Following World War II, many schools in the U.S. were designed like other buildings intended to hold large numbers of people.

“A lot of schools were built on prison floor plans,” said Whitney Hennion, a Vancouver Public Schools project manager and a former professional architect. “It was like they just took the prison floor plan and said, ‘Oh, we’ll make this a classroom.’ You can see it in all the hallways; it’s either a radial plan or a central corridor. It’s kind of depressing.”

Fortunately for educators and students in Vancouver, Washington, postwar schools are beginning to be replaced with money from a $458 million bond measure approved by voters in 2017. One is Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, at 4801 Idaho St. LSW Architects designed a 68,000-square-foot facility that is being built by general contractor Robinson Construction on the same property where the previous structure was demolished.

The main entrance will face the intersection of Idaho Street and Boise Avenue, and the building will be served by two parking lots. Separate drop-off and pickup areas for buses and visitors are expected to improve traffic on adjacent streets.

Unlike a hub-and-spoke or central corridor floor plan of a postwar school, the new two-story King Elementary will have an ‘L’ shape. One wing will hold 26 classrooms, mostly partitioned. The other wing will hold a gymnasium, common areas, administrative offices and community-oriented spaces.

“We’re definitely not a prototype here,” Hennion said. “We want each school to really reflect the community that it’s from. I’m a trained architect and worked in that field for 10 years, so to come over to the owner side and see that expectation or philosophy is really nice, because depending on what district you work for it’s all over the map.”

Along with classrooms and administrative offices, the new building will feature a variety of adaptable spaces that would likely never have been considered when the original building was constructed in 1971. Prominent among them are the commons, which doubles as the cafeteria and also has a low-rise stage for presentations. This space will be able to host many different kinds of events, which fits with design choices for a residential feel rather than an institutional one, both inside and out.

Exterior materials include brick masonry and fiber cement panels. On the inside, vaulted ceilings are intended to let in more daylight, with a two-story gallery space adjacent to the entrance featuring large, spherical LED fixtures able to change color to suit a theme or event.

“It’s going to be a huge shock for (staffers and students) to have so much natural light,” Hennion said.

The old school was basically built around a central library, forcing students to pass through the space to reach classrooms and other areas. The new school’s media center will indeed be prominent, with floor-to-ceiling glass; however, instead of being an obstacle, it will serve a distinct purpose and be comfortably accessible.

“We still wanted the library to be a central focus,” Hennion said. “And (the school) has quite a few events as far as the community coming in, and they do a lot of food-centric family activities, so really the push for this was really to make this a community school and very welcoming to the community.”

Construction is expected to finish this summer, in time for the start of the 2020-21 school year.

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While most construction projects in Washington have been shut down temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, some public ones haven’t missed a beat. In Vancouver, crews are building multiple facilities for Vancouver Public Schools via money from a $458 million capital bond approved by voters in 2017.

One of the most unique projects is a roughly $10 million one to provide a new home for Fir Grove/Vista School, which serves approximately 70 of the district’s most vulnerable students.

The existing Fir Grove/Vista building at 2920 Falk Road is 65 years old. It wasn’t designed to host special education programs and persons with disabilities. But the new facility will have separate elementary, middle and high school classroom wings around an outdoor courtyard. A small gymnasium will round out the building, along with a common area, individual and group rooms and a maker space.

“It’s a little bit more durable and a little less flexible,” explained Charles Stiller, a project manager with Vancouver Public Schools. “New age school design has a lot more windows, a lot more glazing and a lot of operable walls or ways to flex spaces. This is very much just four-walled classrooms.”

The new school is being built on district-owned property that formerly held the John R. Rogers Elementary School. That building was demolished first, Stiller said.

Tapani Inc. is the general contractor for the project, which was designed by LSW Architects – a longtime partner of Vancouver Public Schools.

A ceremonial ground-breaking event took place in February. Crews have now wrapped up work on the building’s foundation. Ironworkers with Timberland Inc. recently began erecting the structural steel framework.

The new building will primarily feature brick masonry with metal panels for accent.

“We’re hoping to open after winter break next year, in January 2021,” Stiller said. “We’re supposed to be finished in December and take a couple of weeks to take care of any punch list stuff and get the move-in process completed.”

The one wild card, of course, is the pandemic.

“Even at this point even a two-week delay would move us back to Spring Break at the earliest and a month would probably push us all the way into the next (school) year,” Stiller said.

In part that’s because of the unique student population.

“It doesn’t mean construction would have had to take that whole time,” he said. “But this kind of student population you don’t move over a weekend. These kids, the teachers – they need time to figure out how they’re going to use the new space.”

For now, work is proceeding, Tapani superintendent Michael Walters said.

“In two months the structure will be up, the roof will be on, we’ll be roughed in and the slabs should be poured inside,” he said. “Then we’ll be starting to frame the walls.”

So far, the project has proceeded relatively smoothly, Stiller said.

“We got really lucky with where we’re at in the process, with site work and concrete,” he said. “We’ve had some plumbers as well, but small crews. If we were two months away from opening, we’d definitely have some issues.”

Walters agreed.

“Oh, definitely,” he said. “If we had an enclosed building it would definitely limit the amount of bodies I’d let on the site and what areas you can work in.”

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When Washington Gov. Jay Inslee this week issued guidance calling for most construction projects in the state to shut down, reactions from the building industry came swiftly.

The original “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order from Inslee’s office included construction among industries considered essential and able to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. But then a clarification issued Wednesday made clear that construction must shut down through April 8. The governor could also choose to extend the order at his discretion.

But the ambiguously worded “clarification” has raised additional questions. What seemed allowable Monday suddenly wasn’t on Wednesday.

“The frustration for us has been that lack of clarity,” Nelson Holmberg, executive director of the Southwest Washington Contractors Association, said Thursday. “We spent the whole week from Monday through last night seeking clarity, and the latest memo still leaves things up in the air a little bit. We’re getting a lot of calls from members concerned about what to do, and we’re advising our members to live to the letter of the law right now.”

Construction, with a few exceptions, is not considered “essential” under the state’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order. Those exceptions are:

• “construction related to essential activities as described in the order;
• to further a public purpose related to a public entity or governmental function or facility, including but not limited to publicly financed low-income housing; or
• to prevent spoliation and avoid damage or unsafe conditions, and address emergency repairs at both nonessential businesses and residential structures.”

A memo issued by the Associated General Contractors of Washington indicated that while the Washington State Department of Transportation is shutting down virtually all of its projects, school districts and other public entities are authorized to make their own decisions whether to proceed with public infrastructure work. Publicly funded low-income housing projects will be allowed to continue, but market-rate residential projects will not.

“We are disappointed in the governor’s decision, but we also realize that the health of citizens and our workforce is paramount,” AGC of Washington Executive Director David D’Hondt stated in the group’s memo. “In the meantime, we will continue to work with the governor’s office to help get construction going as soon as possible.”

Todd Horenstein, assistant superintendent for facility support services with Vancouver Public Schools, confirmed public school work now under way is proceeding under practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our projects are continuing,” Horenstein stated via email. “We have an exemption under the governor’s memo sent out yesterday. School projects are considered necessary for public purpose; all of our contractors are working and practicing safe working condition as guided by the CDC.”

Private-sector jobsites and projects, however, now have to be secured during the shutdown.

“The BIA is deeply disappointed with the governor’s clarification issued last night,” Building Industry Association of Clark County Executive Director Avaly Scarpelli said Thursday. “He significantly narrowed the original order, which allowed for housing construction. (The) clarification of the order is a devastating blow to the building industry and local economy.”

The short-term effect, she added, will be a backlog in builders’ ability to provide housing units.

“Many (builders) are now facing the hard decision to lay off eager-to-work employees at this time,” Scarpelli said.

Perlo Construction builds large industrial and commercial projects – including logistics facilities – in both Oregon and Washington. Todd Duwe, the company’s director of business development, said the firm is approaching its work on a case-by-case basis.

“We’re just trying to get more clarification of that essential business component,” Duwe said. “Our preference is to keep jobs open and keep moving forward. For instance, logistics companies and distribution can be considered essential – they are delivering food, medicines and other things – and I think the governor’s office is still reviewing that, and there is still communication with industry on that.”

Jennifer Spall, communications director for the Building Industry Association of Washington, echoed this.

“We’ve been inundated with calls from members asking ‘Where is the line?’” she said. “We’re taking those on one by one right now.”

The state opened a website for affected parties to ask just that question, while the BIAW and other groups are coordinating with state agencies to ensure unemployment insurance and other benefits will be available to construction workers out of work as a result of the crisis. The pending federal emergency stimulus package is another potential source of relief, Spall added.

“We’re not only spending a lot of time answering questions; we’re just hearing heartbreaking stories about people having to lay off employees,” she said. “They don’t know how they’re going to struggle to make it through this. We’re still coming through all that and trying to understand what it all means.”

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A 7-year-old magnet school in Vancouver, Washington, is finally united.

Previously, Vancouver iTech Preparatory served students in grades 6-8 in one location and students in grades 9-12 in another. But recently operations were consolidated in a new 80,000-square-foot building at 16100 N.E. 50th Ave. Vancouver Public Schools has seen demand for entry in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) school increase, so it prioritized creation of a new building via money from a $458 million bond approved by voters in 2017.

“It’s one of the district’s schools of choice,” said Jack Claros, facilities planner for Vancouver Public Schools. “They didn’t really have a school of their own. The middle school portion was housed at the main district office and then the high school used to be up here at the Clark College building on (Washington State University’s) campus. So this school was built to create an actual school for those students.”

LSW Architects designed the three-story building, which features a slab-on-deck foundation, a structural steel framework, and cross-laminated timber floor panels and ceiling panels. General contractor Robinson Construction began work in September 2018, and substantial completion was achieved in just over 14 months.

This is the third school project for Vancouver Public Schools with cross-laminated timber panels.

“Part of it is the ‘biophilic’ element of wood,” Claros said. “It’s about warming up the space and bringing nature indoors. It just made sense, at least strategically. We placed the panels in areas where it would be visible and kept it exposed.”

The heart of the building is a learning stair that serves as an assembly and event space, an extension of the adjacent cafeteria, and an informal gathering and learning space. A huge flat-screen display faces the learning stair from a second-level balcony with the exposed framing that was included for seismic resilience.

The individual laboratory spaces are many and varied. The new building has science and fabrication labs, a media center, break-out and collaboration spaces, a robotics lab, an art studio and more – all visible through generous glazing.

Finally, exterior materials are dominated by brick masonry and a smattering of metal panels given a wood-like finish.

“I think this building contextually achieves multiple things,” Claros said. “It resides on WSU’s campus, we worked with them as a stakeholder, and the architecture resonates contextually with the campus while maintaining its own integrity through the use of materials.”

Vancouver iTech Preparatory

Owner: Vancouver Public Schools

General contractor: Robinson Construction

Architect: LSW Architects

Planner: BergerABAM

Civil engineer: Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc.

Mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer: PAE

Structural engineer: KGA Structural Engineers

Landscape architect: PLACE

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Successful contractors often have a sweet spot – a type of project in which they excel because of past experience. For Woodburn-based Triplett Wellman Contractors, one of those sweet spots is the elementary school.

Triplett Wellman has at least seven such projects ongoing right now in Oregon and Washington, including one north of the Columbia River, in central Vancouver. The firm, with Darryl Giorgini serving as superintendent, is building a replacement for aged Walnut Grove Elementary School.

The project is being paid for with money from a $458 million Vancouver Public Schools bond approved by voters in February 2017. Construction is taking place on the same property, slightly east of the existing building that was constructed in 1952.

Bassetti Architects‘ design calls for a two-story building with three distinct wings.

As of Thursday, crews with Nutter Excavating were continuing to excavate foundation footings on the west end of the site, while operators of heavier machinery performed grading and other site work on the east side. In the middle of the site, a three-person crew from Piper Mechanical continued below-grade installation of wastewater lines, while another crew from Prairie Electric installed conduit.

“Right now we’re working our way out with the footings,” Giorgini said. “We did the perimeter, then the electrical underground and plumbing underground went in because the starting depth on the plumbing is deeper than your footings.”

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On the north side of the Columbia River, more than two years after voters approved a $458 million bond measure for Vancouver Public Schools, construction is taking place at 28 school sites. Workers are remodeling, expanding, replacing or upgrading existing facilities, and building new ones.

At one site, two replacement schools are being built under one new roof, on property between their existing buildings on MacArthur Boulevard. McLoughlin Middle School and Marshall Elementary School will operate on a single 203,000-square-foot campus.

LSW Architects designed the project, and Skanska USA Building is serving as the construction manager/general contractor. Kramer Gehlen & Associates is performing structural engineering, and PAE Consulting Engineers is handling mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering.

Ground was broken in June 2018, and work is scheduled to finish in March 2020. It’s one of the first public school projects to feature mass-timber structural components.

“We’ve got two main types of construction,” Skanska superintendent Krys Lukesh said. “One of them is wood framing in the classroom wings, while the main core buildings will have tilt panels. They all utilize glulam columns to support the (cross-laminated timber) and then they will all have CLT decks and roofs on them, so it’s a couple of different methods.”

The new building will replace a pair of aging schools previously improved in 1992. Designers engaged staff, students, parents and community members in a process that produced plans for a two-story structure with a great deal of daylighting as well as modern, secure access both from the outside and between the two schools.

The massing is dominated by five large structures connected by second-story sky-bridges. On the west end of the 1,000-foot-long site a pair of two-story classroom wings will serve the middle school. Two more classroom wings on the east end will serve the elementary school.

Some of the space, including a kitchen and “family-community resource center,” will be shared. Another such space will be a huge media center able to become two smaller ones via a partition.

A new gymnasium is included in the project, but it will be built on the site of the existing middle school after it’s eventually demolished. The old elementary school will be remodeled to accommodate programs now located at other schools.

“It’s all one building,” Skanska project manager Brian Hover said. “Right now, with phase one, the schools minus the gym will be done. And once they’re moved in we’ll take this school (McLoughlin) down.”

The new building is dominated by wood, both structurally and aesthetically. Many of the CLT panels manufactured by British Columbia firm Structurlam will be left exposed, particularly in the shared spaces and the sky-bridges.

“It gives a Northwest look with the wood,” Hover said. “And the CLT decks are structural, so instead of doing steel we’re doing CLT, and that becomes the structural surface between floors and the roof as well. You get bigger spans with it, and it installs fast.”

The project’s CLT panels range in size from five-ply to nine-ply – from 6.5 inches to 12 inches thick.

Skanska project manager Scott Mettler and Lukesh both noted that mass-timber projects of this type require substantial collaboration with designers because the prefabrication makes on-site adjustments more challenging.

“I just think that in general with wood construction you have to do that in order to make the MEP penetrations,” Mettler said. “That’s one thing we had to do ahead of time, and it’s a different sequence than usual. With the MEP routing in a steel building, sometimes you would come up with your MEP design and you have all these penetrations and then you have supplemental steel design package.”

It just means a more complete design is needed earlier in the process, Lukesh added.

“That’s probably the biggest challenge of using it, because there are a lot of benefits to using it,” he said.

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School construction will be taking place in Vancouver, Washington, for years to come.

In February 2017, voters approved a $458 million bond measure for Vancouver Public Schools. One year later, voters approved a $695 million bond measure for the city’s other school district – Evergreen Public Schools.

On Northeast 42nd Avenue, crews are working on one of the Vancouver Public Schools projects – a replacement for Truman Elementary. General contractor Todd Construction is overseeing the effort to erect a two-story building designed by Bassetti Architects. The new school will sit on the same property as the existing one, but in a different location.

Crews broke ground in January, and work has proceeded quickly. Ironworkers from several companies are erecting structural steel and laying rebar for foundation slabs, while Todd Construction self-performs carpentry.

“We’ve got some of the slab-on-grade foundation down and we’ve started the first section of structural steel,” Todd Construction superintendent Monte Carothers said at the project site last week. “There’s plumbing, electrical underground – everything to do with the foundation. And then as you can see, the ironworkers are there. Next week we’ll have the drywall contractor on-site and he’ll be starting his metal framing in that area.”

Additional slab-on-grade concrete and structural steel work is scheduled, Carothers added.

“The following week we’ll be going vertical in that same area out there,” he said. “It’s fun. Especially when you get to the stage where you’re pouring slabs, it starts changing fairly quickly.”

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Paul Manosky, a welding instructor at Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, Washington, has long heard about the shortage of skilled tradespeople affecting the building industry.

“Everybody’s been barking about the skills gap for years, but now it’s finally a case of when push comes to shove,” he said. “When the new semesters start, these companies want to come in because they need people. I tried telling some of my kids (they) are the only ones who know how to do anything anymore, and people want that. And on top of that, (they’re) problem solvers.”

Manosky’s welding course is a part of Vancouver Public Schools‘ Industrial and Engineering Systems career pathway offered at both Fort Vancouver and Hudson’s Bay high schools. The most comprehensive programs are based at the latter school. There, the ACES (Architecture, Construction and Environmental Services) magnet program offers students a wide variety of career pathways – some more comprehensive than anything currently offered elsewhere in the Portland-metro area.

“The word really hasn’t gotten out; this is only the second year of this program,” said Mark Wreath, the district’s director of CTE education. “So once we get into the third year and we start to see kids transition into the apprenticeship programs, then it’s going to get some buzz.”

The latest program introduced at Hudson’s Bay is also the school’s most direct path yet into the workforce. It involves a partnership between the school district and Columbia River Carpenters Local 1503, a union that represents carpenters in Oregon and Southwest Washington, Wreath said.

“So at the end of three years our students that complete all three years are going to get expedited entry into their apprenticeship program,” he said. “So, to me that’s a home run; that’s a transition through a sequence of courses that leads straight to employment.”

The first year is dedicated to teaching students a plethora of different trades and skills they will need to succeed in the construction industry. From using tools to reading blueprints and plans to working with a team, participants are given a base to build on.

From there, those students who choose to continue into a second year can narrow down potential career paths and start specializing. At this point, the program’s third year will be uncharted territory for students and teachers alike.

For some students, the next step is a straightforward journey into the union and a carpentry career. For others, however, it’s translating the new skills and knowledge into a different career. “I wanted to learn trades and have a really big base for when I want to become an architect,” said Jordan McHan-Pack, a junior at Hudson’s Bay. “It’ll just be easier. And then Pierce said there is the apprenticeship for carpentry and I was like ‘that will help a lot with architecture too.’”

“Pierce” is carpentry instructor Aaron Pierce, who also is a state-certified welder. He is looking forward to seeing how the third year comes together, he said.

“For the second year we’re looking to get to the point where they can follow a blueprint and create something a little bit bigger than what they’ve done,” he said. “The hope is that by the end of this year they’re making bigger things – picnic tables, children’s play structures. So by no later than end of first quarter next year they will be doing sheds and have all the skills necessary to move into the third book and start to be able to (do) everything you would do on a house or everything you would do on a construction site as far as carpentry would go.”

While the curriculum skews toward commercial carpentry, with its steel framing, the essential skills learned can be applied in residential work as well, Pierce said.

“Down the line I think it’s going to be huge because they will be able to go from high school straight into the apprenticeship program,” he said. “And they won’t feel like they’re behind, because the carpentry curriculum (is) what they’re already looking for.”

At Fort Vancouver High School, senior welding student CJ McCombs doesn’t necessarily intend to pursue a career in the trades – his real passion is computer programming. But the course has provided a strong amount of general education, he said.

“It’s always felt like more of a learn-to-work-in-a-shop-environment type of class,” he said. “So for anyone who wants to get into industry, this is a great class to take. You’ll learn basic stuff, you’ll learn welding, you learn machine safety, just general safety practice, soft skills, and what to expect from this environment in the career path.”

The biggest advantage, Manosky added, is the direct transition from school to career that comes with affiliating with a union or other training center connected with the building industry. And beyond carpentry, Wreath said the district hopes to pursue additional apprenticeship connections with Local 1503 and the Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute that involve the welding and millwright trades.

“The biggest thing is they’d have that transition, where you’d have a kid ready to work,” Manosky said. “At the end of the day, I’m a teacher; I don’t work in industry. But if they can come in and tell me what they want me to emphasize or what to push for, then that’s all the better. It’s about being ready to work, but I don’t know what that really means until someone else tells me.”

“We’re preparing them for life (beyond) high school,” Wreath added. “But we’re giving them a leg up.”

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Vancouver Public Schools is proceeding with multiple projects following voters’ approval of a massive $458 million bond measure, and at least one of them has work available for subcontractors.

Truman Elementary School, a longtime open-concept facility in Vancouver, Washington, at 4505 N.E. 42nd Ave., is being replaced. Crews will construct a new two-story, 91,115-square-foot building on existing school property, and then demolish old buildings.

General contractor Robinson Construction of Hillsboro, which has frequently worked with the school district, is seeking sub-bids for virtually every scope of work for the project. Construction is expected to begin in January, and then finish in time for the new school to open in fall 2020.

The site work includes construction of stormwater infiltration, basins and planters, site utilities, drives and parking areas, courtyards and pathways, sidewalks, playgrounds and landscaping. Work in the public right of way includes new driveway entrances, pedestrian pavement improvements, curbs, asphalt patching and ADA ramp improvements.

will have a secure entrance and almost 40 classrooms, including two dedicated to special education programming. Break-out spaces will be used for hands-on learning, and other spaces will be dedicated to music, art and creative movement. Plans also call for a secure interior courtyard, a dedicated fitness area, a dedicated family resource center, a large commons area, a learning stairway extending into the library and media center, and a covered play area and playground.

Work will be done in two phases: first, construction of a new school building and site utilities; and second, demolition of existing school buildings, and construction of new parking and landscaping and utilities.

All sub-bids must be submitted to Robinson Construction no later than 5 p.m. on Dec. 12. Prospective bidders can learn more by calling 503-645-8531 or sending an email to bids@robcon.com.

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Southwest Washington is abuzz with school construction.

Vancouver Public Schools, for instance, has under way multiple projects being for with money from a $458 million bond measure passed by voters in 2017.

On the Washington State University-Vancouver campus, crews are building new space for iTech Preparatory – a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)-focused magnet school that serves students throughout the district. The school, which opened in 2012, has students in grades 6 through 12; middle school pupils currently attend classes in district administration offices while high school students occupy a leased building on the WSU campus.

“We’ve never had a facility where we could house all the grades at one location,” said Todd Horenstein, an assistant superintendent and director of facility support services for Vancouver Public Schools.

The new building will have approximately 80,000 square feet of space over three stories and be able to serve up to 700 students. LSW Architects of Vancouver designed the facility, which is being built by Hillsboro general contractor Robinson Construction.

The project’s budget is around $30 million, Horenstein said. The building is being constructed to Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol, an energy efficiency process with standards roughly akin to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver, he added.

Currently, site work is under way at one end of the iTech Preparatory site. Meanwhile, ironworkers and carpenters are building formwork and installing rebar in preparation for concrete slab foundation and footer pours.

On Northeast 28th Street in Vancouver, ground was broken this past summer on a replacement for Peter S. Ogden Elementary School. LSW Architects and Robinson Construction are handling this project as well.

The two-story building will be wood-framed over slab-on-grade foundations. It will be able to accommodate as many as about 500 students.

Foundation work already is complete. Currently, first-floor walls, both on the interior and exterior, are being built and placed by crews from DSL Framing.

Meanwhile, on MacArthur Boulevard, two schools are being built anew. Marshall Elementary School and McLoughlin Middle School will be constructed as a single two-story structure on open land between existing facilities.

The two schools will be physically connected by a shared kitchen and mechanical space, as well as a media center able to be partitioned. However, each school will function separately, Horenstein said.

LSW Architects designed this project too, but Skanska USA Building is the general contractor for this project. Currently, crews from Tapani Underground, Skanska and Prairie Electric are carrying out site work, underground utility installation and form work for upcoming foundation concrete pours.

Instead of standard steel or wood framing, however, cross-laminated timber structural elements will be used atop a concrete foundation. This will be one of the first educational buildings in the Portland-metro area to feature such construction.

Evergreen Public Schools, another school district in Vancouver, also has projects on tap. Voters in February approved a $695 million bond measure. Numerous construction projects totaling more than $800 million will be completed by 2024, according to the district’s website.

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