The project scope includes the renovation, adaptive re-use, and addition to the historic Theological Seminary building constructed between 1923 and 1928 on the University of Chicago campus. The 100,000 sq. ft. building is the new home for the Saieh Hall for Economics. 

Bringing this renewable structure up to modern standards of performance and safety presented a number of challenges for the design team. Architectural features such as vaulted cathedral ceilings required careful design and implementation. dbHMS developed a design that included the near first use of chilled beams at the University of Chicago. The building consolidated the educational program on the west and the administrative offices on the east, allowing the load and airflow distribution to be uniform throughout each wing. The building is served by campus steam and chilled water systems.

The heating and cooling of the chapel presented a unique design opportunity. The conditioning of a historic space requires systems that provide a balance of efficient airflow delivery, while maintaining the appropriate aesthetics. The solution that was developed included an analysis of computational fluid dynamics to optimize an airflow delivery method at select areas in the chapel, ensuring adequate cooling and heating throughout the space. 

As part of the design team, dbHMS has provided fully integrated design documents using a BIM model for all MEP/FP systems.