Artist Cynthia Miller with F&S Carpenters Curtis Wayne and Jed Brummer

Capital Programs, Carpenters Complete Artist’s ‘Vision’

Talbot Laboratory, home to the Grainger College of Engineering, now hosts a 39-piece art display from a University of Illinois graduate. Artist Cynthia Miller specializes in copper enameling and is extremely appreciative of the effort it took to install, which included F&S in both planning and execution. Miller’s work, called ‘Cosmic Vision,’ is large-scale—nearly twice as large as anything she has made—and is featured in … Continue reading Capital Programs, Carpenters Complete Artist’s ‘Vision’

Big Plans Ahead

Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Daniel Burnham, legendary architect: Plan of Chicago, 1892 World’s Columbian … Continue reading Big Plans Ahead

Summertime Construction

When the COVID-19 pandemic response started in March 2020, hammers stopped hammering and construction came to a standstill for some time. But once health and safety measures were taken into place, F&S Capital Programs had plenty to tackle. The university decided to suspend construction activities for certain capital improvement, small construction, and energy conservation projects. Now, a summer full of construction again hits the Illinois … Continue reading Summertime Construction

What It Takes to Be a Champion

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, according to the U of I Master Plan, measures more than a whopping 8,000 acres of land in the Master Plan Area. On that land grows too many trees to count… or so you thought. F&S helps count and maintain all 16,534 trees on U of I grounds. All are viewable through the U of I’s “TreeKeeper” database: https://illinoisedu.treekeepersoftware.com/index.cfm?deviceWidth=1280. That … Continue reading What It Takes to Be a Champion

Heat Rising at Campus Instructional Facility

Water matters at the new Campus Instructional Facility (CIF). Whether heating or cooling the new 4-story, 122,000-square-foot building at the corner of Main Street and Wright Street in Urbana, a water-glycol mix will hold the key to cutting operating costs and offering a living laboratory of geothermal energy capabilities. The concept is easy: the temperature underground is more consistent throughout the year than air temperature. … Continue reading Heat Rising at Campus Instructional Facility

Campus Connection

Cold winter nights, accumulated snow and ice, overwhelming heat, wind, and rainstorms can bother any pedestrian on the U of I campus. Soon, individuals on north campus will avoid the weather and move between the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Building and the Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory thanks to a new pedestrian bridge. This bridge allows easy passage three stories up, but it will also … Continue reading Campus Connection