Project Overview
For more than 75 years, Boys Town School has provided safe and inspiring learning experiences for students just outside of Omaha, Nebraska. The school, which offers year-round academic classes, innovative technology, and welcoming learning environments, aims to provide hope and healing for children and families who are experiencing roadblocks in life, and particularly in their educational journeys. Father Edward J. Flanagan created Boys Town with the mindset, “When you help a child today, you write the history of tomorrow.” Fulfilling this motto and Boys Town’s mission to change the way that America cares for children and families requires a top-notch educational facility. When the original Boys Town School, which was constructed in 1948, was no longer able to serve that need, school officials turned to design firm DLR Group and Enterprise Precast Concrete to design and construct the new, 110,000 ft2 Boys Town Education Center.
Pride and Precast Concrete
The overarching design goal for Boys Town Education Center was to capture the spirit of place and celebrate it. As DLR Group worked through the design process, architects paid special attention to every detail, from the vertical and horizontal juxtaposition of form to brick and stone detailing. Students and staff members at Boys Town had also expressed the need for more privacy within the new facility. And, with the campus known for its strong architectural aesthetic and historical buildings, Boys Town Education Center required a design that would allow it to blend in with other facilities while simultaneously projecting a state-of-the-art image. To meet these ambitious goals, the team uses more than 700 pieces of precast concrete in the form of insulated sandwich panels, solid panels, double tees, hollow core, and coping.
“Precast concrete was selected for the project for two primary advantages: It accelerated the construction schedule and provided the aesthetic flexibility desired by the design team,” said Martin Lane, business development manager for Enterprise Precast Concrete. “In terms of aesthetics, precast concrete enabled DLR Group to incorporate mosaic wall panels, graphic concrete panels, and panels with varying depths and finishes, including brick and granite.”
The project incorporates both insulated and solid precast concrete wall panels into the building envelope. The assembly of nearly 400 panels met the request for a proper blend of privacy and external views made by Boys Town’s students and faculty while also providing energy-saving and structural benefits. The insulated panels, which boast a 4-4-4 or 4-4-8 configuration, have 4 in. of extruded-polystyrene insulation, are structurally composite panels using carbon-fiber shear grid between wythes to eliminate thermal transfer. These panels provide an R-value of more than 20, exceeding the R-value of 13.4 required by code. The solid panels are 8 or 10 in. thick and primarily serve as interior load-bearing panels.
A centerpiece of the project is a 16 × 30 ft mural wall featuring state-of-the-art concrete technology that welcomes students and visitors to the Education Center. The mural, which celebrates the campus’s history, depicts a montage of Boys Town photos. To ensure that the monument wall had mass when viewed from the side, the team at Enterprise Precast Concrete manufactured two panels with a mitered corner, around which the mural wraps seamlessly. The graphic concrete technology used for the mural is unique to the precast concrete industry, and the resulting artwork inspires a feeling of pride for students and visitors at Boys Town Education Center.
According to Vanessa Schutte, AIA, ALEP, K-12 education central region leader for DLR Group, precast concrete provided many advantages on this project. Of critical importance, its use expedited construction, which allowed the team to meet the project’s aggressive schedule. During construction, Boys Town used noneducational spaces within other campus buildings to continue serving its students, but these activities conflicted with regular usage of those spaces. To facilitate the school’s prompt return to normal operations, the project team designed and fabricated precast concrete components while the existing building was demolished and new footings and foundations were installed, saving considerable time when compared to traditional construction methods. Ultimately, precast concrete provides a durable, resilient, and energy-efficient building that will serve the educational community for decades to come.
“Boys Town is a globally recognized organization that believes every child deserves a future, every family deserves to stay together, and every community deserves to thrive,” Schutte said. “This education center serves as a tool to help Boys Town continue its mission.”
Mason Nichols is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based writer and editor who has covered the precast concrete industry since 2013. |