In 2012, DCI built and installed 116 bedroom sets at Norwich University. The University had just renovated their Hawkins Hall residence, and we were supplying them with all new furniture.
Twelve years later, in 2024, the school was renovating Hawkins Hall again with new bathrooms, hallway floors, baseboards, freshly painted walls, and updated wiring in the student rooms.
As part of this process, the Norwich team undertook a full evaluation of the bedroom sets we built and installed in 2012. Upon their inspection, they determined that the furniture was still in excellent condition. And they expect it to hold up for another twelve-year building renovation cycle.
The Norwich University team found that all the furniture was structurally sound with all doors and drawers functioning properly. In fact, after twelve years of intensive use, we only had to replace the runners on one box drawer!
Although the wardrobe doors were functioning properly, the university asked us to replace 46 out of 232 doors. The reason for this was improper storage on the students’ part. Hawkins Hall houses entry-level military cadets with all their military gear. Cadets had placed their wet field-training gear on top of their wardrobes for days on end, effectively soaking the wardrobes from above.
In May 2024, DCI removed all of the furniture through the windows and stored it in Connex boxes in the parking lot so renovation could begin. In the second week of July we started systematically reinstalling the furniture in the completed sections of the building.
The following pictures and videos chronicle the furniture removal and reinstallation process which was completed in time for students’ arrival in August.
