Project Description
Tufts University – Gantcher Family Sports & Convocation Center
PROJECT TYPE: Supply and Erect
PROJECT LOCATION: Medford, MA
CONSTRUCTION TYPE: Butler® Heavy Structures with Widespan
SQUARE FOOTAGE: 70,000 sq. ft.
END USE: Indoor Field House
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This multi-purpose complex houses a 200-meter track, four tennis courts and stations for high-jump and pole vaulting. The building is large enough to accommodate 6,000 people. Dutton & Garfield, Inc. teamed with Butler® Heavy Structures to provide the structural steel and roofing materials for this project. The 200’ wide building stands 30’ tall at the eave and rises another 25’ to the ridge where a 20’ wide skylight runs the length of the building. A traditional rigid frame design was used, comprised of three-plate columns and beams, some up to 80” deep. Butler standard cold-formed z-sections served as the secondary roof and wall structure, and a sub-girt system was installed to support custom horizontal foam wall panels.
Other architectural elements include Butler’s® VSR™ roof system, a mezzanine that overlooks the track and a suspended canopy system over the entrance.