Past Construction and Renovation Projects

Bellarmine ADA Walkway
Chardin Roof
Connolly Center Lobby Renovation
Connolly Center Visitor's Locker Room
Bannan/Lemieux Chiller Project
Xavier Elevator

Bannan Sciences Labs
Barclay Houses: Kolvenbach Student Community
Cherry Building: ROTC
Loyola Learning Center
Lynn Lower Level: Digital Journalism Square
Marion Street Entryway Upgrade
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S. J. Hall
Sullivan Hall: Second Floor Administrative Area
Xavier Global House Phase Two

Accendo, a Chihuly Tower
Championship Field Upgrade
Campion Residence Hall

College of Nursing Performance Clinical Lab
Lee Center for the Arts

Bellarmine ADA Walkway
The Bellarmine ADA Walkway spans the rear entrance of Bellarmine to the rear entrance of the Student Center Pavillion. Linking these buildings with a wheelchair accessible ramp enables students, faculty, staff and visitors to easily move from Bellarmine to Cherry Street or the Student Center.

Chardin Roof
Summer 2008 an update to the roofing and mechanical systems of the three-story academic and residential building, Chardin de Teillhard, were completed. The building was transformed into an academic and residential building from a skilled nursing residence in 2007.

Connolly Center Lobby Renovation
The main entrance to the Connolly Center was remodeled during the summer of 2008. An existing wall was removed to improve circulation within the building and other improvements, such as new paint, carpet and check in desk, were also added.

Connolly Center Visitor's Locker Room
The new team locker room was created for visiting athletic team use. The locker room is located by the existing women's restroom on the first floor. The addition also includes some remodeling of the Athletic Offices.

Xavier Elevator

Xavier Hall, home to student residences, the Modern Languages department, classrooms, and the Chardin Collegium received an elevator to broaden access. The new elevator shaft was built on the north side of the building and services all floors.

Bannan/Lemieux Chiller Project
The university expanded the existing Chiller plant in the basement of the Lemieux Library and provided cooling to designated areas in the Bannan building, including the first floor and the eastern half of the fourth, fifth and sixth floors. There is also be additional capacity to serve the Lemieux Library Renovation.

Bannan Sciences Labs
Growing enrollment along with outdated teaching and research labs made a renovation of Bannan a high priority in the summer of 2007.

Two first-floor biology labs, 103 and 161, were renovated over the 06-07 academic year and finished in time for the summer quarter. The first floor of Bannan houses a new NMR spectrometer purchased with an NSF grant. (Read about the grant and the research here.)

On the fourth floor, two new biology labs replaced the Diagnostic Ultrasound suite, some offices, and one general purpose classroom. (Diagnostic Ultrasound's new facilities are located in Chardin Hall.) Associated lab support functions like prep and storage rooms were also created.

The fifth floor features these new facilities: an analytic and inorganic chemistry lab, an instrumentation core room, a core research/teaching lab, a biology/physical chemistry lab, a research lab, and some relocated offices.

The sixth floor underwent extensive work for these facilities: two general chemistry labs, a organic chemistry teaching lab, faculty research labs, storage and prep rooms, and some relocated offices and research labs.

Two small spin-off projects in the Engineering building rounded out the work: a new general science classroom in 307 and the creation of four offices for Math faculty out of an underutilized classroom in 401.

Barclay Houses: Kolvenbach Student Community

Seattle University owns two houses on Barclay Court that have been traditionally rented out or used for overflow student housing. In 2007, these houses were renovated with a focus on sustainability. Features like cork surfaces, natural light, recycled fixtures, and energy efficiency allowed the houses to qualify for Built Green, the residential equivalent of LEED.

Four students will living in each of these houses constitute the Kolvenbach Student Community. Residents are required to participate in community service and are selected based on their dedication and desire to strengthen the university's ties to the local community.

Contact Karen Price for more information on the Built Green classification and read more about Kolvenbach Student Community here.

Cherry Building: ROTC

Seattle University’s ROTC group (also known as the department of Military Science) moved into the center portion of the Cherry building in the fall of 2007. Their suite consists of offices, a computer room, a climbing wall, storage, and more.

ROTC was selected to move into the building because of the expansion needs of both Athletics and Recreational Sports in the Connolly Center as well as ROTC’s need to remain close to Connolly.

The Cherry building was originally occupied by the Olympic Pie Company and has undergone many transformations. Many of the interior walls that had been added over the years were removed and the roof was replaced. With minimal additional work, the south portion of the warehouse was converted into an open office now used by Facilities Services. The north section is currently being developed for use by University Advancement and Marketing and Communications.

Loyola Learning Center

The Loyala Learning Center needed additional testing rooms as the student population has grown considerably. Just beyond their first-floor suite is the College of Education's Clinical Counseling Center, which was already equipped with small rooms and a monitoring system. A new office for a testing administrator and the installation of two new doors allows the Learning Center to take advantage of this adjacency.

Lynn Lower Level: Digital Journalism Square

The Communication Department moved from Casey to the Lynn Building in the summer of 2006. In 2007, their presence in the building and on campus expanded with the addition of a digital journalism lab and two offices on the lower level. This high-tech space will have special areas for text, audio, and visual production, as well as photojournalism and graphics design. Two professors will be in new offices just across the hall.

The Communication Department's headquarters are on the third floor of Lynn. The new Center for Strategic Communication opened on the second floor in 2006.

Marion Street Entryway Upgrade

The Marion Street entrance and adjoining parking lot received a facelift in 2007. A new entrance monument faces 12th Avenue and catches the eye of visitors and passersby. Corridor banners line the edges of the entry, and a new information booth literally takes center stage. New steel bollards with solar lights replaced the old wood bollards. The street and parking lot were resurfaced, and assorted new plantings rounded out the new look. The university seal was baked onto fresh pavement at the intersection of Marion and 11th Avenue using a high-tech plastic.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S. J. Hall

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S. J. Hall opened in September 2007 as a three-story academic and residential building. From 1990 through the spring of 2007, it was as skilled nursing residence known as Bessie Burton Sullivan.

The second and third floors consist primarily of residential suites, each with its own bathroom. There will also be lounges and study rooms on each floor. The south portion of the first floor is dedicated to Diagnostic Ultrasound, a department that was displaced by the renovation of Bannan. It features a lab, faculty offices, and a computer lab. The north side is dedicated to classrooms. Two large classrooms and several small seminar rooms help accommodate the university's growing cohort and executive education programs. The residence hall's front desk, mail room, and hall director's office and apartment occupy the center of the first floor.

Also on the first floor is a commercial kitchen used by Bon Appetit, the university's food service provider, to prepare sandwiches and salads for sale elsewhere on campus. A small contemplative space is available to all of the building's occupants and accessible directly off of the main building entrance.

Bessie Burton opened as a skilled nursing residence in 1990 and was designed for up to 135 residents. Since then the Seattle University's enrollment has grown considerably, and current facilities for academic, residential, and administrative use are stretched. In January of 2007, the university announced it would be closing Bessie Burton in the spring and reopening it in the fall as a mixed use academic and residential building. For more information on this decision, read the press release.

In April of 2007, Fr. Stephen V. Sundborg, S.J. announced that the building would be renamed in honor of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, one of the greatest Jesuit theologians and scientists of the past century. This change was made at the suggestion of Fr. Bill Sullivan, S. J. and Sr. Kathleen Sullivan, RSCJ.

Sullivan Hall: Second Floor Administrative Area

This minor renovation featured the completion of offices, door relocation for the Dean's office, break room modifications and the addition of a shower to the staff restroom.

Xavier Global House Phase Two

The reinvention of Xavier from a standard residence hall to the Global House has been an exciting development for students and faculty on campus. The first phase of Xavier's transformation into the Global House included moving the Modern Languages department to the first floor. In the summer of 2007, Xavier continued to grow into its new role with an extensive renovation of the lower level and the creation of new first floor offices.

Phase Two enhanced the international theme in a number of ways. The lower level has three classrooms, a computer/language lab, a large kitchen, and a lounge. These spaces were designed to serve the needs of the residence hall community, the Modern Languages department, and the university in general.

Education Abroad outgrew its offices in Bellarmine and Xavier was a natural fit. They are located in a new suite in the first floor lobby. Their old offices will be taken over by Student Academic Services to provide space for new advisors.

The addition of an elevator to the building in 2007-2008 will open up the Global House to even more students.

Accendo, a Chihuly Tower

Accendo, the glass sculpture in Pigott, was the gracious gift of a local donor. It was installed in the summer of 2006 on a custom-built glass platform in the Paccar Atrium. The tower rises rises approximately 20 feet into the air and is 10 feet wide. This impressive structure's 1800 pounds will be supported by steel support extensions over the door and a safety glass platform that allows the sculpture to be viewed from all angles.

The Chihuly itself consists of a steel tree-like frame with multiple blown glass parts extending from it. The colors range from red to green. The university held a naming contest for the tower and the winning entry was Accendo, which means ignite, illuminate, kindle or inflame

You can read more about the tower here.

Championship Field Upgrade

The Championship Field upgrade included installation of bleachers for 640 spectators. These are located on the east side of the field. In addition, a new scoreboard, team benches, artificial jogging track and public announcement system were added. Turf reused from Qwest Field was put down.

It was dedicated on August 22, 2006 in time for the first games on August 24, 2006.

Campion Residence Hall

The partial renovation of the Campion Residence Hall began construction mid-June 2006. This project extended the building's existing fire suppression system/sprinkler system to the residence floors (2 through 12). Architectural and electrical modification was addressed on each residence floor with new hallway ceiling treatments, lighting, paint and carpet. Two new dedicated power circuits were added to each student room to accommodate increased electrical loads.

College of Nursing Performance Clinical Lab

This 20,553 SF lab is located on the 4th floor of James Tower at Swedish Hospital's Providence Campus. The location of the lab reunites Seattle University's nursing program with its founders, The Sisters of Providence. Originally started in the Providence Hospital, the College of Nursing's Clinical Performance Lab bridges the gap between mannequins and humans. The space holds a simulation suite where computerized mannequins imitate real health symptoms. The newest computers and software accompany every exam station. Cameras record practice exams for critiquing on a plasma screen.

Callison Architecture developed the unique design to increase the fluency of the practice spaces. Their team distinguishes the space with all of the architectural details. Sabey Construction and their subcontractors built the space under a tight timeline on time and under budget.

Lee Center for the Arts

The Lee Center for the Arts is a 3000 sq. ft black box theater with a maximum occupancy of 391 in auditorium style seating. The scope of work has included a total renovation of a 1920 structure, formally a car dealership. The building has been brought to present code standards to provide support spaces for the expanding performing arts program as well as providing renovated spaces for Facilities Maintenance in the basement.

In addition to providing Seattle University with new home for its performances, the new theater is home to a theater company in-residence. Students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community will be able to attend a wide spectrum of performances, from music to dance to plays. The impressive façade faces 12th Avenue and has been a big hit with the campus and community alike.