Charter School for Applied Technology – School Construction

Property Description

Charter School for Applied Technology – 2303 Kenmore Ave., Tonawanda, NY 14027

Client Objective

Charter School requires modern educational facility to accommodate 700 students

In early 2001, Edison Schools, the country’s leading private manager of public schools, approached Uniland to help them identify a site for a new school. Requirements for a new academic facility included:

• Room for 700 students
• Occupancy in time for the new school year
• Classrooms designed for a technologically enriched curriculum, and longer school days
• A site plan that catered to an influx of traffic from faculty, staff, students and parents

Strategy

Transform an outdated industrial building through adaptive re-use design

Uniland quickly found a site with a World War II-era office building scheduled for demolition and prime for redevelopment. Uniland’s Planning and Design and Construction Management departments efficiently developed schematic drawings that included a fast-track project schedule and cost estimate. Client approval for Uniland’s plan came in just 24-hours, and a Design/Build contract quickly followed.

The building, a former Curtiss-Wright Aviation administration facility, would transform into a 76,000 SF, three-story school. It needed extensive structural reinforcement to floors, walls and corridors, as well as a library, cafeteria, gymnasium, elevator, roof, mechanical systems, and special technology infrastructure. Despite extensive alterations to the building interior, the architectural heritage of the original structure was preserved, including the original stone-embossed Curtiss-Wright Aviation logo at the front entrance.

Results

Students are welcomed to new school within seven months

Uniland Construction delivered the Charter School of Applied Technologies in time for the new school year. In addition to modern classrooms, the new facility includes energy efficient windows to maximize natural light, a new cafeteria, and a connecting 6,000-square-foot gymnasium. The project received the Adaptive Re-Use Project of the Year Award from the local chapter of NAIOP, the nationwide commercial real estate development association.

As an indication of Edison School’s satisfaction, the firm approached Uniland several years later to convert two other industrial buildings within the same complex into a new 52,000-square-foot high school. Uniland fast-tracked the $6.9 million project to a successful conclusion.