Boston Preparatory Charter School

OVERVIEW

The student population at Boston Preparatory Charter School has been growing and space became limited within the existing building, creating a need for the school to rent additional buildings in separate locations. Looking for a solution to bring their students all back together in one state-of-the-art learning facility, W.T. Rich was hired to build their new school. 

Phase 1: This phase included the construction of a new 49,800 SF facility consisting of a middle school, high school and gymnasium.  The new school building includes administrative offices, classrooms, cafeteria with full commercial kitchen and a storage area. The gymnasium was a standalone pre-engineered metal structure that tied into the new school. 

Prior to the completion of Phase 1, Boston Prep won the annual lottery and was awarded more chairs than they had applied for, thus leading to a second expansion of the new school.  

Phase 2: This phase included the construction of a 32,804 SF addition to the existing new middle and high school. The expansion is a three-story structure with classrooms, science labs, academic support spaces and an additional cafeteria. The adjacent new school building was fully occupied and operational throughout construction of this phase. 

HIGHLIGHTS & CHALLENGES

• Construction took place on a tight urban site with three sides adjacent to residential neighborhoods. Safety and communication were key with Boston Prep staff and the surrounding local residents. 

• During excavation, foundation ledge was encountered.  Due to our depth of experience, W.T. Rich handled this unaccounted for obstruction with ease; our team was able to manage the cost appropriately and adjust the workflow to stay on schedule.  The hammered ledge was re-used for site retention. 

• W.T. Rich created a cost savings for Boston Prep by re-using project soils as urban fill to raise grades in the parking lot.  This saved the project in trucking and disposal costs. 

• Another significant cost savings for this project was the utilization of a prefabricated metal panel gymnasium that tied into the existing steel structure.