Alexander Building Construction

Scope Of Work

The SteelStacks Campus is 4.5 acres of former Bethlehem Steel land developed by ArtsQuest and the City of Bethlehem. The core of this campus is be the ArtsQuest Center @ SteelStacks. The Arts Center includes a two-screen art cinema; the 600-seat Musikfest Cafe live music venue; and the 4,000 SF Blast Furnace Room which to host a variety of community and educational functions.

The north wall of the three-story building is glass, allowing visitors to view the Bethlehem Steel furnaces. Every exposed steel beam is painted International Orange, the same color as the Golden Gate Bridge, which was built from steel produced by those furnaces.The bars are made of Pennsylvania ash (the same as Louisville Sluggers) with a steel bar. Exterior walls are locally manufactured precast concrete panels with a hand-screened finish. The building envelope is a hybrid structural system which also serves as load-bearing skin allowing for the performance spaces to be acoustically isolated. Inside the structural concrete box is a skeletal steel frame that honors the site’s steelmaking history and completes the hybrid system.

Adjacent is the PBS Broadcast Center, which has many similar features to it’s neighbor in a brown-field re-development site with community connected programs. Careful consideration to pedestrian, bicycling and public transportation aspects were carefully addressed with dedicated space for low emitting/fuel efficient vehicles as well.

Water use reduction was paramount given the high count of public toilets required and food service components and a reduction of 40% water use was documented. Energy recovery mechanical systems and a fully-commissioned facility have resulted in a well-functioning indoor environment with low energy costs and demand controlled ventilation. The food service management system was selected to maximize reduction of waste and alternative corn-based containers have been used extensively.

Construction waste management resulted in nearly 95% of waste material being recycled or re-used on site.  Extensive use of local and recycled materials was detailed for use on the project.

LEED NC 2.2 guidelines were followed for the design and construction of the facility, but the owner chose not to submit for certification.

The ArtsQuest Center was designed by Spillman Farmer Architects who received a Silver Medal Award for design from the American Institute of Architects, Pennsylvania Chapter, on this building.