Design Plus

Construction began in 2004 on the new 53,430 SF Ontario Hall academic building at Grand Valley’s Allendale campus. To serve both students and faculty, the building combines classrooms and faculty offices into a single building. The 12 classrooms range from small 20-person seminar rooms and 40-person classrooms to 60-person tiered classrooms. Open commons spaces are distributed throughout the facility for use as student study and lounge space. Faculty offices are remotely located to ensure privacy for staff, yet close enough to allow easy access by students. A mixture of department suites and private offices provide flexibility to meet the needs of individual departments. The building is positioned to take advantage of a natural ravine, providing spectacular views for a majority of the faculty offices. The facility is also configured to provide a connection for students to the main pedestrian circulation routes, and to enhance the overall campus master plan. Design Plus provided architectural, site/landscaping, and interior design services, as well as mechanical and electrical engineering coordination, based on LEED criteria, including variable speed pumps and fans, with variable air volume terminals in each classroom, DDC Building Energy Management System, energy saving lighting ballasts, occupancy sensors, individual HVAC terminal units, and “demand control” ventilation with CO2 monitoring. The project was completed in August 2005 with a final construction cost of $8,028,000. The project received the Silver Rating for LEED Certification in 2005.