Grinnell College Norris Hall Renovation Project

Grinnell College Norris Hall Renovation Project has been coined a Summer Slam within the walls of The Weitz Company, which still does not put the challenges and the feat required to complete the project in total perspective. This project was the renovation of Norris Residence Hall on the Grinnell College campus. It is an existing four-story building with 60 student rooms, multiple shared spaces, and auxiliary rooms, and the renovation was to be completed in 12 weeks. The 12-week duration included the start of demolition through furniture move-in; week 13 saw students living in the facility. The project also included a new four-story lobby and elevator addition to be completed in 24 weeks, 12 weeks running concurrently with the renovation and the additional 12 continuing after the residence hall was occupied. This project team successfully delivered the project while working with a fast-paced schedule in an extremely dense work area with ZERO safety incidents!

Norris Hall has been serving students at Grinnell College for over 60 years. Built in 1959 and located at the northwest corner of campus, Norris Hall is a residence hall for first-year students. It is named after four generations of the Norris family who attended Grinnell College. The interior had become tired in its years of service and needed necessary upgrades to match student accommodations with the high-level academic experience that Grinnell College provides. An addition of an elevator and an additional egress stair made the facility Americans with Disabilities Act compliant giving the college infinite flexibility for its use.