Seattle Country Day School expansion
Architect: Carlson Architects
Engineer: Swenson Say Faget
Owner: Seattle Country Day School
ABC members: Advanced Fire Protection, Audio Acoustics, CHG Building Systems, Evergreen Concrete Cutting, Merit Mechanical, Remco-Deacon, American Drapery Blind & Carpet
The $10 million Seattle Country Day School project included renovation of two buildings and construction of a 35,000-square-foot middle school with two parking areas, a driveway and a turnaround for cars and buses. Contractor S.D. Deacon Corp. of Washington also demolished existing structures, widened a city street, worked on a new city street, developed a new fire service and completed site electrical service for three buildings.
S.D. Deacon completed the project in 17 months despite numerous challenges, including a concrete strike only five weeks into the schedule.
The architect designed the new middle school to nestle into the hillside to lessen its visual impact on neighboring houses. That called for building on a 20 percent grade and pouring the foundation 30 feet below grade in the middle of winter. It also involved making a 35-foot cut into the hillside and constructing a 150-by-35-foot soil nail wall 25 feet from neighboring houses and the main street.
The design incorporates the character of the neighborhood with brick at the base of the buildings, shake shingle siding, and green and umber colors. Inside, open areas and vistas create meeting areas without disrupting the flow of the building. Tech labs include worktops with pre-wired intranet connections, as well as power and data connections. A garden was built on the upper roof.
The new building is heated with a high-efficiency boiler and cooled with low-energy air-conditioning systems that use operable windows, exhaust fans and a natural ventilation shaft. This system led to lower electrical requirements and a small service size for the building's square footage.
Because school was in session for the majority of the construction, the team paid special attention to phasing the project and implementing safety measures for the students and community.
The new access drive and playfield were built during the school year, while the renovation of the two buildings totaling approximately 20,000 square feet commenced during the summer break. To lessen disruption, the team worked in areas where classes were not in session and organized utility work around the heavy traffic surrounding morning and afternoon student drop-off and pick-up times.
A full-time flagger managed traffic in and out of the school, and a safety team at each end of the school's narrow entrance street and school entryways helped manage the deliveries.
S.D. Deacon worked with the school to give the students safety demonstrations about the construction, placed hard barricades around the construction during peak periods, and required all work personnel to wear numbered identification badges.
There were zero time-loss injuries and only one medical injury in 27,413 worker hours.