Projects

Education Case Studies

Villanova University
Driscoll Hall
Villanova, Pennsylvania

Torcon’s Philadelphia office provided comprehensive construction management services for Driscoll Hall, the new College of Nursing at Villanova University. The 75,500 sq. ft. facility occupies a prominent site in the heart of the campus. The building features the latest in environmentally friendly design and state-of-the-art teaching spaces.

The new College of Nursing provides a wide array of classroom, meeting spaces and laboratories for Villanova, all fully outfitted with state-of-the-art AV systems. Each classroom has LCD projectors with connections for computers, DVD, VHS, CATV and Internet.  Select rooms also include Smartboards, document cameras, and video cameras for video-conferencing. All wiring anticipates and accommodates future AV and communication needs.

Driscoll Hall is open to all students at Villanova. The facility includes areas for public events and student activities, as well as space for nursing research and global health studies. The main level provides a 200-seat auditorium and a 200-seat tiered lecture hall located directly off the main entry. These facilities are can be isolated from the rest of the building for evening and weekend University events. Additional spaces include large (60 person) and medium (40 person) classrooms, seminar rooms (20 person) and study rooms (16 people.) A series of board rooms, conference rooms and faculty rooms provide meeting spaces for all size groups.

The definitive feature of the College of Nursing is the presence of ten clinical simulation labs and three standardized patient labs. These specialized practice areas feature the latest hospital and critical care equipment, as well as digital recording devices for student observation, evaluation and feedback. These facilities allow students to learn in realistic patient situations. The areas include health assessment, ICU/Critical Care, Maternity and Medical/Surgery labs in four or five bed layouts. Patient exam rooms and patient simulator labs, with single patient beds, are also provided.

The building features a large entrance plaza and a trellised entrance. Built into a sloped site, the four-story building has the appearance of a three-story structure and matches adjacent buildings. Driscoll Hall’s exterior uses a locally-quarried Villanova stone exterior and sloped roofs. The University is pursuing Silver Level Certification in LEED.

Torcon provided preconstruction phase CM services throughout the entire design process. Construction began shortly after the spring 2007 semester. Baltimore-based Richter Cornbrooks Gribble is the project architect.