Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Dean Linda Norman, DSN, FAAN, recently toured the school’s new expansion currently under construction at 461 21st Ave. S. She was joined by members of Vanderbilt’s campus planning department, VUSN staff working on the project, and representatives of the project’s contractor D.F. Chase and architectural firm Hastings Architecture Associates. Work on the 29,947-square-foot addition began in May 2017 and the school expects to begin using the building with the fall 2018 semester.
Currently, workers are installing windows, and masons are laying brick for the building’s exterior.
Opening day for the new expansion is only weeks away. Meeting such an ambitious schedule requires dedication from a lot of professionals. From left, Julie Covington, associate director, architecture and campus planning, Vanderbilt; David Cates, architect, Hastings Architecture; Bob Watson, senior construction manager, D.F. Chase; Dean Linda Norman; David Bailey, principal, Hastings Architecture; Sam Thomas, project engineer, D.F. Chase; and Dennis Gregory, president, D.F. Chase.
Hastings Architecture Principal David Bailey (left) and Architect David Cates (right) show Dean Linda Norman the self-supporting staircase in what will be the building’s atrium. Hastings designed the staircase to allow as much light as possible to move between the adjacent conference rooms and the atrium. The stair is comprised of a moment-frame steel system that hangs from the main landings at each floor level and ties back into the main building structure.
The third floor of the expansion will be dedicated to a new simulation teaching laboratory with 13 beds, observation rooms and separate control rooms. Ryan McNew, VUSN Frist Nursing Informatics Center assistant director, uses a schematic of the lab to indicate where the individual bays and observation rooms will be. With him are D.F. Chase Senior Construction Manager Bob Watson and Dean Norman.
D.F. Chase Senior Construction Manager Bob Watson (center) indicates where the skylight will be in the new facility’s lobby. To the right of the photo is the existing wall of Godchaux Hall. The limestone arch entrance will be framed by floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Photos by Anne Rayner, Vanderbilt University.