Bolingbrook High School
Cost: $104 million

Speed was critical during the construction of Bolingbrook High School, the replacement for the previous facility with the same name.

The student population in the suburb about 40 mi. southwest of Chicago is growing rapidly. About 750 new students flood the district every year, steadily adding to the strain on the district's existing 17 schools.

Design-build was selected as the delivery method on the high school project because of the need for swiftness. Construction activity is typically started before the design drawings are complete, and the overlap shaves time from the overall time frame.

Quick erection was needed, too, because funding came after project planning had started and a completion date established.

The schematic design and planning had begun in 2001, and because of financing concerns, the project was put on hold until March 2002, when voters approved a $143 million referendum. The drawing of construction documents began immediately, and sitework started the subsequent May.

A Big School

Approximately 150 rooms are in the 565,000-sq.-ft. school.

Spaces include classrooms and laboratories, auditorium, football field with field house and gymnasium.

Several sustainable design elements were incorporated into the project so that it receives Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., a coalition of building professionals who administer LEED.

In March, information was being gathered so that the project could receive Silver Certification, according to Wight & Co., the design-build contractor.

The cutting and removal of soil was minimized. Inside, the ductwork ends were sealed so that no foreign matter ended up in the duct to be blown into the air after the school opened. Locally produced materials - the steel supporting the structure and the masonry dressing it - were selected to benefit regional producers.

Design elements suitable to a learning environment were integrated into the building.

An H-shaped layout to gives the big building a human scale. Multi-colored masonry - 160,000 brown bricks on the upper half and 70,000 tan split-face blocks on the lower half - lend the school an earthy feel.

The durability of a structure to house rambunctious teenagers was considered.

Concrete masonry units form the hallways and classroom interiors, impact-resistant drywall makes up the soffits and terrazzo stone was laid at the entrances.

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