State-of-the-Art Facility Highlights Construction Leader’s Project Management, Regulatory Expertise

MOUNT AIRY & DURHAM N.C. — John S Clark Company, LLC (JS Clark) has successfully completed construction of a state-of-the-art, 151,000 square foot, middle school in Durham, North Carolina which is seeking LEED certification.

Lucas Middle School is Durham Public Schools’ newest facility and is slated to open in August 2012 with capacity for 640 students, providing eight classrooms per grade level.

“The LEED certification process definitely brings challenges to projects like this one,” Nathan Long, JS Clark’s project manager for the build, said.

“There is a ton of documentation involved and you have to carefully pay attention to the content, make sure contractors are sending the information needed on time, involving a lot of management of extraneous data in the midst of a complex schedule and plan on top of all the responsibilities that come with a complex, high-end build in the public sector,” he explained.

The aesthetically pleasing building consists of a gym, auxiliary gym, media center, kitchen, cafeteria, auditorium, band/chorus rooms, and two two-story classroom wings.   The school grounds, located next to a public park, include a football, softball, baseball, soccer, and practice football fields.   With room for computer classes, video production, a full arts program, and even a greenhouse, the school features unique architecture and wired and wireless infrastructure for cutting-edge technology. Lucas Middle School is seeking Gold Level certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

Throughout the Lucas Middle School and other similar projects, JS Clark has worked hard to master the art of documentation and regulatory compliance that comes with LEED certification. By successfully completing several high-end buildings that have gone on to achieve LEED certification, the company has developed a functional set of practices and multiple state and federal contacts to assist in the multiple facets of building to LEED specifications. This experience allows JS Clark to help clients navigate the path to successful certification without sacrificing time or adding costs in developing quality buildings contributing to our nation’s drive toward energy independence.

Lucas Middle School was the second biggest project Long had worked on, the previous being two schools rolled into one project. He brought his experience and expertise garnered from working on large-scale commercial and educational jobs to this particular project, which entailed managing roughly 150 on-site workers each day and 25 vendors working on mechanical, HVAC, electrical and plumbing aspects of the building construction. In addition, Long held weekly meetings with representatives from Durham Schools to keep them updated on progress.

Aside from the massive amounts of data reporting necessary for the LEED certification process, the school project posed multiple challenges for Long and his crew. During construction he was forced to deal with multiple contractor defaults, and since the project was a bonded one Long had to search for the right fit for bonded replacements. The project also changed in scope approximately 15%, which forced Long and his talented JS Clark team to quickly pivot and adjust their intricate schedule for the multi-faceted project to finish on time.

“I’m proud of the job, it’s a fantastic facility with some really cool features like daylight sensors for lights to help conserve energy and lots of natural lighting and high windows. It’ll be a great school,” Long said.

JS Clark continues its leadership of building high-end educational facilities throughout the state in addition to other projects of significance and scope, including a middle school in Newton-Conover opening August 20th; UNC Wilmington’s new teaching lab; Fayetteville’s New Century Middle School; and Fayetteville Technical Community College. During 2012, the company will have completed over $100 million of projects related to education in North Carolina.