50,000 s/f, four-story Mandel Center for the Humanities (MCH). The facility opened, as scheduled in August 2010, as Brandeis commenced conducting classes in the center at the start of the 2010/2011 academic year.
The comprehensive electrical project parameters included State Electric's installations for primary and emergency power, fire alarm system, interior and exterior lighting/lighting control systems, and electrical fit-up of all interior spaces. The electrical construction project was valued at $1.9 million.
The center features a 98-seat theater/lecture hall; a 48-seat, tiered classroom; two 24-seat seminar rooms, a reading room; a multipurpose space for talks, gatherings and special events; and, a roof garden and courtyard. It also houses faculty offices and open-office workstations.
In the earliest phase, the project required state's extensive planning, layout and coordination efforts for conduit installation. Conduit was installed within the poured-in-place concrete structure, necessitating close coordination with the general contractor John Moriarty & Associates, and other trades. The NECA contractor provided CAD coordination drawings and field measurements to avoid conflict with any of the facility's other major systems, which were concurrently being planned and installed on an aggressive project schedule. SEC also installed pour-over cellular raceway systems for telecom and power, and later, raceway systems for lighting and the fire alarm system.
For the building's power requirements, State furnished and installed the primary transformer and secondary cable, as well as new switchgear. For emergency power, SEC retrofit and installed an existing unused generator from another facility on the Brandeis campus. The contractor also provided temporary power to the site in the initial project phase.
A focal point of the contemporary, glass facade structure is the dynamic architectural lighting package designed in the facility's three-story atrium lobby. Here, State Electric furnished and installed high-end Custom Metalcraft LED fixtures designed with an open-concept finish. The custom LED lighting is vibrantly accentuated by a Color Kinetics LED lighting system and controlled via a state-of-the-art Lutron lighting control system that provides programmable scene control.
State Electric's vice president and senior project manager, Brendan Dickie and general foreman Kevin Demarco supervised an electrical field crew of 8 IBEW Local 103 electricians during the year and a half project.
The Mandel Center for the Humanities was funded principally by a $22.5 million gift from Jack, Joseph, Barbara and Morton Mandel and the Mandel Foundation, based in Cleveland.
The MCH design integrates open study spaces to help promote the free exchange of ideas. According to Adam Jeffrey, Dean of Brandeis Arts and Sciences and faculty members, "The central vision of the Mandel Center for the Humanities is a commitment to integrate interdisciplinary work across the humanities and humanistic social sciences." Mandel Center director Ramie Targoff said, "The new building provides the campus with a beautiful home for interdisciplinary events - classes, lectures, conferences and films, as well as ordinary conversations - among faculty, graduate students and undergraduates."
State Electric project manager Brendan Dickie said, "State Electric is proud to have helped build this dynamic Brandeis facility and to have worked closely with the general contractor, Moriarty, and the Brandeis project management team to meet project requirements. It required a high level of coordination and planning, and both the GC and Brandeis were key to enabling us to achieve quality electrical installations."