Early in the current decade, violence within the community of Northeast Central Durham, N.C., escalated to the point where school safety officers at Holton Junior High School feared for their own safety. The school eventually closed and the property sat vacant for five years, during which time vandals and drive-by shooters destroyed most of the windows, and the 60,000-sf building became a haven for drug users and the homeless. The less said about the rodent and bird infestations, the better.
After neighbors demanded that Durham Public Schools take proper responsibility for its property, the district partnered with the city, the county, and Duke Healthcare to rework the former school into a multiuse community center. Rehabbed for a scant $16.68 million by the Building Team of Davis Kane Architects, Skanska (CM at risk), Heery International (program manager), En-Tech (MEP engineer), and Stroud, Pence and Associates (structural engineer), the facility reopened in July. Holton offers the community sorely needed services, including career and technical education classes, a recreation and wellness center, an auditorium, childcare and after-school programs, and a health clinic operated by Duke Healthcare.
Also helping to revitalize the community was Skanska’s decision to hire and train small-firm subcontractors, several of whom live in the neighborhood. The Building Team also achieved 46.5% minority participation on the project.
“We have a lot of empty buildings like this in our communities, said Reconstruction Awards judge Darlene Ebel, Director of Facility Information Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “They had a small budget and they did a lot of good with the money.” BD+C
PROJECT SUMMARY
Building Team
Submitting firm: Heery International (program manager)
Owner/developer: Durham Public Schools
Architect: Davis Kane Architects
CM at risk: Skanska USA Building Inc.
MEP engineer: En-tech Engineering
Structural engineer: Stroud, Pence and Associates Ltd.
General Information
Size: 60,000 gsf
Construction cost: $16.68 million
Construction time: August 2009 to July 2010
Delivery method: CM at risk
Related Stories
Architects | Nov 9, 2021
Download BD+C’s 2021 Design Innovation Report
AEC and development firms share where new ideas come from, and what makes them click.
Architects | Nov 9, 2021
Download BD+C’s 10 Predictions for the Construction Industry in 2022
Our prognostications focus on how AEC firms will streamline and modernize their projects and operations.
Architects | Nov 9, 2021
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects announces renaming
Founded by Cesar Pelli with partners Fred Clarke and Diana Balmori in 1977, the firm began its legacy as Cesar Pelli & Associates at its first office in New Haven, Connecticut.
Movers+Shapers | Nov 7, 2021
Passage of $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill expected to spur stronger construction activity
AEC firms see federal investment as historic
Architects | Nov 2, 2021
What rugby can teach us about designing the workspace of the future
Two veteran workplace designers offer a sports-based analogy for designing agile spaces to meet the needs of an evolving workforce.
Adaptive Reuse | Nov 1, 2021
CallisonRTKL explores converting decommissioned cruise ships for housing
The rapid increase in cruise ship decommissioning during the last 18 months has created a unique opportunity to innovate and adapt these large ships.
Sustainability | Oct 28, 2021
Reducing embodied carbon in construction, with sustainability leader Sarah King
Sustainability leader Sarah King explains how developers and contractors can use the new EC3 software tool to reduce embodied carbon in their buildings.
Cladding and Facade Systems | Oct 26, 2021
14 projects recognized by DOE for high-performance building envelope design
The inaugural class of DOE’s Better Buildings Building Envelope Campaign includes a medical office building that uses hybrid vacuum-insulated glass and a net-zero concrete-and-timber community center.
AEC Tech | Oct 25, 2021
Token Future: Will NFTs revolutionize the design industry?
How could non-fungible tokens (NFTs) change the way we value design? Woods Bagot architect Jet Geaghan weighs risk vs. reward in six compelling outcomes.
Giants 400 | Oct 22, 2021
2021 Retail Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. retail building sector
Gensler, CallisonRTKL, Kimley-Horn, and Whiting-Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest retail sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.
