The Hon Company Archives - School Construction News https://schoolconstructionnews.com Design - Construction - Operations Tue, 06 Sep 2016 22:09:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.11 New Texas Elementary Named for Freed Slave, School Founder https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/08/18/new-texas-elementary-named-freed-slave-school-founder/ Thu, 18 Aug 2016 18:34:49 +0000 DEL VALLE, Texas — More than 125 years after Newton Isaac Collins Sr. first established a school in the area now occupied by the (DVISD).

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DEL VALLE, Texas — More than 125 years after Newton Isaac Collins Sr. first established a school in the area now occupied by the Del Valle Independent School District (DVISD), district leaders have named its newest elementary in his honor. Together with community members and members of the Collins family, DVISD broke ground on the future Newton Collins Elementary School on Aug. 6. The school will be DVISD’s ninth elementary school and is slated for completion in time for the 2017-2018 school year.

The 99,000-square-foot facility was designed by the Austin, Texas office of O’Connell Robertson, which also provided master planning, MEP engineering and interior design services for the project. Bartlett Cocke of Austin is the project’s construction manager-at-risk. Datum Engineers, also of Austin, is serving as the project’s structural engineer while Combs Consulting Group of San Antonio is providing data, communications and security services. Locally based Coleman & Associates will serve as the project’s landscape architect.

Upon completion, the Newton Isaac Collins Sr. Elementary School will offer an 800-student classroom capacity, with a core (cafeteria, gym and library) capacity of 1,000 students, according to a statement by O’Connell Robertson. The design will provide a flexible and adaptable 21st century learning environment, with three classroom “neighborhoods” surrounding a central library that forms the heart of the campus. These neighborhoods will be organized by grade level with classrooms located primarily along the school’s exterior walls. An assortment of common spaces will be distributed around the shared core interior space to support collaboration and project-based learning. Science areas and computer stations will be integrated into the commons spaces. Transparent building materials will allow for the learning environment to extend beyond the classroom.

Collins Sr. — a freed slave who eventually became a carpenter and landowner — was known for his many contributions to the community, including the establishment of a school for Black students. Naming the school for Collins Sr. will honor the rich history of the Collins family as well as DVISD’s mission as “a fearless education leader that binds a growing and progressive community,” according to a statement by O’Connell Robertson President Amy Jones.

“We are excited to be working with DVISD and the rest of the design and construction team to set a new standard for collaborative success on this project,” Jones added.

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The Gold Standard in Program Management: Part 2 https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/07/20/the-gold-standard-in-program-management-part-2/ Across the nation, school districts from big cities to outer suburbs face massive and growing needs for capital investment in their facilities. To varying degrees, they are recognizing and responding to these concerns by planning for bond issues, applying for state funding and developing facility master plans. Most districts are only partly aware, however, of the scale and complexity of the challenges they face in implementing these programs successfully.

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Across the nation, school districts from big cities to outer suburbs face massive and growing needs for capital investment in their facilities. To varying degrees, they are recognizing and responding to these concerns by planning for bond issues, applying for state funding and developing facility master plans. Most districts are only partly aware, however, of the scale and complexity of the challenges they face in implementing these programs successfully.

The first part of this article outlined program management challenges many school districts face as well as enemies of success. Here, we will discuss how to address and navigate those challenges.

The Solution
How, in the face of the chaos that may be introduced by dynamic factors to a program already in progress, can a program manager ensure successful results? The answer lies not in the process but in the personal characteristics of a new breed of program manager — exemplars of a new “Gold Standard” of program management that will be necessary to navigate the demands of the school modernization programs of the future.

Regardless of the clarity and soundness of the procedures and processes that may be delineated by professional standards such as those of the Project Management Institute
(PMI), it is the people who make the real difference in a program’s success or failure. Like a battlefield general, successful school modernization program managers today will have the personal characteristics necessary to adapt their tactics to continue the relentless pursuit of over-arching strategy, even as battlefield conditions rapidly shift and the many enemies of program outcomes maneuver and counter-attack. Professionals adhering to the Gold Standard of program management must be trusted advisors, innovators and, ultimately, leaders to achieve successful program outcomes.

Trusted Advisor
A program manager’s role is never to supplant the vision-setting and decision-making authority of the owner who may be — in the case of a school district — a superintendent, chief administrative officer or facilities director. Rather, a Gold Standard program manager must facilitate a process by which the owner establishes a clear but informed vision and makes decisions with confidence throughout the program life cycle.

A Gold Standard program manager will therefore strive, during the program-planning phase, to equip the owner with a thorough understanding of the universe of possible program outcomes and distill the owner’s strategic program goals into a written vision. Once that vision is established, the Gold Standard program manager will internalize and embrace it. Taking personal responsibility for the relentless execution of the owner’s vision is what empowers a program manager to make judgments and adapt tactics to the changing political, demographic and programmatic factors that will be sure to buffet the program.

Throughout the life of a program, the Gold Standard program manager will return consistently to this same cycle as major decisions are required: Define, for the owner, the universe of possible options; support with all relevant information and analysis of the feasibility the pros and cons of each option; and facilitate the owner’s decision, which the program manager can then implement. Clearly, this requires the program manager to rely not only on process, but also on a deep understanding of the school district’s political environment, its construction market and evolving trends in facility planning concepts.

Innovator
Armed with this solid foundation of industry knowledge and embracing the specific vision of the owner, the Gold Standard program manager must be emboldened to innovate. Is a unique new set of architectural program elements required to satisfy diverse stakeholders whose approval is critical to program success? Is a modification or combination of traditional project delivery methods necessary to respond to unique combinations of schedule, scope and budget drivers? Can budgets be optimized by addressing some modernization needs on a more economic, program-wide basis rather than project-by-project? While such alternatives must always be presented to and approved by the owner, the Gold Standard program manager will always proactively explore opportunities to overcome obstacles.

Leader
The focus of existing program management standards on process has resulted in a preponderance of professionals in the industry focused on paper-pushing, passive observation and reporting rather than on keying their own actions and motivating those of others to achieve strategic program goals. By contrast, Gold Standard program managers act as an extension of the owner and embrace the owner’s desired outcomes as their own. Such program managers view themselves as the driving force to ensure that the “train keeps running” and stays on track. Without a focused and committed hand, any program can and will be derailed by dynamic influences.

Conclusion
The reader might readily observe that Gold Standard program management, as described herein, calls for the demonstration of a particular set of personal characteristics and behaviors for which there are no professional standards or licenses. No form of certification implies that a program manager will be a trusted advisor, an innovator and a leader. These characteristics will, however, be the marks of the managers who deliver success in the increasingly dynamic environment of the future. Whether hired in-house by school districts or engaged on an outsourced basis, Gold Standard program managers may appear more expensive than their paper-pushing peers. But, at a few percentage points of the total cost of a program over which they can affect value at many multiples of their cost, a Gold Standard program manager may well be the best bargain in the business of education.

Chris Dunlavey, FAIA, is president of Brailsford & Dunlavey in Washington. Dunlavey specializes in managing the development of PK-12 schools, major sports venues and higher-education “quality-of-life” projects including recreation and athletic facilities, campus unions, and student or faculty and staff housing.

 

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Indian School a Prototype for Country’s K-12 Education https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/07/20/indian-school-prototype-country-s-k-12-education/ Indian School a Prototype for Country’s K-12 Education appeared first on School Construction News.

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THIRUVALLA, Kerala — New York-based architecture and design firm CetraRuddy and India-based philanthropic organization The Choice School are celebrating the opening of The Choice School’s first new K-12 campus in Thiruvalla, in the South India state of Kerala.

The Thiruvalla campus opened for 100 primary school students in June with six classrooms, a teacher’s room, cafeteria and administrative spaces. Upon full build-out, the K-12 facility will accommodate up to 2,500 students in an award-winning educational community, according to a statement by CetraRuddy.

The Thiruvalla campus comprises modular blocks for primary, middle and high school students, all housed in a single structure allowing for greater interaction between students of different ages and grade levels. The designs have been noted for their imaginative architecture, holistic approach to education and sensitivity to local context.

"I firmly believe the learning effect is maximized with the overall design, aesthetics, materials usage and the understanding that a school is more than just a building with windows," said Karthik Saravanan, vice president at Choice Group. "Thanks to CetraRuddy, this belief has been given form."

The new school building marks a significant milestone for both CetraRuddy and The Choice School, who are together creating a new prototype for K-12 education in the country, according to a statement by CetraRuddy. This is the fifth commission in India for CetraRuddy and the firm’s first of three planned school projects there. This particular project is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jose Thomas, founder of Choice Estates & Constructions Ltd. In 1990, Thomas founded The Choice School in Tripunithura, Cochin, and it now ranks among the country’s best educational institutions.

Other school projects for The Choice School now under construction in India include a major renovation of an existing campus as well as a new 2,500-student campus in Calicut. The projects have earned accolades, including a finalist spot in the World Architecture News Future Projects Education Award and the Architizer A+ Award.

The projects were spearheaded by CetraRuddy Principal Theresa Genovese, AIA, an expert source with extensive experience in education, cultural and library projects.

 

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The Gold Standard in Program Management: Part 1 https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/06/30/the-gold-standard-in-program-management-part-1/ Across the nation, school districts from big cities to outer suburbs face massive and growing needs for capital investment in their facilities. To varying degrees, they are recognizing and responding to these concerns by planning for bond issues, applying for state funding and developing facility master plans.

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Across the nation, school districts from big cities to outer suburbs face massive and growing needs for capital investment in their facilities. To varying degrees, they are recognizing and responding to these concerns by planning for bond issues, applying for state funding and developing facility master plans. Most districts are only partly aware, however, of the scale and complexity of the challenges they face in implementing these programs successfully.

The Challenge

School construction or modernization is nothing new; nor are large-scale programs. A mature industry of fundamentally capable program managers exists, including in-house staff in some school district facilities offices and private program-management firms. Some of the latter, in fact, are massive companies, employing legions of credentialed management professionals at various levels of experience and ranging in backgrounds from architecture and planning to engineering and construction management. There is, however, no single professional certification credential needed or available for program management across the U.S. and thus no universal or legally required standards of practice. Instead, the industry generally looks to standards set by related fields such as state licensure in architecture or engineering, or certification by the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) or, perhaps most appropriately, certification by the Project Management Institute (PMI).

PMI, while focusing most directly on the activities required of a program manager (ranging from the establishment of project goals and stakeholder engagement to the tracking of scopes, schedules and budgets), is not specific to the field of facilities development. PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is intended to be equally applicable to endeavors as diverse as information technology software development, commercial marketing campaigns or even space flight. PMP certification carries with it no certain knowledge of the facility design and construction industries as a whole, let alone the nuances within the K-12 education sector. More importantly, while the approaches to program management proscribed by PMI and similar standards emphasize careful planning and highly routinized tracking and management of program metrics toward desired outcomes, they offer little insight into how programs must respond over their lifespan to significant changes in fundamental drivers.

“A program manager today has to balance so many forces external to the building program with the fundamental needs of the educational mission and the constraints of the existing facilities,” said Brian Hanlon, former director of Washington, D.C.’s Department of General Services with responsibility for a $4 billion, 10-year comprehensive modernization of D.C. Public Schools. “Every one of those factors is a constant source of discovery or change.”

Today, school modernization encompasses more changing dynamics and unfamiliar terrain than ever before. The most obvious challenges lie in the “nuts and bolts” of school-modernization needs. Major urban school districts suffer from an excess of aging buildings (ranging from 70 to more than 100 years old), resulting in both enormous backlogs of deferred maintenance needs and major deficiencies relative to modern building codes, which in turn translate to risks in the health, safety and welfare of students, teachers and staff. Meanwhile, districts in urban, suburban and even rural locations are experiencing extraordinary capacity challenges in the form of increasing over-enrollment, under-enrollment or even disparities in both trends across the same district. These facility-based needs are exponentially compounded by the rapidly changing influences on the usual facility design and construction processes.

The Enemies of Success

First and foremost, the enemy of success is politics — to which no public school district is immune and which profoundly affects even private schools in often unpredictable ways. The scoping and prioritization of projects, the equitable allocation of capital funding, the relative importance placed on student-learning needs versus other program goals (such as the economic inclusion of local businesses and workers) and many other elements are inevitable determinants of today’s school modernization program. These elements are not only inherently complex but dynamic and certain to evolve and change over the course of a school-modernization program.

Many cities are experiencing an influx of young millennials, while others continue to suffer population loss that began with the decline of America’s industrial base in the 1960s and ’70s. Other districts, particularly in suburban locations, are booming with not only domestic population growth, but also the added influx of immigrant groups that bring with them cultural and language implications for K-12 education. Demographic changes in some districts are occurring so rapidly that the reality planned for at the outset of a single bond program can be drastically altered by that program’s end.

Perhaps most profound, however, are underlying shifts in educational theory and pedagogy. The teaching approaches that are moving to the forefront of 21st century learning — outcome-based, experiential, inter-disciplinary and collaborative — are so profoundly different from those of the past that most districts’ entire physical plants are inadequate to serve future educational needs. Simply put, it is of only modest benefit to a school district to restore to like-new condition a school building that was built 100, 70 or even 30 years ago, when the modernized school will still deliver only the traditional classroom experience rather than the project-focused, collaborative, technologically innovative spaces needed today and tomorrow.

Chris Dunlavey, FAIA, is president of Brailsford & Dunlavey in Washington. Dunlavey specializes in managing the development of PK-12 schools, major sports venues and higher-education “quality-of-life” projects including recreation and athletic facilities, campus unions, and student or faculty and staff housing.
Read Part 2 of this article, which shares helpful program management solutions, available on July 20 at
www.schoolconstructionnews.com.

 

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Katy ISD Breaks Ground on New Elementary School https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/06/28/katy-isd-breaks-ground-on-new-elementary-school/ KATY, Texas — Katy Independent School District (Katy ISD) broke ground June 7 on the new Robert and Felice Bryant Elementary in Katy, Texas. When complete in fall 2017, the new $33 million facility will accommodate 1,030 students.

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KATY, Texas — Katy Independent School District (Katy ISD) broke ground June 7 on the new Robert and Felice Bryant Elementary in Katy, Texas. When complete in fall 2017, the new $33 million facility will accommodate 1,030 students.

In 2014, the Katy community voted to approve a bond referendum that included the construction of six new school campuses, according to a statement by project architect VLK Architects, with offices in Houston, Fort Worth, Texas and El Paso, Texas. With the new Robert and Felice Bryant Elementary, the district set out to create a two-story prototype facility for future elementary schools. The district also challenged VLK Architects to design a building featuring adaptable spaces for a variety of instructional styles to support next generation learning. Bryant Elementary is the third and final elementary school within the 2014 Bond to commence construction.

The new Robert and Felice Bryant Elementary School design will allow for ease of student circulation and facilitate supervision and administration while providing a safe and secure environment for learning. It will feature classroom wings that introduce plenty of natural light via large windows. The wings will be organized around a new media center to promote collaboration, and will be situated to take advantage of the views and green space surrounding the facility.

The school was named in recognition of Robert and Felice Bryant’s long time commitment to Katy ISD. Robert Bryant began his career with the school district in 1983 as Katy High School’s director of bands and fine arts department chair. He was later promoted to executive director of fine arts in 2000 and has received numerous awards throughout his tenure with the district.

Felice Bryant, now retired, was a kindergarten and first grade for 24 years and was named the Katy Elementary teacher of the Year in 1997. She continues to impact students through tutoring and mentorship opportunities, according to a statement by VLK Architects.

“When you talk about pillars of a community, they epitomize that very well. When you talk about the board’s vision of ‘Be the Legacy,’ this is that legacy in action,” said Alton Frailey, Katy ISD superintendent, in a statement. “They know it is not about them. They have taught our children very well and given their all to this community.”

 

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Renovation Gives An Atlanta Middle School New Life https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/06/22/renovation-gives-atlanta-middle-school-new-life/ Renovation and expansion projects provide great opportunities to breathe new life into an aging institution. The recent renovation and expansion of Ralph J.

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Renovation and expansion projects provide great opportunities to breathe new life into an aging institution. The recent renovation and expansion of Ralph J. Bunche Middle School, part of Atlanta Public Schools, added more space for a growing student body and brought the facility into the 21st century.

The original 100,000-square-foot school was built in 1977 and featured an inefficient design full of tight triangular and trapezoidal classrooms, confusing corridors and minimal natural light, according to Bob Just, architect and principal for the K-12 education group of Atlanta-based Cooper Carry, the design firm tasked with redesigning the school. To give Bunche a modern character and improved educational environments, the Cooper Carry team of Just, Associate Sophia Tarkan, and architectural staff members Joseph Martin and William Callahan, provided inviting learning spaces, simplified wayfinding and ample natural light. General contractor JE Dunn Construction of Atlanta brought the design to life.

The, $32 million overhaul brought the campus to 149,000 square feet (comprising a 64,000-square-foot addition and an 85,000-square-foot renovation). It now serves 975 students in grades six through eight.

While the majority of the building is devoted to more than 50 classrooms, it also offers each individual grade three dedicated science labs and one dedicated computer lab. The school’s media center, previously located in the basement, was moved to a sun-drenched spot that offers a view of the outdoor courtyard. The newly redesigned cafeteria features a dramatic exposed concrete waffle-slab ceiling and food court-style serving lines.

The school’s new administration area features high ceilings and porcelain floor tiles, and leads to a courtyard that divides the fine arts and assembly spaces from the classrooms. A brand new gymnasium was construction as well as a state-of-the-art, 520-seat auditorium with a full stage. An acoustically designed music suite, fixed audience seating, a sound system and theatrical lighting join band, choral, orchestra, dance and art spaces.

Outside, the project team fully reconfigured the existing parking, drop‐off and bus areas and added a storm water management system and landscaping. The design includes hundreds of new trees and shrubs that create an arboretum-style environment. New softball and football fields were included along with a 400-meter track.

Despite proper testing, unsuitable soils posed some unexpected challenges as the JE Dunn team — including Group Manager Paul Fenzl, Senior Project Engineer Stacey Flint, Project Engineer II Nick Clements and Superintendent Nick Nowlin — was forced to complete unanticipated site work quickly and efficiently to keep the project on track. Using BIM, implementing lean principals, relying on hyperlinked documents as opposed to paper plans and integrating the Last Planner System of project scheduling were keys to the project’s success.

The Last Planner System centers on pull planning sessions, in which all “last planners” meet to determine major milestones. By working from end to beginning, any “fluff” built into a schedule by subcontractors is all but eliminated, according to a statement by JE Dunn. The sessions allowed subcontractors to identify and address any possible impacts, while weekly work plans helped keep them on track to reach critical milestones.

“The Last Planner system allows us to implement the schedule in a way that is more innovative,” Jackie Avello, project manager with JE Dunn Construction, said. “When problems like rock and soil and waterproofing happen, we keep the subcontractors in the loop and [ask how we can revamp our game plan]. As a result, there is a higher trust level between the trade partners as well as the JE Dunn Construction team and the architects.”

Bunche Middle School reopened for classes in August 2015 and the school community hosted an official ribbon-cutting ceremony in October 2015.

Read more about this project in the June Safety & Security issue of School Construction News, available soon.
 

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St. Louis School to Undergo $82.2 Million Renovation https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/06/22/st-louis-school-undergo-822-million-renovation/ ST. LOUIS — Ladue School District in St. Louis will soon begin construction on a new $82.2 million addition and renovation to Ladue Horton Watkins High School.

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ST. LOUIS — Ladue School District in St. Louis will soon begin construction on a new $82.2 million addition and renovation to Ladue Horton Watkins High School. Construction on the high school will focus primarily on updating the building’s academic core, where classrooms have not been significantly renovated since they were built in the 1950s and 1960s. The project will likely be open in time to welcome students back for the 2018-2019 school year.

The school district will work with builder S.M. Wilson & Co. of St. Louis to complete the project. Preparations for construction have already begun, with initial efforts focused on creating temporary classrooms within the existing building; installing outdoor classrooms that will primarily be dedicated to science programming; establishing construction staging areas; reconfiguring parking and traffic flow; and beginning abatement and the demolition process of the portion of the backside of the building that will be rebuilt, according to a statement by S.M. Wilson & Co.

Upon completion, the high school will feature classrooms designed to accommodate modern educational best practices, which require spaces conducive to collaboration across disciplines; small group work; the integrated use of science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM); and the opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in real-world applications and group-based projects. Other features will include a three-story commons area at the apex of corridors leading to various academic areas; seminar and breakout areas mixed in with classrooms, enabling small group work; a lecture area large enough to enable speakers to address multiple classes simultaneously; and spaces to exhibit student work.

S. M. Wilson provided pre-referendum informational services to the Ladue School District, and will provide pre-construction and construction management services as well. Locally based Hastings+Chivetta and Bond Architects together comprise the project’s architectural firms team, and also began work on the project well before the initiative was approved this spring.

Funding for the project will come from an $85.1 million bond referendum passed in April by the district’s voters. The remaining funds will cover HVAC, technology and safety upgrades at other district schools.
 

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Q&A: Best Practices for Building on an Active School Campus https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/06/08/q-best-practices-building-on-active-school-campus/ Conducting both small- and large-scale projects on an active school or university campus is a delicate process. Project teams must consider student, faculty, parent and visitor safety from all angles, while also ensuring the security of the project site itself.

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Conducting both small- and large-scale projects on an active school or university campus is a delicate process. Project teams must consider student, faculty, parent and visitor safety from all angles, while also ensuring the security of the project site itself so you may need to get the contract looked at by a firm like Roberts Legal to ensure everything is correct and safe.. Successfully planned and executed projects can not only enhance the facility, but can have a positive impact on education as well, giving students an opportunity to participate in the construction process.
Marc Ciaramitaro, director of field operations for Windover Construction of Beverly, Mass., has long served as a construction supervisor managing a wide range of construction projects in the academic/institutional market, and provides expertise overseeing teams, schedules and safety. Ciaramitaro spoke with School Construction News to share best practices for building safely and securely in the midst of an active campus.

Q: What safety criteria should design and construction teams consider when planning a project for an active school or university campus?

Ciaramitaro: First and foremost, it is important to understand what will be beyond the construction fence. Many builders know how to manage what happens within the limits of construction and how to source their materials from a Construction Supply Store, but it is attention to all details around the project that really ensures safety on active campuses. This is why it is often important to get something like this commercial construction management team to help you keep track of things and make sure that everything runs smoothly. This starts with understanding adjacencies to the construction site, whether they be interior spaces such as classrooms, hallways, libraries, etc., or adjacent structures or buildings. Getting to know the typical circulation patterns in and around those spaces and examining daily vehicular traffic flow is an important factor in the overall construction process. Having this information allows the builder to set up a site in a way that causes the least disruption to the school community and allows people to move around the construction site safely.
The builder can also work with the school to establish pedestrian wayfinding patterns around the site and maintain safe accessibility to buildings. In addition, it is essential to understand what the schools individual safety protocols entail, such as specific requirements for CORI/SORI or badging. These details can be folded into the site-specific safety plan that the builder creates.

Q: Can you describe a typical logistics and phasing plan for construction on an active school or university campus?

Ciaramitaro: A typical logistics and phasing plan for a campus is a series of graphical illustrations, ordered by date, of the proposed building area showing the progression of construction from one area to the next. They are extremely helpful for the planning, but also for the school to visually understand how construction may impact specific building areas or adjacencies. They are visual platforms that allow the builder and school to collaborate and discuss spatial requirements for the project. For example, if a specific classroom is identified as coming offline on the plan by a certain date, and the school has a specific need for it to be online, the builder and school can rearrange the phasing plan to accommodate for that.

Q: How can design and construction teams turn a campus construction project into a learning opportunity for students?

Ciaramitaro: There is no simple formula, however, the ability to integrate construction with learning really derives from the partnership that the builder and the school share. Weve seen this evolve in many different ways from students touring the construction site, to having our construction professionals teach in the classroom, to involving students in the design process. Each school is different in its approach because of the age of its students. If the school sees value in the educational opportunities construction presents, we will come up with creative ways to facilitate the process and support that initiative. We are energized by these types of relationships with our academic clients because it makes what we do far more meaningful.

Read more of this Q&A in the June Safety & Security issue of School Construction News, available soon.

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2016 Project to Watch Update https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/06/07/2016-project-watch-update-woodman-family-community-and-performance-center/ PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Moses Brown School, a college preparatory school located in Providence, is currently constructing a 25,295-square-foot facility that will serve as the hub of academic, artistic, social and spiritual life on the school’s campus.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Moses Brown School, a college preparatory school located in Providence, is currently constructing a 25,295-square-foot facility that will serve as the hub of academic, artistic, social and spiritual life on the school’s campus. With an estimated completion date in late 2016, the Woodman Family Community and Performance Center, a School Construction News 2016 Project to Watch, will replace the school’s current 150-year-old Alumni Hall and provide a venue for school events and shows, and serve as a gathering place for students and families.

The project team includes Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects of Providence and construction manager Shawmut Design & Construction headquartered in Boston.

A Need for Expansion
The addition of the Woodman Family Community and Performance Center was necessary to update and expand current multifunction space on the Moses Brown campus. The multi-use facility will include a main hall that is capable of holding up to 540 people for performances, exhibitions, workshops and other school and community activities. Upon its completion, Moses Brown will be able to house its entire upper school, grades 9-12, in one space.

The existing space, the 150-year-old Alumni Hall, which serves as the school’s primary performance and assembly space, does not provide much flexibility, a factor which heavily influenced the design of the new center. In contrast, the new space will improve on sight lines and acoustics while also providing a space suited to a variety of uses.

When the new facility is complete, its basement will serve as the campus’s boiler and heat plant, replacing the old steam plant that is currently located next to the lower school. The movement of the heat plant to under the community center will allow for a potential expansion or addition to the lower school in the future.

Flexible Design Elements
The new facility will provide many amenities including a café, circulation space, classrooms, theater support space and an outdoor gathering area for the community, allowing for ultimate flexibility. The construction team is also installing the NIVOflex platform system and telescoping seating systems, which has the ability to retract to or recess according to an event’s specific flooring or seating need.

“The Woodman Center will be like no other building in this region,” said Michael Viveiros, principal in charge of design for Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects, in a statement. “The unique telescoping seating and hydraulic flooring allow an audience of 475 in raked theater-style seating for performances, and can quickly transform to a flat-floored exhibition hall for community gatherings.”

Interior Design Considerations
As the Woodman Family Community and Performance Center will serve as the school’s performing arts facility, the design team implemented specific materials to ensure high quality operations, acoustics and durability.

In the theater, the team is installing durable and lightweight flooring, and in areas of the main theater fabric wall panels will help absorb sound. Acoustical reflector panels on the ceiling will help deflect sound from the stage into the audience.

The performance center’s HVAC system has been designed to minimize sound, and the walls provide superior acoustical separation and limit sound transmission between the different sections of the center.

The building will also feature many green elements such as low-flow plumbing fixtures, LED lighting, high-efficiency hot water heaters, solar shades, daylight harvesting systems, enhanced lighting controls, stormwater runoff mitigation, infrastructure for future solar panels and a building envelope performance that goes above code.
The coordination of various complex systems and the procurement of some of the materials, with many coming from Europe, as well as maintaining a level of high quality finishes and acoustics, has been a challenge. To ensure the center includes the ideal materials and finishes, the construction team has worked closely with the design team and subcontractors to resolve any coordination issues. The design and construction teams have used 3D modeling during weekly meetings to help expedite submittal reviews to quickly approve product selection.

Project Team
Architect: Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects
Owner’s Representative: DEC Consulting Company, LLC
Construction Manager: Shawmut Design & Construction
Theatre Consultant: Theatre Project Consultants
Structural Engineer: Odeh Engineers, Inc.
Mechanical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer: Wilkinson & Associates, Inc.
Electrical & Central Boiler Plant Mechanical, Plumbing Engineer: Garcia, Galuska & DeSousa
Civil Engineer: Caputo and Wick Ltd.
Acoustical & Audio Visual Engineer: Acentech Inc.
Geotechnical Engineer: Paul B. Aldinger & Associates
Commissioning Agent: Stephen Turner Inc.

 

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Addition to Queens School Designed to Blend in Seamlessly https://schoolconstructionnews.com/2016/05/18/addition-queens-school-designed-blend-in-seamlessly/ QUEENS, N.Y. — A number of New York state and local officials recently celebrated the beginning of construction on the new P.S./I.S. 49 (Dorothy Bonawit Kole School) addition in Queens.

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QUEENS, N.Y. — A number of New York state and local officials recently celebrated the beginning of construction on the new P.S./I.S. 49 (Dorothy Bonawit Kole School) addition in Queens. New York City Council Member Elizabeth S. Crowley, New York State Assembly Member Margaret M. Markey and Principal Thomas Carty were just a few of those who joined faculty members and students to mark the facility’s May 13 ground breaking.

The architectural firm of John Ciardullo P.C. (JC) of New York and Hackensack, N.J., and general contractor E.W. Howell, with offices in Manhattan and Plainview, N.Y., are designing and constructing the new addition, respectively. When complete, it will help accommodate growing enrollment in the Dorothy Bonawit Kole School, which currently serves more than 1,100 students in grades K–8. The New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) will manage the project’s design and construction, and the project will be financed by the New York City Department of Education.

“This sorely needed addition to P.S./I.S. 49 is a true investment in our children and our community,” Council Member Crowley said in a statement. “New classrooms, including ones with computer and science labs, will give our local students the resources they need to build a strong foundation.”

The three-story, 26,000-square-foot addition will house 13 regular classrooms, two special education classrooms, three resource rooms, a medical suite, and an exercise room as well as an expanded cafeteria, according to a statement by JC Principal John Ciardullo, RA. The new building’s contemporary architecture will also reflect the exterior of the 2009 expansion, also designed by JC, and of the original school erected in 1933.

Further, the addition was designed in accordance with the NYC Green Schools Guide and Rating System, which specifies energy efficiency and healthy environment requirements as well as sustainable architecture and construction practices for New York City public schools, according to a statement by E.W. Howell Project Manager Robert Isbit.

The carefully planned addition will feature a partial basement, concrete foundation walls and footings, a structural steel frame, brick and masonry exterior walls, and a glass-and-aluminum curtain wall section. It will mirror the 2009 expansion, reflecting — in a modern interpretation — the architectural vocabulary and window rhythm of the original 1933 school building. The addition’s exterior wall will include red and off-white brick. A three-story high curtain wall section will frame windows at the termination point of hallways.

During construction, crews will partially remove an exterior wall of the 2009 expansion in order to seamlessly connect its corridors on all three floors to the new corridors within the addition as well as to the current main lobby. An existing cafeteria will be completely renovated and expanded into the new addition in order to accommodate the expanded student body. As part of the project, the team will also resurface the school’s play yard.

Also included in the project team are mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (M/E/P) engineer DVL Consulting Engineers of New York and Hackensack; New York-based civil engineer AKRF; and sustainability consultant EME Group of Albany, N.Y. JC’s design team includes Senior Project Architect Chuck Heaphy, Project Manager Jarrett Semkow, John Alvarado and Ardeny Goris.
 

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