Masonry Magazine May 2012 Page. 16
CASE STUDY
REHABS AND RESTORATIONS
Masonry Construction Creates Durability in Four Indiana Schools
When a northern Indiana school district moved forward with a significant investment in upgrading four elementary schools, the architects used masonry construction to provide long-term performance for the taxpayers, and to create a sense of permanence and community pride for generations to come.
CREATING THE PLAN
In early-2007, the Board of the Warsaw Community Schools decided that it was time to take a closer look at how well the district's facilities met the needs of the area's children. The 7,000-student district's buildings ran the gamut from fairly new schools to structures from the early part of the 20th century, and the board wanted to develop a strategic master plan to identify needs and recommendations for improvements. Cost was a major consideration, but there also were concerns in the community about inequities in the quality and resources of specific buildings.
That spring, the board retained Kovert Hawkins Architects to study the facilities, work with staff and community residents to understand the needs, and create that master plan. Next, Kovert Hawkins met with faculty staff and administrative team members to better define the challenges faced at each school and the inherent deficiencies in the buildings' designs. The project team presented three options to the school board, each incorporating a cost analysis and the financial impacts.
The board chose an option that included the immediate replacement of Leesburg and Madison Elementary Schools, reopening and renovating the closed Claypool Elementary School, and renovating and adding on to Jefferson Elementary School. Subsequent phases of the option also called for renovations and additions at the four remaining elementary schools, both middle schools, and eventually at Warsaw Community High School.
FOUR SCHOOL PROJECTS
This article will focus on the four elementary school buildings that were included in the first phase of the option selected by the board. All four were designed and constructed simultaneously. Each presented unique challenges to the team, but the architects determined that masonry construction delivered the most effective solutions in all cases.
At Leesburg and Madison Elementary Schools, new buildings replaced antiquated facilities. According to team leader and Project Architect James Lake, AIA, the buildings are essentially identical.
"We developed a prototype design which served as the "ideal" elementary school for Warsaw's needs," Lake says.
A small school in Claypool had been closed for several years and was slated for sale along with two other shuttered buildings. The team converted the outdated single-section building into a three-section facility that includes a new two-story academic building.
SITE AND BUDGET CHALLENGES
The most challenging project was the renovation of Jefferson Elementary, a small building that was completely surrounded by Grace College in Winona Lake. The outdated two-section building was shoehorned between several college buildings and a water tower, leaving little room to move during the process. Adding to the challenge was the fact that the school would continue to be occupied throughout construction. The new design replaced a 1950s-era, single-story section with a two-story academic area, and added new kitchen, cafeteria, and stage spaces to the back of an earlier addition.
MASONRY BUILDS DURABILITY
Durability was a critical objective for the Kovert Hawkins team. Some of Warsaw's previous buildings had unexpectedly short service lives before major components began to fail. That was one of several reasons Lake and his team opted for masonry construction at all four buildings.
"We noticed that the newer facilities were comprised of stud construction, with much drywall interior and little masonry on the exterior," Lake says. "That methodology generally provides a life expectancy of only 20 years before it requires major attention or substantial renovation. The buildings in the best condition were the older ones, which had been constructed with masonry blocks." They also noted that the new facilities lacked essential storm and tornado shelter areas.
The Leesburg site presented another reason for choosing masonry. "There is no municipal water in Leesburg, and we were initially concerned that we wouldn't be able to install a sprinkler system," he explains. "We anticipated that we would have to look at the concept of compartmentalization to provide fire resistance without sprinklers, and masonry would have allowed us to do that." In the end, the design included two wells and an underground storage tank to feed sprinklers.