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Masonry Industry Promotion Group
Project Focus Masonry
Makes the Honor Roll in Central Valley Masonry played a starring role in the design of the two Central Valley high schools-recently completed at a combined total project cost of approximately $80 million. As architects we have never done schools where masonry was such a pervasive presence in the overall design-as the dominant material both interior and exterior.
This dominance was prescribed by the owner. Central Valley School District insisted on the durability and low maintenance of masonry. In addition, the client desired the richness of the material and the institutional stature and presence that masonry can provide. These goals were realized in these two, very successful 239,000 sq. ft. high schools- which have received universal rave reviews from students and tax-paying patrons during two days of grand opening in August, 2002. On the exterior, masonry was visually very appropriate for these large buildings. The unitized nature of brick with ground-face block (and matching precast accent pieces) was very effective in making the building scale feel inviting, comfortable and approachable. This feeling of human scale was no small consideration in two story buildings that averaged 40 feet tall over two-block long by one block wide footprints (640' x 340'). But with masonry the opportunities for texture and articulation on a huge building are abundant. The corbelling, ornament, detail, shade, shadow and texture of the exterior combined to create an exterior image of both strength as an institution and warmth for the individual. On the interior, masonry played a huge role as well. All of the major interior walls in public spaces and corridors were built with concrete block-all spurred on by the emphatic insistence of the district maintenance department. To avoid the utilitarian, bullet-proof image of ordinary concrete block, we turned to ground-face block for use throughout. The ground-face block's stone-like quality puts the entire finish on a higher esthetic plane and yields rich natural aggregate colors that warm the overall interior. For this ground-face concrete block we fussed with some custom aggregate mixes to get the right color complement to the interior design themes as well as the exterior color palette. In each school ground-face block is introduced on the exterior as an accent-and then explodes on the interior-giving the owner both the universal durability and warmth of this product. Without a doubt, masonry played a huge role in these significant buildings. In our view, no other material could realize these many design dimensions to these significant high school projects. Steve McNutt,
Principal-in-Charge CENTRAL
VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL UNIVERSITY
HIGH SCHOOL
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© 2003 - 2006 Janet Crosby all rights reserved
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