Emory University / Tuft House / Psychology Administration Building

The three-story, Tuft House was built in 1917 by the Emory General Contractor, Arthur Tuft, for him and his family to live in while completing construction of the Emory Campus. The Tuft House currently houses the Psychology Administration department. In the current renovation, HEI modified 2,100 sf on the 1st and 2^nd-floors, converting existing bathroom and partitioned areas into new office and breakroom spaces. The construction was phased between the two levels, to minimize disturbance to surrounding occupied offices, consultation, and conference areas. As the building was originally a residential home, several obstacles required addressing. First of which was the attic plenum that needed additional structural support and a 2-hour fire-rated ceiling. The existing slab on grade required extensive saw-cutting and pour back to install new drain lines in the breakroom. There were numerous spaces that required modifying existing varying flooring types and elevations through-out the building. An addition on the back of the 1917 building was constructed of concrete block. This made adding electrical, low voltage, and HVAC into the space extremely challenging. The construction schedule was aggressive, with an 8-week completion of both phases.