University Center

Work

This is a beautiful opportunity for us to increase our reach into the community and partnerships with the community.”

Matthew Redinger, University of Providence Great Falls, VP for Academic Affairs

A Welcoming Entrance: University Center directs visitors to the heart of campus

The newly constructed University Center serves as a grand entrance to the University of Providence campus from 10th Avenue South and 20th Street. The modern two-story hub includes a 43-foot skywalk bridging two buildings which includes state-of-the-art conference and meeting rooms, classrooms, plus student service offices. From the University Center entrance, visitors can see the center of campus.

DCI Engineers was the primary structural engineer of record for University Center. The framing of the buildings comprise of steel posts and beams combined with brace frames and a CMU core. Large cantilevers are featured on all elevations that support brick façade located above the second level.

Location:

Great Falls, Montana

Square Feet:

35,000

Stories:

Service:

Structural

Industries:

Higher Education

Primary Material:

Concrete, Steel, Masonry

Project Highlights

The entrance acts as a wayfinding element for the campus.
The exterior walls were balloon framed with the steel structure inset from the wall framing, which provided a more economical design approach.
The main lateral force resisting system consists of a combination of steel concentrically braced frames and CMU core shear wall.
A combination of steel open web girders and open web bar joists allowed for large clear span framing in the second floor conference room.
Floor girders were built compositely with the concrete floor deck to reduce steel member depth and tonnage.