SC State goes vertical on $50 million freshman residence hall with massive concrete, brick panels

Video: A 200-foot crane lifts a massive concrete and brick panel into place for SC State's new residence hall. Click here to view photos from the construction process.

Tilt-up construction puts walls in place for five-story, 532-bed facility, occupancy expected in fall 2027

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — South Carolina State University’s new $50 million freshman residence hall is beginning to take shape as crews raise massive concrete wall panels into place, marking a major construction milestone for the five-story facility.

SC State President Alexander Conyers said the milestone reflects the advantages of a construction method designed to accelerate the project while maintaining the building’s structural integrity.

“I'm very excited that this process allows the university to receive the finished product in a faster time,” Conyers said. “It expedites the process while there are no shortcuts on safety or durability of the building.”

The accelerated but structurally sound construction method is expected to allow SC State freshmen to occupy the new residence hall in fall 2027.

Conyers said the towering crane being used to raise the panels also provides a visible representation of the university’s ongoing investment in its facilities that is transforming the campus for 21st-century students.

“This crane is symbolic of all of the big things that are happening on campus,” Conyers said.

The new residence hall will be a five-story, 100,000-square-foot facility with 532 beds, helping the university grow enrollment and alleviate a housing crunch. Located adjacent to Mitchell Hall and Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, the project is being developed with Little Architects and Ajax Construction.

Plans call for three study areas on each floor, a lobby with a common kitchen and gathering space, a laundry room on each floor, Amazon mailboxes on the first floor and electronic access control for the building and individual rooms.

The tilt-up construction process involves casting concrete and brick wall panels horizontally on the site before a crane lifts them into their permanent vertical positions. Matt Sauer, project executive for Ajax Construction, said the method allows the project to move more quickly than conventional construction because much of the exterior wall system is completed as the panels are erected.

“It accelerates the schedule to allow for the exterior walls to be 90% complete once they go in the air,” Sauer said. “And then the structural steel will come in after that versus traditional construction, you've got to stand all your steel, and then you've got to build your exterior walls with light metal framing or whatnot. This allows the steel and the concrete to come in together and shave time off the schedule.”

The scale of the operation is substantial. Sauer said the crane being used for the work has a capacity of more than 200 tons and stands more than 200 feet tall. Some of the individual concrete panels weigh as much as 100,000 pounds.

The tilt-up process is expected to take about 10 weeks from start to finish, with structural steel installation overlapping the work. Once the concrete and structural steel are completed, crews can install the roof and begin interior finishes.

Ken Davis, SC State’s assistant vice president for facilities management, said reaching the wall-raising stage so soon after groundbreaking demonstrates the pace of the project.

“It shows progress in multiple ways,” Davis said. “We knew going in that this was probably the most aggressive schedule we were going to have on any project. So the fact that we're here somewhat three short months after breaking ground on this site and we're standing up walls and in another 30 days we'll be pouring slab on grade. It's amazing.”

Davis said the project is part of approximately $330 million in construction and infrastructure investment on SC State’s main campus and at Public Service and Agriculture auxiliary sites.

The residence hall is one of several major construction projects reshaping SC State’s campus as the university expands and modernizes facilities to meet the needs of its students.

Construction also is underway on SC State’s new academic building and the Bulldog Commons student center expansion. Projects in development include a new library, a new ROTC building, a new University Transportation Center and a new police station.