McCarthy Building Companies Completes Construction of LEED-Designed Soka University Performing Arts Center and Academic Building

ALISO VIEJO, CA – McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. (www.mccarthy.com) recently completed construction of Soka University of America’s new Performing Arts Center (top left photo) and Academic Building project, located on 1.9 acres of  the Soka University campus.

The new Performing Arts Center is designated to become a venue in South Orange County for concerts, theater productions, lectures and assemblies, enhancing Soka University’s role as a cultural center and community gathering place.

McCarthy served as general contractor for the $73 million project that began in December 2008.

The project included construction of a three-level, 47,836-square-foot Performing Arts Center housing a reception lobby, various support spaces and a 1,200 seat auditorium (middle  right photo).

 McCarthy also built a 48,974-square-foot Academic Building located next to and providing support for the Performing Arts Center.

The new four-level academic building houses 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, four dressing rooms, a rehearsal/dance studio, musician warm-up spaces and other support areas.

The project’s design and construction team is pursuing United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification for the buildings.

Because of sloping terrain, both new structures presented design and construction challenges.

 “The Performing Arts Center structure itself was a challenge,” said Nate Ray, McCarthy project manager.  “The structure is cast-in-place concrete with 65-foot tall radius shear walls.

 Also, due to the site logistics involved with building into an existing slope, the sequencing of the pours was very complex,” explained Ray.

 “McCarthy performed all of the structural concrete work for the project, and the team did an excellent job during the formwork, planning and review process to ensure a successful completion on a very challenging structure.”

Contact:

 Laura Mickelson (LM Communications), (949) 453-0851

Susan Garritano (McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.), (314) 968-3300