Penn Valley Elementary School Addition

Additional Info

Award Winner : NRB Modular Solutions

Architectural Excellence : Nestled alongside the existing Elementary School, the four classroom addition provided students with in-room ceramic tiled toilet facilities and cubby space along with work rooms for the teaching staff. This all steel construction with concrete floor building consisted of 13 modules in various sizes; some with angular wall configurations. The interior, complete with brightly painted gypsum walls, tiled floors with imaginative inlaid color accents, acoustical ceilings and large windows provided a bright and welcoming learning atmosphere for students and teacher alike. The exterior cut stone veneer with brick accents at the windows and stucco parapets provided an exact match to the existing school resulting in a seamless architectural transformation from site built to permanent modular construction.

Cost Energy Effectiveness : The design of this building incorporated sprayed foam insulation in the floors and a spray applied foam insulation and air barrier on the exterior walls along with rigid insulation on the roof, moving the dew-points to the exterior of the structure. A single high-efficiency roof mounted natural gas HVAC unit provided economical heating and cooling. Using off-site permanent modular construction the district saved time and on site general condition costs. It also allowed the school to have summer school with minimal site disruption. At the time this project was being constructed, three other schools additions were being built using conventional on-site construction. This project, despite some on-site delays, still managed to open months ahead of the other site-built additions at the other schools.

Design Firm Name : Gilbert Architects

Engineering Firm Name : Baker, Ingram & Associates

Installer Firm Name : NRB Inc.

Occupied Date : 9/2/2014

Production Start Date : 11/19/2013

Project Location City : Narbeth

Project Location State Name : PA

Technical Innovation : This non-combustible building uses recycled steel post and beam construction and pre-poured concrete floors. Some of the modules used in the construction of this addition contained angled walls allowing the architect full design freedom to match the existing building without compromise. While the stone, brick and stucco were site installed, the building structure and envelope including interior finishes and roofing arrived over 90% complete including first coat of paint on the walls.. In keeping with “green” initiatives, the Architect designed the building using high-efficiency, energy saving interior light fixtures with occupancy sensor controls in all rooms, low VOC paints, high-efficiency natural gas HVAC units, a reflective white EPDM roofing and large windows for natural daylighting with insulated glazing.

Total Square Feet : 5504