Learning by Design

Clark County Builds $144 Million in Career Tech Academies

The Southwest and Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academies aim to give Las Vegas students a jump on their careers and college.

By Tony IllIa

The modern high school has changed, replacing home economics and dodgeball with culinary arts and engineering. The Clark County School District is leading the educational charge by building two career and technical academies in the Las Vegas Valley, representing $144.3 million in development. The facilities are geared toward high school students learning a specialized trade, producing graduates ready to enter into the professional workforce or get a headstart on college training.

Pugsley, Simpson, Coulter Architects designed both schools, which total 13 separate buildings and over 350,000 sq ft. The schools share a similar design aesthetic and incorporate sustainable features such as daylighting and geo-thermal heat-cooling systems. (Photo courtesy McCarthy Building Cos.)

“The design of these schools and programs encourage teachers to make a direct connection between academic subjects and the career path,” says Paul Gerner, CCSD Facilities Division associate superintendent. “The physical design of the school makes the career path front and center as kids move within their academy spaces.”

The two facilities – one in the southwest, the other in the north valley – are designed by Las Vegas-based Pugsley, Simpson, Coulter Architects. Together, the projects combine for 13 buildings, totaling 356,160 sq ft, on 61.6 acres. Both are sustainable developments, using natural daylight, geothermal heat-cooling systems, recycled materials and low-flow plumbing fixtures.

Although neither will pursue LEED certification, they will still enjoy green building benefits.

Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy

advertisement

McCarthy Building Cos. of Las Vegas finished the $59-million, 130,700-sq-ft Veterans Tribute Career & Technical Academy at 2531 Vegas Drive in Las Vegas in July. It was built under a construction-manager-at-risk contract, coming in $100,000 under budget, school officials says.

The five-building complex is located on the north side of the existing Advanced Technologies Academy.

Buildings are single- and double-story, concrete tilt-wall structures, ranging in size from 10,726 to 53,809 sq ft. There were 150 panels cast onsite, measuring up to 15 ft wide, 50 ft tall and 17 in. thick. Fly ash, an industrial byproduct, was recycled and incorporated into panels, which weighed up to 200,000 lbs each.

McCarthy self-performed the concrete panel work.

“We had to mobilize the 300-ton crane five separate times due to the close proximity of the buildings,” says Don Dyer, McCarthy senior project manager. “Buildings were 30 ft apart in places and required a crane of that size to reach.”

The $59-million Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy, comprised of five one- and two-story tilt-up concrete structures, was completed this summer. There were 150 panels cast onsite, measuring up to 15 ft wide and 50 ft tall. The 17-in.-thick panels weighed up to 200,000 lbs each. (Photo courtesy McCarthy Building Cos.)

There are four academies: global studies, information technologies, business and public services, as well as a gymnasium. The buildings rest atop 180 wells that draw hot air 400 ft below where it’s dispersed, then cooled and pumped above. The system relies on Southern Nevada’s constant 75-80 degree earth temperature for efficient year-round heating and cooling that reduces energy costs.

Buildings use a heat-exhaust-recovery system and 100 individual air-control units that reduce waste. Structures are arranged to maximize daylight and make use of skylights and electronic light monitors.

The campus additionally has a $300,000 obstacle course for its public services academy, which serves as training grounds for emergency management, 911 operators and others. The facility is also shared with local fire and police officers.

The project, which broke ground April 2008, will initially serve 1,400 students when all four grade levels are open.

Southwest Career and Technical Academy

Las Vegas-based Sletten Construction of Nevada finished the $85.3-million, 225,460-sq-ft Southwest Career and Technical Academy at 7050 W. Shelbourne Ave., Las Vegas, in August. The eight building complex is being built under a construction-manager-at-risk contract, which officials say saved up to 30% in construction time.

The Southwest Career and Technical Academy is comprised of eight separate one- and two-story concrete tilt-wall buildings. The structures, to be connected via covered courtyards, are each given their own distinctive look and identity. (Photo courtesy Pugsley, Simpson, Coulter Architects)

The complex consists of six academies offering 11 programs, including studies in culinary, hospitality, nursing, web design and automotive technology.

The single- and double-story, concrete tilt-wall buildings are arranged to give each academy its own sense of identity.

“It has a community college feel, with buildings designed from the inside out where function generates the form,” says Wade Simpson, a partner with Pugsley, Simpson, Coulter Architects. “Each academy has a separate color accent that is subtle. Inside it’s a whole different feel.”

The academy also has general use areas, with administration offices, a library, computer labs, lecture hall, cafeteria and gymnasium. There are covered courtyards between buildings, as well as desert landscaping, 473 surface parking spaces, baseball and soccer fields and basketball and volleyball courts.

Lab spaces have rubber-mat floors, while classrooms and corridors have smooth-finish, stained-concrete flooring.

The academy uses a ground-source heat-pump system for energy savings. Water from the building recirculates water below the earth’s surface and returns about 5 to 10 degrees cooler.

“Probably the biggest sustainability aspect is the use of ground-source heat pumps, saving us about 35% on energy and saving millions of gallons of water per year not lost to the air through a typical cooling tower,” Gerner says. “We take a very long term view about lifecycle on these schools. If we tear down and replace these schools 75 or 100 years from now, you’ll still have a serviceable ground loop in place to hook the replacement building up to.”

Useful Sources
http://schools.ccsd.net/swcta
http://schools.ccsd.net/vtcta

Key Players

Southwest C&TA
Owner: CCSD
Architect: Pugsley, Simpson, Coulter Architects
CM at Risk: Sletten Construction of Nevada
Engineers: TJK; Petty & Associates; JW Zunino; Mendenhall Smith; Nevada by Design

Veterans Tribute Career and Technical Academy
Owner: CCSD
Architect: Pugsley, Simpson, Coulter Architects
CM at Risk: McCarthy Building Cos.
Engineers: TJK; Petty & Assoc.; Civil Works; MSI; HillClark
Subcontractors: Pahor Mechanical; TAB Contractors; Stewart & Sundell Concrete

Click here for next Feature Story >>