Building Name: Baldwin High School

Location:  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Occupant:  Baldwin-Whitehall School District (Junior/Senior High School)

Function Type:  Secondary Education

Size: …395,667 ft^2

Number of Stories above Grade: 3

Total Number of Levels: 3

Primary Project Team:

Owner: Baldwin Whitehall School District
website: http://www.bwschools.net/

Consultant/Construction Manager: PJ Dick
website: http://www.trumbullcorp.com/

Architect/Engineer: HHSDR Architects and Engineers (Greer Hayden)
website: http://www.hhsdr.com/

General Contractor: Yarborough Development, Inc.
website: http://www.yarborough.net/

Electrical Contractor: Lighthouse Electric
website: http://www.lighthouseelectric.com/

HVAC: Wayne Crouse Inc.
website: http://www.waynecrouse.com/

Plumbing Contractor: Wheels Mechanical Contracting Inc.
Fire Protection: Preferred Fire Protection
Asbestos Consultant: Joseph Kuchnicki, Curtis Shaw

 

Dates of Construction:  (September 2005 - February 2009)

Cost:

Building Cost            $54.4 million
Soft Cost                   $10.0 million
Overall Cost (est.)        $64.0 million

Type of Financing: Public

Delivery method: CM Agent

 

Architecture: The architecture of this $54.4 million renovation project attempts to bring a new and exciting look to the high school. When finished nearly 80% of the school will be new. This replaces an existing structure that has remained intact since 1939. A forward look hopes to bring this educational facility up to 21st century standards both internally and externally.

The first phase of this five phase process focused on the gym and locker room area. Externally the building‘s old brick façade was transformed with new beige colored brick. Rows of grey were used to accent floor heights and the pattern is to remain consistent throughout the rest of the project. Skylights were placed in the gym ceiling to give it a more up-to-date look.

A Roman or Greek emphasis appears to have influenced the schools new external front side. The windows and column separations tie together and give the look of a coliseum. After the next 4 phases of the project are completed the renovation will appear to be a brand new building. The incorporation of ribbon-glass windows to the schools front face, black colored brick showing the location of stairways, and additional skylights throughout the buildings entirety; will all aid in giving it this appearance.

 

Building Systems

Baldwin High School is a renovation and nearly 80% of the building is to be of new construction. Because of this, heavy demolition work is required for the site. Tearing down parts of the existing building includes the removal of masonry, concrete, and structural steel. Precautions for asbestos were also of particular interest due to the building being an educational facility. All materials that are demolished will be removed to neighboring landfills and recycling centers.

Demolition
Phase I of the project required demolition of the existing pool and locker structure. Erection of a steel frame became the foundation for the new gym and new locker room area. The steel columns are held in place by concrete footers and vertically span the height of four floors. Lateral support comes from both wide flange beams and open web steel joists. All beams are moment connected to columns. All supported floor slabs are composite slabs.

Structural
Any cast in place concrete will be placed by truck and chute for both above and below grade construction. For this project spread footings, grade beams, slab-on-grade, piers, and stair erection will be constructed via a cast in place method. Cast in place concrete walls will also range from a thickness of 10”-20”. For construction of curbs and sidewalks a hand trowel will be used to make sure all surfaces are of equal grade. A steel frame will be used for the bulk of the facility’s structural stability. Utilization of wide flange beams and columns will suffice for both the exterior support steel and gym framing. Accompanying the steel structure will be concrete and masonry bearing walls. The majority of the masonry work will be seen as the veneer exterior of the building. CMU walls can be found throughout the interior of the structure and will support the elevated floor slabs and composite metal decking. Connections are attained by way of bolted steel angles. Segmental concrete facing units are used for the curved and unique underground retaining wall which lies beneath the perimeter of the building.

Mechanical
The mechanical system will utilize variable air volume boxes with hot water reheat coils, water boilers, and air-cooled condensers. Most of the mechanical elements can be located on the roof or in the basement of the new building. New air handling units can be found on the auditorium and gym roofs, as well as the interior of the pool area. Demolition of the existing boiler room and construction of the new one will take place during Phase I of the project. Fire protection will be of great importance and a new alarm system will be installed throughout the high school. Preferred Fire Protection was the specialized contractor elected to install the new system.

Electrical
The electrical system will branch off of the existing power supply and a series of new transformers will be installed. The transformers will convert the incoming electricity from 5KV down to a 480/277V three-phase system. Some areas will also call for a 5KV to a 208/120V system. Power distribution will then be run both above and below grade. A wireless electrical signal will also be installed and ran to the high school stadium. The auxiliary sound system will be installed in all areas of Phase I construction. The sound system will be accompanied by new voice and data cabling systems, which are all major additions to the facility. Subsequently, a new back-up generator will be needed for temporary power outages. Being that this is a school building; the risk of having unavailable power is not one that can be taken.

Site Work
Phases I and 2A of the project are currently unexcavated and will need to be conducted for installation of the new gym, natatorium, and pool areas. Inclusion of new fire hydrants, underground domestic water tanks, and a new sanitary manhole were some of the big-ticket items on the project. Extensive underground sanitary piping and relocation of existing natural gas piping will also need to take place. During other phases of the project, minimal excavation will need to occur because a large portion of the site has been previously excavated. For the areas that will need to be, most of the drainage will be tied into existing 15” storm pipes and drains. A new bleeder drain line will also be installed to retain much of the sediment runoff that may accumulate from construction.