Rice Creek School
Port Wentworth, Ga.    
Award of Merit

Owner Savannah Chatham School System
Lead Design Firm BRPH Architects & Engineers
General Contractor Gilbane Building Co.
Civil Engineer Long Engineering
Structural Engineer Willet Engineering
MEP Engineer BRPH Architect-Engineers

Construction of the 142,000-sq-ft Rice Creek K-8 School on a 27-acre greenfield site was hampered by frequent, heavy rains that drenched the project site. With the resulting conditions threatening the already compressed tilt panel erection schedule, the project team worked with subcontractors on a solution that included renting crane mats to surround the entire building, allowing the cranes to traverse the site and maintaining construction progress under the extreme conditions. The school features a media center, music and art classrooms, science labs and a full gymnasium designed to be a shared facility with civic and community groups. The building includes sustainable features such as low-VOC materials and recycled content.