Gilbane Building Company Breaks Ground on Two K-12 Projects in Massachusetts

Gilbane Building Company broke ground on the new Florence Roche Elementary School in Groton, Massachusetts and the West Elementary School/Shawsheen Pre-School in Andover, Massachusetts.

The New West Elementary School and Shawsheen Pre-School
On June 3, local and state officials joined representatives from the Andover School District, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, PMA Consultants, Gilbane Building Company, and SMMA, to celebrate the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new 170,000-square-foot West Elementary School and Shawsheen Pre-School.

Set to be built directly behind the existing West Elementary School, with less than 30 feet between the new and old foundations, the site is also flanked by three distinct wetland boundaries. The Gilbane team has developed detailed site logistics, traffic management, safety and project phasing plans to preserve parking, outdoor play space, bus circulation and ensure that there is minimal disruption to school operations during construction.

The new school will feature modern, flexible educational spaces that promote student collaboration. Classrooms will be clustered by grade level and positioned around a central learning common. To encourage nature-based learning, the school will also feature a roof garden and boardwalks that take advantage of nearby wetlands.

West Elementary School is set for completion in 2024.

 

Florence Roche Elementary School
On June 6, officials from Groton Public Schools, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Town of Groton joined students, educators and representatives from Leftfield, Studio G and Gilbane Building Company to celebrate the official groundbreaking of the 110,000-square-foot Florence Roche Elementary School.

The new facility will accommodate 645 students in grades kindergarten through grade four and offer a solution to address growing concerns regarding the state of the existing facility, originally constructed in the 1950s.

The school will be organized into grade-level learning neighborhoods and feature shared common spaces, such as a media center, an outdoor learning lab, a STEM lab with outdoor patio for student projects, and music and art classrooms. Through multiple design iterations and testing of different areas on the campus for the proposed new elementary school, the ideal location was determined to be behind the existing elementary school.

The new Florence Roche Elementary School is slated for completion in 2024.