With more than a dozen simultaneous projects including two new campuses, Mobile County Public Schools (MCPS) needed a diverse group of architects working concurrently to deliver speed to market. HPM brought structure in motion by coordinating the preconstruction efforts all while providing accurate and consistent reporting to the school’s public-access website.

TURNING A CHALLENGE INTO SUCCESS
HPM
initially identified a suitable location which would utilize Citronelle High School’s existing facilities. However, prior to design completion, soil conditions for that building site were found to be unacceptable and required swift and precise planning to locate available land. Our HPM team undertook an enormous effort to find acceptable land to purchase and keep the new construction project on track for a spring 2016 completion. This potential setback provided HPM with an opportunity to provide value to our client and share sound solutions to overcome a potential obstacle to the on-time completion of the project.

DETAILS:

• A&E/consultant selection
• 18 projects
• Mass qualifications and RFPs
• Complete in 60 days
• Saved $ vs. target cost
• Savings= 1/2 HPM total cost

When Jefferson County School District launched its capital building program, HPM found a 15% cost savings in the budget during the preconstruction and construction phases resulting in more than $58 million in excess. The savings allowed for athletic facilities not originally in the plans to move forward.

Through intentional planning, detailed cost management, focused value engineering, diligent prequalifications, quality control, and effective communication, ten additional projects were added to the scope of the program, and HPM’s fees were covered in the savings, too.

Vestavia Hills City Schools (VHCS) began a process of surveys, town hall meetings and facility assessments about nine months prior to engaging HPM to provide a planning and preconstruction analysis.

During the information gathering, the district also engaged a local architect who had worked with them for many years designing and performing various improvements, additions and renovations. As a result, VHCS and the architect began to formulate a plan that would provide facility solutions to many of the needs identified in the town hall meetings and surveys, and VHCS considered moving forward with a large bond program.

HPM was introduced into the equation to help right-size the bond and determine the phasing plan. To review the proposed facility improvements and to evaluate the cost and phasing of each proposed project, HPM performed facility tours and investigations which uncovered many additional issues not yet anticipated in the original plan. HPM also took a step back to study demographic data and enrollment statistics, and we discovered that some of the proposed projects would only provide temporary solutions.

By combining the growth projections, facility assessments, phasing plans and cost analysis, HPM provided VHCS with six separate studies with variations that included concepts for property acquisition/disposition, grade realignments and alternative facility improvements to address long-term capacity issues.

Across numerous unique projects, HPM saved the owner both time and money, while keeping the program on track.

Cahaba Heights Elementary School

• Two new additions – gym, cafeteria, classrooms and media center• Additional parking and carpool circulation required phased construction and a routing plan

East Elementary School

• Adjacent to a golf course that was also under construction at the time, so HPM met with the team behind that project to develop a joint storm sewer plan• State-of-the-art kitchen and cafeteria

Dolly Ridge Elementary

• HPM recommended that the district purchase the school facility from Jefferson County and developed a plan to construct the addition while the previous owner was still operating and leasing the building• 14 new classrooms, bathrooms, multi-purpose rooms, storage rooms, a calming room, office space and enlarged carpool circulation• Relocated and updated playground equipment

Liberty Park Elementary School

• 14 classroom additions

West Elementary School

• State-of-the-art kitchen, cafeteria and major renovation to existing multi needs classrooms

Pizitz Middle School

• HPM recommended that VHCS purchase a former high school building from neighboring Hoover. Facility was completely renovated to fit the needs of a middle school.• New choir room, band room, gymnasium, baseball and softball fields• Additional parking and carpool circulation space

As a new school district, Pelham City Schools maintained a limited number of staff to oversee capital improvement and renovation projects for a comprehensive phasing plan.

HPM provided the guidance and leadership with skills and expertise ranging from planning, preconstruction, estimating, project management, scheduling, field observation, quality control and contract negotiations from a team of 12 HPM experts that equaled approximately two full-time employees in cost to the client.

PROJECTS:

• Pelham Ridge Elementary: New construction of 800-student facility
• Pelham Oaks Elementary: Renovations to existing Valley Intermediate School
• Pelham Middle School: New construction of 800-student facility
• Pelham High School: Renovations

A high school over a decade in the making was bound to be modern and high-tech, with all of the amenities a student or teacher could ask for.

Jasper High School was in disrepair in 2005 when the school system purchased the 102-acre lot that would be home to the new, greatly improved campus. The new school consolidates the local middle and high school and offers educational, vocational, arts and athletic facilities like none other — 69 classrooms, a lunchroom with seating for 400, a theater with stadium seating for 1,250, two gyms, a practice field, a performing arts area and a JROTC facility with indoor shooting range, with more additions on the way.

BIG DEMANDS, STRATEGIC SAVINGS
The creation of Jasper High School started in the middle of 2000, and it was truly a project for the whole community — teachers, administrators and city leaders all provided input on what the new school would look like and how it would function. Unfortunately, the dream school conceived of by the Board of Education wasn’t anywhere close to the budget approved by the City of Jasper. HPM worked with the board and the design team to develop a plan that met their needs within the available funds. HPM’s leadership during the design, bid and construction phase resulted in a school with all of the amenities a board of education could hope for — and a project originally estimated at $77 million was ultimately completed for less than $55 million.

DETAILS:

• JROTC facility, including shooting range
• Competition gymnasium with seating for 2,000
• Culinary cooking lab
• Softball field
• Band, choral and drama rooms
• 1,250-seat theater

HPM first partnered with the Hoover City School District for the construction of what would be the largest high school in Alabama.

Despite a difficult build site and millions of dollars of potential cost overruns, Spain Park High School was completed on time and at considerable savings to the school district. Several years later, when the school district prepared to build the new Riverchase Elementary School, it called in HPM to make the process easy and affordable, and the relationship continued for the construction of Berry Middle School.

MITIGATING CHANGE, SAVING MONEY
Change orders are expected in construction projects — it seems to be the nature of the industry. But they can start to add up if gone unchecked. During the course of construction on Spain Park High School, dozens and dozens of change orders added up to $3 million. Smart value engineering by HPM, including extensive review and negotiation with the contractor and a complete redesign of several miles of sanitary sewer piping, saved the owner $2.9 million of that $3 million. While maintaining a positive relationship with the construction team, HPM was able to deliver the school of Hoover City Schools’ dreams and come in under budget — paying for our own fee several times over with just those savings on change orders.

SCHOOLS:

• Riverchase Elementary School
• Berry Middle School
• Spain Park High School