{"id":59221,"date":"2010-04-15T19:33:44","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T19:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zonda-develop.go-vip.net\/concrete-construction\/article\/reaching-new-heights_o"},"modified":"2010-04-15T19:33:44","modified_gmt":"2010-04-15T19:33:44","slug":"reaching-new-heights_o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zonda-develop.go-vip.net\/concrete-construction\/projects\/reaching-new-heights_o\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaching New Heights"},"content":{"rendered":"\r
\r

The image of an eagle soars above the entrance of New Heights Elementary School in St. Petersburg, Fla. It symbolizes the community’s hope that this new building will lift education to a new level for its students.<\/p>\r

New Heights replaces Tyrone Elementary School, which was built in 1958 and had reached maximum capacity. Rather than spend money on temporary solutions such as portable classrooms, the county invested in a very different kind of school.<\/p>\r

Buildings on the New Heights campus are grouped around a series of courtyards, butterfly gardens, and outdoor classrooms to create an open learning environment. Bands of colored split face concrete block with matching mortar enhance the warm and welcoming atmosphere.<\/p>\r

The school’s design has already raised the bar for educational institutions in Pinellas County. In 2009, it received the Association of General Contractors of Greater Florida’s Horizon Award for Best New Construction between $15 million and $30 million.<\/p>\r

Learning from experience<\/b><\/p>\r

To make the masonry vision a reality, the project’s Tampa-based general contractor, The Beck Group, chose the experienced masons of Advanced Masonry Systems of Sarasota, Fla. The school’s curving walls, exact coordination of building materials, and alternating colors and sizes of split face block were challenging but familiar territory for Advanced Masonry.<\/p>\r

Schools are a specialty for the family-owned contractor, accounting for up to 80% of the masons’ work. The Advanced Masonry team has worked on about 80 schools over the past decade, including new construction and renovations.<\/p>\r

\u201cWe specialize in jobs with a lot of masonry work that not just anybody could do,\u201d says Ron Karp, Advanced Masonry’s vice president. \u201cWe make a point of hiring skilled tradesmen. Some of our journeymen have been in the trade for 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\r

In the difficult economy, the contractor is careful not to underbid jobs while maintaining a fair rate of pay for masons. As a result, Advanced Masonry has become even more selective about the projects it pursues.<\/p>\r

In the last couple of years, Karp has noticed more projects designed with tilt-up walls, a disturbing trend that has put even some of the most skilled craftsmen out of work. When masonry construction was more in demand, Karp believes the short supply of materials and skilled masons led architects to seek alternative products.<\/p>\r

Since that has started to turn around, Karp expects a quick change back to masonry. \u201cThere are still new tilt-up jobs going on, but masonry outnumbers them two-to-one,” he says. Architects like the aesthetics of brick and block, and they’re comfortable building with it. Tilt-up is still relatively new, and hasn’t withstood the test of time like masonry.\u201d<\/p>

Putting skills to the test<\/b>\r <\/p>\r

More than 45 masons and their tenders spent 15 months building the 150,000-square-foot New Heights Elementary school. They used more than 200,000 gray block and 95,000 split face block to create an architectural masonry showcase. Most of these materials make up the school’s exterior load-bearing walls, constructed with 8-inch CMUs and split face block veneer.<\/p>\r

Long, curved radius walls on two of the buildings required a skilled hand. The masons constantly monitored the radiuses and joint thicknesses as they progressed.<\/p>\r<\/div> \r

\r \r<\/p>\r\r\r

Inside, standard block lines the hallways and common areas, such as the main lobby and cafeteria. Bullnose block forms rounded, kid-friendly corners in the hallways. Because designers chose architectural block as the finished surface, masons had to precisely place each block.<\/p>\r

Fire extinguisher cabinets, wall sockets, light switches, and access panels all had to fit exactly as planned. \u201cThere is no room for mistakes when the block is exposed,\u201d says Karp. \u201cIt has to be perfect. If there is the slightest variation in mortar thickness, or if the wall isn’t plumb, your eye is drawn right to it.\u201d<\/p>\r

Masons worked alongside other skilled workers to ensure all the pieces fit together. They discussed every step of the project with other tradesmen during weekly subcontractor meetings and constantly reviewed the shop drawings. It took a tremendous amount of coordination to execute some of the more complicated elements, such as staircases, canopies, and entrances.<\/p>\r

The school’s architects designed all exterior doors to be flush with outside walls to eliminate interference with door swing areas. With no room for error, masons carefully installed almost 50 hollow metal door frames perfectly in line with the split face veneer. Masons usually set the door frames and then built the masonry up to them. \u201cIn this instance, we had to install the CMU walls first, then set the frames to the walls using a field modified anchor,\u201d Karp explains.<\/p>\r

Not just a pretty fa\u00e7ade<\/b><\/p>\r

Although New Heights Elementary has received praise for its appealing design, the architectural masonry contributes more than just an attractive finish. Ninety-eight percent of the project’s masonry materials qualified for local and recycled material credits under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program, including mortar and concrete with fly ash, and recycled steel rebar.<\/p>\r

The school’s exposed masonry walls allowed designers to use fewer finishing materials such as drywall. The block walls, along with low-VOC paints and sealants, improve inside air quality. This was a serious concern since the school it replaced, Tyrone Elementary, had mold problems.<\/p>\r

Advanced Masonry sorted all of its recyclable construction materials and took special care to keep surrounding water from being contaminated, helping New Heights become Pinellas County’s first LEED Gold school building.<\/p>\r

When students arrived after Thanksgiving 2009, they entered a school with a water-saving plumbing system, lights with automatic sensors, and a cafeteria that uses real silverware and trays instead of paper and plastic. Educators hopes these everyday changes will not only create an environmentally friendly facility, but also a learning-friendly environment.<\/p>

Project Participants<\/b>\r <\/p>\r

Owner:<\/b> School Board of Pinellas County, Fla.<\/p>\r

Architect:<\/b> Canerday, Belfsky & Arroyo Architects, St. Petersburg, Fla.<\/p>\r

Structural Engineer:<\/b> Weber & Tinner Inc., St. Petersburg.<\/p>\r

General Contractor:<\/b> The Beck Group, Tampa, Fla.<\/p>\r

Masonry Contractor:<\/b> Advanced Masonry Systems, Sarasota, Fla.<\/p>\r

Masonry Suppliers:<\/b> Cemex (concrete block), Tampa; Amerimix, (mortar) St. Petersburg<\/p>\r

Precast Producer:<\/b> Commercial Concrete Products, Tampa<\/p>\r \r","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"scheduledNewsletterDates":[],"_scheduled_newsletter_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"zonda_content_type_url_append":"_o","zonda_dfp_zone":"","zonda_exclude_recommended_contents":false,"zonda_exclude_most_popular":false,"zonda_exclude_tagged_results":false,"zonda_eyebrow":"","zonda_last_newsletter_date":"2099-12-31T23:59:59.999-05:00","zonda_original_url":"","zonda_pdf_version":0,"zonda_print_headline":"Reaching New Heights","zonda_promo_abstract":"A new elementary school uplifts a Florida community.","zonda_promo_headline":"","zonda_promo_image":0,"zonda_subheadline":"A new elementary school uplifts a Florida community."},"tags":[],"news_item_type":[9],"section_10":[12719],"subject":[517,950],"organization":[1057],"award":[],"person":[],"product_type_10":[],"content-group":[],"event":[],"location":[238,310],"state":[313],"brand":[84326],"jlc-category":[],"year_tax":[],"sponsor":[],"coauthors":[84184],"class_list":["post-59221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","news_item_type-project-article","section_10-projects","subject-air-entrainment","subject-masonry-construction","organization-usgbc","location-orlando-kissimmee-fl","location-tampa-st-petersburg-clearwater-fl","state-florida","brand-masonry-construction"],"yoast_head":"\nReaching New Heights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new elementary school uplifts a Florida community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zonda-develop.go-vip.net\/concrete-construction\/projects\/reaching-new-heights_o\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/zonda-develop.go-vip.net\/concrete-construction\/projects\/reaching-new-heights_o\/2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reaching New Heights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new elementary school uplifts a Florida community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/zonda-develop.go-vip.net\/concrete-construction\/projects\/reaching-new-heights_o\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Concrete Construction Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-04-15T19:33:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Shelby O. 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