Ohio-based Champlin Architects worked as the architect of record in close collaboration with R M F Engineering and Ross Barney Architects. The South Campus Central Chiller Plant is designed to provide the Medical District of the OSU, a long-term, efficient and sustainable solution for chilled water production and distribution.
Ross Barney Architects has selected concrete precast panels with a high sheen polish finish as the basic material. Large glazed openings are integrated to help identify the function of the building by framing views of the chiller equipment. Diachronic glass fins at the joints of the precast panels cast colourful shadows on the chiller’s polished concrete façade. This helps in offering a sense of motion as the colours change from the movement of the sun. The structure is integrated with a string of sustainable features targeting to achieve LEED certification.
Durability and redundancy elements are addressed with a modular design. The chiller plant is constructed to meet the immediate needs of Ross, Doan, James and Cramblet Halls, as well as the new Medical Center tower. The Chiller Plant will be constructed in the current location of a surface parking lot west of the College of Pharmacy. The site is currently below the flood plain and will require underground utility relocations and the location of critical equipment above this elevation.
The chillers will be installed in phases to address requirements of the medical centre and will be remotely controlled at the central power plant with robust industrial control systems. Phase one of the project will be a minimum of 15,000 tonnes for the new Cancer and Critical Care Tower and the gradual replacement of aging equipment located in the existing buildings of the medical campus. To further increase reliability, emergency power will be installed with the chiller plant to provide chilled water for critical operations during power outages. The ultimate capacity of the plant will be 30,000 tonnes of chilled water.
Scheduled to be complete by 2012, the new chiller plant at OSU is designed to represent energy itself.
