Photo: Randal Vanderveer

Renovations encompassed more than 450,000 sq ft and involved the complete demolition or gutting of every building on the school’s campus. Facilities included offices, classrooms, a science wing, cafeteria, auditorium, band hall, choir hall, library, gymnasium, agriculture building, ROTC space and common areas.

To keep personnel and students safe, general contractor Adolfson & Peterson built emergency egress corridors. With entrance points at existing exit doors leading to parking lots, the corridors had to pass directly through the construction site.

They were constructed along the wall of the existing building and through the construction of new buildings. The enclosed, lit corridors were constructed with a one-hour fire rating, could withstand 90 mph winds and had emergency exit lighting.

Additionally, the majority of the new construction was built inches away from the existing occupied building. The job required stringent safety measures and tight coordination with school administration and project team to ensure noise or crane operations did not create interference.

Crews closed in or covered windows and built temporary walls over previous existing exits after the emergency egress corridors were constructed.

Key Players

Submitted by: Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Developer/owner: Birdville Independent School District, Haltom City, Texas
General contractor: Adolfson & Peterson Construction, Richardson, Texas
Architect: HKS Inc., Dallas
Civil engineer: Schrickel Rollins & Associates Inc., Arlington, Texas
Structural engineer: Structural Engenuity Inc., Dallas
MEP engineer: Image Engineering Group LTD, Grapevine, Texas