Alliance presents phased plan to modernize U of M’s Moose Tower dentistry building; urges elevators for IMS

Alliance, the design lead on the team that produced the 2022 feasibility study, told the State Designer Selection Board on May 26 that its plan for the University of Minnesota’s Moose Tower School of Dentistry prioritizes continuous operation, life-safety upgrades and long-term infrastructure improvements.

“Our team is brushed, flossed, and ready to talk dentistry with you today,” said Amber Sowzin, project manager with Alliance, as she introduced the team and named Anna Pravanata as design principal and Brian Nuchichian as the dental planner. The presenters said their team wrote the 2022 feasibility study and will build on that work without overlapping other Alliance-led campus projects.

Pravanata summarized the design goal as modernization that allows the School of Dentistry to operate continuously during construction. She recommended converting Level 3 to temporary simulation labs to clear Level 4 for preclinical education and using part of Level 8 for a new instrument management system (IMS), stating that phasing decisions must be coordinated with code and life-safety upgrades.

“Level 3 should first be converted to temporary simulation labs to clear out Level 4 and half of Level 8,” Pravanata said, describing a phased approach to maintain clinical continuity while addressing aging infrastructure.

Dental planner Brian Nuchichian walked the board through clinical layout options for Level 8 and said optimized plans could increase operatories by roughly 30–33 percent (to about 31–32 operatories, compared with existing counts). Nuchichian emphasized qualitative factors — daylight, transparency, and clearer wayfinding — and recommended that simulation and digital design tools be integral to the school’s spaces and IT strategy.

Nuchichian and the team also raised an operational constraint: the existing IMS’s dumbwaiter has been out of service for roughly four years, and staff currently use a distant freight elevator. The presenters estimated the renovated IMS would need capacity to process about 1,100 instrument cassettes per day and said the dumbwaiter would become the system’s choke point.

“Any modern dental school would have an elevator,” Nuchichian said. He recommended enlarging the existing opening and installing one — and ideally two — service elevators so instrument carts can move reliably between floors.

On building systems, mechanical engineer Brian Schmidt emphasized Moose Tower’s vertical interconnectivity: centralized air handling units on utility floors serve multi-floor zones through 16 shafts, so infrastructure decisions on one floor affect many others. To balance operational continuity, cost and performance, the team proposed three modernization pathways: (1) phase replacements while converting central AHUs from constant to variable volume and using temporary units to maintain service; (2) isolate renovation floors with dedicated outdoor air systems and chilled beams to reduce vertical interdependence; or (3) reorganize centralized systems so units serve individual floors rather than broad vertical quadrants.

Paul Miller, the team’s cost estimator, told the board that mechanical, electrical and plumbing work will be the largest portion of the project cost because the building’s cores are congested and some work will force upgrades on occupied floors. He said constructability risks — phasing, required swing space, and fire-rating and damper upgrades — were primary cost drivers.

To inform decisions, Alliance proposed a participatory work plan of three multi-day stakeholder workshops: Workshop 1 focused on mechanical philosophy and program confirmation; Workshop 2 on selecting the HVAC modernization pathway, phasing and preliminary equipment lists; and Workshop 3 on aligning clinical continuity, life-safety updates and budget realities ahead of final space and equipment documentation.

During the subsequent Q&A, the board asked whether equipment suppliers dictate clinic layouts. Nuchichian replied that suppliers provide dimensions and clearances but that the final layout depends on how clinicians choose to practice; the design team therefore provides customized layouts while coordinating supplier data.

The Alliance team concluded with an offer to proceed into predesign if selected. Chair members reminded attendees that the board will select two firms to forward to the university and that the executive secretary will notify teams of the board’s decision later that day or the following day.

Next steps: the board took a short break to begin deliberations; no formal vote appears on the record in this transcript.