Boise State University officials on Friday cut the ribbon on the new ESI Construction Management facility, built to serve one of the university’s fastest-growing programs.
It’s not just a building, said Anthony Perrenoud, the program’s department chair. It’s a tool for learning. Many of the building’s features are interactive, helping students learn how to assemble a structure.
Growth in the Construction Management program was also a factor.
“When we designed this building, there were 300 students” in the program, Perrenoud said. Now, it has 560 students.
Inside the building
The ESI Construction Management building stands out on campus for its extensive use of wood.
Wood products company Boise Cascade donated the timber for the project, which is the first mass-timber building on campus.
The facility includes student workspaces, a computer lab, classrooms and conference rooms.
It also has a 3,300-square-foot “high bay” — a giant garage — with an overhead crane and an outdoor learning area.
The building’s structural systems are exposed, so students can see how it was constructed. Plexiglass in the floor allows students to peer at the foundations, and utility rooms have windows, rather than nondescript doors. Most rooms have exposed timber.
“My favorite part is to have a place that, when I walk through the doors, I see people I know,” said Boise State senior Lillian Young, a Californian who came to the university after touring the campus and seeing how tight-knit Construction Management students are.
That sense of community extends beyond graduation. Boise State built the facility without state funds, relying primarily on industry partners, many of whom are graduates of the nearly 50-year-old program.
“We were talking about (a Construction Management building) conceptually in the mid-90s,” said Neil Nelson, CEO of Engineered Structures, Inc. (ESI), Idaho’s largest privately-owned general contractor and the building’s namesake. Nelson is also a Boise State Construction Management alumnus.
“The Construction Management program draws a certain type of person to it,” Nelson said. “They build such a strong bond through their education process that when they become alumni they’re ready to come back and help others learn.”
Training for a growing industry
Construction managers are project managers, Perrenoud explained. Not all of them have worn a tool belt before they show up, but many have worked in the trade.
“Those are the best students,” Perrenoud said. “They learn the project management skills, and then they can really connect to the workers in the industry because they’ve been there and they’ve done that.”
Students in the program learn to estimate construction costs, basics of construction engineering, how to build timelines and use software common in the industry, among other skills.
Graduates enter a booming industry. The Idaho Department of Labor expects more than 13,000 new construction jobs by 2034, making it one of the state’s fastest-growing industries.
The program is also expanding its faculty: “We’re currently hiring four to six new faculty members to serve the program,” Fleischer said.
Here are more photos of Friday’s event:
