Centre County’s Human Services Building

Erdman Anthony provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing (MEP), and fire protection study and design services for the adaptive reuse of Centre Crest nursing home, which has become Centre County’s new human services building. It now houses several of the county’s agencies, including youth services, adult services, the elections office, and veterans’ affairs, and it has leasable space for three tenants.

The three-story 120,000-square-foot building now features administrative offices, open office space, conference space, a kitchen, a café, and an open gallery. The new mechanical system is extremely energy efficient and includes 130 tons of variable refrigerant volume (VRV) heating and cooling. Eleven separate systems were provided to comply with current refrigeration code requirements. Ventilation is provided through four dedicated variable volume outdoor air systems (DOAS), whose units were provided with packaged air-conditioning and gas-fired heating.

The electrical system includes new lighting and fire alarms, and the new power system was integrated with a 350-kW generator and is ready for integration with a planned photovoltaic solar array. A new plumbing and sprinkler system was also provided and includes a new fire pump to serve the building.

One of the major challenges at the building was the nursing home’s limited floor-to-floor space, which necessitated careful coordination for the MEP systems’ routing.

Centre County now has a modern and energy-efficient facility that will help its human services professionals support the community’s evolving needs.