Those who live in the newest dorm on campus, Culbert Hall, and those who pass by see a building that fits into the architectural design of the campus. One that took more than a year to construct, one that used countless workers from various trades.
What they do not see, but what was known by Alex D’Agostino, the construction manager on the project for Newfield Construction of Hartford, Conn., is all the materials and work that went into the building, starting with the foundation, which was a heck of a lot more than just pouring concrete.
“This is without a doubt one of the more complicated foundations and structure systems I’ve come across,” Mr. D’Agostino said.
Culbert Hall sits right behind Warham Hall, with a connection to pass from one dormitory to the other. Warham also received a major renovation over the summer. The construction of the newest residence hall — in honor of Sheila Culbert, the seventh head of school who retired at the end of June after leading the school since 2008 — was made possible by a $15 million gift from Trustee Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan ’87 and her husband, Patrick J. Scanlan, $7 million of which was directed toward the new residence hall. This is the 14th dorm on campus and opened for the start of the 2024–25 school year. The residence hall houses 27 students and has two apartments for faculty.
Mr. D’Agostino said a “soldier pile and lagging shoring system” was used as part of the excavation for the new dorm. A drill rig was brought in to auger holes on the north and south ends of the new construction, he said, with large piles set to the depth of about 30 feet and then backfilled.
“As we started the excavation, large 6-by-6 wood beams were slid in between the piles to hold the earth back as we dug down to the required depth,” Mr. D’Agostino said. “The shoring system was fully engineered based on the soil and site conditions and allows safe earth retention so that the crews working within the depth of the excavation were safe from any potential earth collapse. This system was used due to space constraints and adjacent utilities and structures on the outskirts of the excavation.”
The existing foundation wall of Warham that abuts the new dorm needed to be stabilized after excavation was completed. “A separate contractor was brought in to install helical piles beneath the existing foundation wall,” Mr. D’Agostino said. “These piles were drilled to the depth of bedrock and then bolted to the foundation to provide additional bearing support.”
Mr. D’Agostino said the elevator pit for Culbert Hall was formed and poured next. “Then the entire footprint was backfilled with 30 inches of stone,” Mr. D’Agostino said. “A geogrid was installed in lifts within the 30 inches of stone to provide additional stabilization for the foundation. … Upon completion of the 30 inches of stone, we poured a 16-inch concrete reinforced slab. Once the slab was poured, we then formed and poured the exterior foundation walls. The entire foundation system is waterproofed and insulated.”
“Knowing that this building will serve the next several generations of future Pelicans is always a nice reminder why projects like this are important to our campus.”
Lance Hall Physical Plant Director
The Art of Brickwork
In this world of mass production and artificial intelligence, there was something very real about watching the bricklayers do their work on Culbert Hall as the summer progressed. The bricks went in one-by-one, day-after-day.
Skill, patience, precision for each of the 39,220 bricks, a sand-molded three-color blend from manufacturer Glen Gery’s Mid-Atlantic plant in Shoemakersville, Penn. The masons were from Connecticut Mason Contractors, of Middletown, Conn.
About five or six bricklayers worked on the building for about eight weeks.
“Each job is different,” said Sal Indomenico, the president of Connecticut Mason Contractors. “This job is intricate with the arches and windows.”
One bricklayer can put down 350 to 450 bricks a day, depending on what part of a wall the bricklayer is working on. “A blank wall, we can do up to 1,000 a day,” Mr. Indomenico said. There were no blank walls on Culbert Hall. There are 82 windows on the building, 31 on each of the east and west sides and 10 on both the north and south sides.
Mr. Indomenico has been around the business all his life.
“You might say I was born into it. My father started the business in 1964,” he said. Mr. Indomenico earned a degree in construction management from Central Connecticut State University, worked an apprenticeship, and was out in the field for about 10 years before assuming the role of president.
Building on what his father built is important to Mr. Indomenico. “There’s a lot of pride, I can tell you that,” he said. “My father was an immigrant who came here with nothing, and he built this. ... We have over 150 employees right now.”
There’s a lot of satisfaction, too, in the finished product.
“Seeing what you’ve done ... seeing all the hard work that came together,” Mr. Indomenico said.
A tremendous amount of work happened behind the scenes before the bricks went on the wall. “All the planning, all the meetings, all the details,” Mr. Indomenico said.
When the time came, the bricklayers set to work. It is a craft that requires extensive training. Bricklayers must complete a 12-week training program followed by an apprenticeship of 6,000 hours before they are classified as journeymen.
One-by-one, day-after-day the bricks went on the walls, each one getting washed by the time the job was over to get rid of any smears from the mortar and dust of the construction site. The bricks and slate roof are of the same color scheme as the rest of the buildings on campus and fit in with the Georgian style of architecture. The slate roof is a 100-year roof.
Environmentally Conscious
The renovation of Warham Hall and the building of Culbert Hall each took into consideration environmental stewardship.
Plumbing fixtures are low-flow for water-saving purposes. Assuring high indoor air quality was a multi-pronged task: air conditioning; high-level insulation that minimizes heat and cooling loss and conserves energy; windows that conserve energy by diminishing solar heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter; and energy recovery ventilation systems that recoup energy from exhaust air. There also is energy-efficient lighting to lessen energy demand, and there are lighting controls throughout the building to reduce energy use.
Joan T. Fish, a senior project manager at DLR Group, an integrated design firm providing architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design, worked on the project.
“We strive to deliver schools that serve students and their broader community while respecting the natural environment through sustainable practices,” Ms. Fish said.
One of the final parts of the process was landscaping. A mix of small trees, arborvitaes, grasses, small shrubs, and other ground-cover perennials surrounds the new dorm. Inside, fittingly, are three framed photos taken by Sheila, an avid birder and photographer, during her time as head of school. They hang on each of the three floors outside the elevator.
Lance Hall, the director of the physical plant, is glad the project is complete and pleased with its results.
“Although stressful at times when undertaking such a massive project, it is rewarding when you are able to stand back and see the finished product as we were able to add a new building in a manner that is aesthetically pleasing and has been constructed in way that makes it seem like it has always been here with its Georgian architecture,” Lance said. “Knowing that this building will serve the next several generations of future Pelicans is always a nice reminder why projects like this are important to our campus.”