Renovations complete at historic Dunn Library for Simpson College

As the first semester of the 2023-2024 academic year wrapped up at Simpson College, Story Construction completed renovations to Dunn Library at the heart of the college’s campus in Indianola. Construction activity began in August 2022 and finished in November 2023, allowing time for faculty and staff to occupy the building in time for the beginning of second semester.

Simpson College had several goals tied to the renovation of the 60-year-old building: create space for a Teacher Education Center; update mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems; and create more welcoming space for today’s students while maintaining the aesthetic from the original architect, Richard Neutra.

Story Construction became involved in the project in 2021 while inflationary pressures and supply chain issues were causing significant uncertainty for construction projects everywhere. These issues required creativity by Story’s preconstruction team to ensure the college’s priorities for the project were met with the funding they had available to them. The team presented Simpson with a variety of options to control cost at each stage of design, allowing the college to make informed decisions on the scope of work that was attainable.

“That we managed to stay true to Neutra’s visual language while updating the space for today’s students is frankly delightful,” said John Woell, senior vice president and academic dean at Simpson College. “That we fixed the MEP systems through all this and still stayed on budget is rather amazing. Simpson has a building of which it can be proud of for many years ahead.”

The first floor of the library now houses a new Teacher Education Center, which includes curriculum lab, methods classrooms, and offices for faculty. The second floor of the building received new finishes and furniture to library services and collections, classrooms and study spaces, as well as a new circulation desk. The mezzanine above the second floor received similar upgrades to its quiet study spaces and meeting rooms. A new ornamental staircase was installed between the first and second floors, which features a steel structure and terrazzo treads with accent underlighting.

Story Construction crews also self-performed the replacement of the original redwood on the library’s south-facing pergola, which hadn’t been touched in 60 years. This required more than 5 miles of cedar two-by-fours and 30,000 nails to complete.

In planning the flow of work throughout the building, a challenge presented itself: the rows and rows of library books on the second floor needed to remain during construction. Simpson College didn’t have the resources to move the books out (and back in), or a place to temporarily store the books. The team decided to erect scaffolding over top of the books inside the library to reach the above-ceiling MEP work and replace the acoustical ceiling tile, sparing the college the task of removing and storing the books temporarily.

“Everyone’s incredible creativity to control costs, solve problems and finish work has been greatly appreciated,” added Woell.