Innovative Concrete School in Ohio Showcased at School Board Conference

Combining three local schools onto one donated site in partial floodway was the challenge presented to the Columbus, OH, office of Legat Architects by the local school district in New Boston, OH, reports NRMCA Senior Director, Building Innovations, Donn Thompson. Attendees at a presentation organized by Ohio Concrete learned the role concrete played in consolidating the buildings in the second poorest school district in Ohio into a single, safer, better performing facility (seen here). The district was the only one in southern Ohio with buildings all more than 50 years old, Thompson noted.

The final design included input from a committee of 40 community members, including staff, parents and students. “The kids know we love them and are going to provide for them, and that’s what this building did,” said Mike Staggs, former superintendent. Legat senior architect Denis Paben explained how Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) were used to enclose three separate color-coded learning pods, extending end to end across the narrow buildable portion of the site.

Each learning area is enclosed with ICFs to provide enhanced energy performance and security. The learning pod layout leads to a combined gym, lunchroom and assembly space partially enclosed in glass to create a bright, active shared environment. This area is supported by a pier supported concrete pad bridging above a small portion of the floodway area.

Thompson introduced the program with an overview of the features and benefits of various ready mixed concrete systems used successfully to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of schools. Samples of ICFs were used to illustrate the features and benefits provided by the solid concrete exterior walls.

NRMCA partnered with Ohio Concrete and several ICF manufacturers to exhibit both school building as well as pavement applications with concrete at the event, serving as a technical resource for over 4,000 architects, engineers and school administrators in attendance.

For more information, contact Wayne Moening, senior promotion director, Ohio Concrete at Wayne@OhioConcrete.org; NRMCA Senior Vice President, Local Paving, Phil Kresge at pkresge@nrmca.org or Donn Thompson at dthompson@nrmca.org.