Fields Road Elementary School, located in Gaithersburg, Maryland and designed by Proffitt & Associates out of Frederick, Maryland. It consisted of a 25,162 sq.ft. wrap-around wing addition, miscellaneous site improvements, and interior renovations of existing 46,623 sq.ft. area school facility that was originally constructed by Henley Construction Co., Inc. for Montgomery County Public Schools back in the early 1970’s. The project was originally cast by MCPS on an eighteen(18) month time frame with the building permit being issued in February of 2007, whereupon we took the initiative to re-sequence the original project phasing and shortened the overall job duration a full six(6) months by our working with all trades and suppliers involved to attack all of the critical interior renovation work the first summer break in lieu of splitting it into parts and stretching over two(2) summers as envisioned by MCPS and the designers. Formal use & occupancy of the facility was obtained from the City of Gaithersburg twelve (12) months later in February 2008.
Construction of the wing addition required extensive cut/fill operations around the existing occupied school building, with lengthy runs of cast-in-place concrete foundation retaining walls being required due to questionable existing soil conditions across the areas of new construction. A single story structural steel frame with CMU/face brick masonry exterior form the building shell, with conventional CMU interior walls, ACT ceilings, resilient floor/base, ...etc. A complete new chiller plant was installed to service the new wing addition, along with a single new Energy Recovery Unit (ERU) feeding individual heat pump units for each classroom space. Interior renovations included gutting and rebuilding an existing four(4) classroom wing, and installing new fire alarm, wet pipe sprinkler, HVAC mains, and acoustical ceiling systems throughout the complete existing occupied portions of the building. Site improvements included but were not limited to construction of a large permanent storm water management pond and appurtenant underground storage structures, a large new staff/visitors parking lot, new water/sanitary sewer feeds to the building, new concrete sidewalks and curb/gutter, milling/overlaying of the existing asphalt paving, and construction of new playgrounds and modular play equipment at the rear of the site.
What was most challenging on this project, outside of the dramatically shortened time frame, was effecting the interior renovations and constructing the new wing addition with the existing school remaining fully open, occupied, and operating without displacing staff or students at any time during the normal school year. The City of Gaithersburg, who was responsible for and oversaw all required building inspections and life safety issues was extremely sensitive to emergency egress and separation of construction personnel and equipment operations from staff and students, but proved to be a very effective partner, along with MCPS, in making this project an all around success for all parties involved.
Proud of Our Record. Proud of Your Trust. Client satisfaction is a primary objective of Henley Construction Company, Inc. We are proud of the fact that since 1964 every one of our quality construction projects has been delivered to satisfied customers on-time and within budget. We are grateful for our clients' trust, and are dedicated to continuing this record.
