VAA provided structural engineering for a new performing arts center addition to the existing Breck School. This facility is a structural slab on piles and grade beams with masonry bearing walls and joist and deck roof framing and includes several different floor elevations. The new space provides performing spaces, classrooms, and practice rooms tied into the existing building along two sides of the new expansion.
The project also included a new entry addition, a dining and media center addition that tied into the existing building on two sides, a small maintenance and grounds office tucked into the existing building on three sides.
A third large component of the project included a new field house that is attached to the existing facility by a connecting link that was also designed by VAA. The field house is a pile supported structural slab on grade. It is used for basketball, tennis, and as a general gymnasium. The structural slab of this 280’ x 122’ building has performed exceptionally well, showing basically no cracking. The structure has precast wall panels and long span joists spanning 120’ providing for no columns in the building. There is a mezzanine at one end of the facility and locker rooms and showers in the link connecting the facility to the school.
Interfacing with this building posed potential challenges as there were no existing drawings. The existing building was built in a number of different phases utilizing a number of different construction types over many years. Parts of the building had been built of different structural systems including long span wood framing for the roofs, metal deck and joists, block and brick, structural clay tile. The building also included several different floor elevations that the new additions were required to match up with.
These challenges were addressed by our team working hands on, going out and looking at the existing conditions. We worked closely with the architect and facilities director to determine what practical solutions were, what their real needs were and how adjustments could be made to the design to meet their needs as well as keep costs under control. Investigation, design and construction were done within the aggressive schedule established without disrupting school activities.
