Construction on Willow Grove Finishes in Record Time, Saves $500,000 in Interim Housing Costs
September 16, 2008
NTD Architecture and Echo Pacific Construction, Inc. are pleased to announce the completion of Willow Grove Elementary School in the Poway Unified School District. While construction on the project was scheduled for 15 months, Willow Grove was completed in half the estimated time, saving the District approximately $500,000 in interim housing costs.
“This is the fourth iteration of this prototypical design, which has enabled us to both improve upon the design and to save money for the District,” says Richard Nowicki, AIA, Partner at NTD Architecture. “The entire team worked seamlessly together, and Echo Pacific’s expedited delivery of the project has been astounding.”
Sustainability played a major role in the design and planning of Willow Grove, which will soon be a certified California High Performance School (CHPS). Native drought-tolerant plants used in landscaping will decrease the school’s dependency on water and an Energy Management System with individual thermal zones, dual light switches, and occupancy sensors will monitor and control the school’s use of electricity. Restrooms equipped with waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets reduce water usage by 29.1% and sewage conveyance by 42.5%. The school is also equipped with a high efficiency irrigation system that will use 100% reclaimed water. All acceptable construction waste has been recycled and recycled materials have been used where possible.
Willow Grove houses 30 classrooms in five classroom buildings that encircle the Student Commons and Learning Resource Center. Each learning station is equipped with an interactive white board and the most up-to-date in audio/visual technology. Comprehensive facilities contained within the school include a multipurpose center, kitchen, library, and administrative building with extended student services. The site also houses preschool and kindergarten facilities and playgrounds, basketball, tetherball, and handball courts, and a synthetic turf sports field that will eliminate the need for irrigation, pesticides, fertilizers, and routine maintenance, saving the District considerable annual costs. Joint-use of the multipurpose center, which includes a stage, is available to the community. The school’s recreation field is also available for shared use.
The 63,500 SF school can accommodate 750 students and cost $26.7million to construct. The team assigned to the project includes Echo Pacific Construction, Inc. as the General Contractor, NTD Architecture for Architecture, MEP Engineering, and Interior Design, Masson & Associates as the Civil Engineer, KNA Consulting Engineers for Structural Engineering, Johnson Consulting Engineers for Low Voltage/Technology, Sound Technology Consultants for Acoustics and A/V, Nowell & Associates for Landscape Architecture, and Orness Design Group as the Kitchen Consultant.
The design of Willow Grove is a re-use of Monterey Ridge Elementary School, which completed in 2006, Stone Ranch Elementary School, which completed in 2004, and Creekside Elementary School, which completed in 2000. Construction on Willow Grove Elementary School began in January 2008 and completed in August.
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