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Coolidge High School

Building Name

6315 5th St NW

Washington, DC 20011 

Location

Summer 2017 - August 2019

Construction Dates

District of Columbia Public Schools

Occupant Name

Education

Occupancy Type

360,000 SF

Size

68 FT

Height

4 + Basement

Number of Stories

Design Build (Turner – GMP, Southland – Lump Sum)

Project Delivery Type

$137M

Project Cost

Renovation

Project Type

Building Statistics

PROJECT TEAM

DGS Project Manager(s): Darrell Hardie, Jahdal McKenzie 

Architects: Architecture Incorporated and Fanning Howey 

General Contractors: Turner Construction 

Mechanical Engineer: Southland Industries 

Electrical Engineer: Mona Electric 

Civil Engineer: Joseph J Magnolia Inc. 

Structural Engineer: A&F Engineering

Coolidge High School is a historically significant public high school located in Washington, DC. With the current renovation project underway, Coolidge High School will become both a high school and middle school designed for almost 1,600 students. Because it was important to create two separate and distinct entrances, the building was designed to have the high school at the north end of the building and the middle school at the south end. The high school maintains its historic entrance on the west side of the site while a new entry is created for the middle school on the south side. In order to minimize the new construction and not compete with the existing building, space was captured through the use of courtyards: The High School Atrium and Cafeteria Atrium. These atriums respect the historic background of the building while incorporating contemporary elements in the new construction such as skylights. In addition to the atriums, the new construction will incorporate new classrooms, laboratories and other miscellaneous rooms. The auditorium will be renovated and restored to updated contemporary standards.  Overall, the project is separated into six sections: A, B, C, D, E, F.

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BUILDING ENCLOSURE

Even with the new renovation, Coolidge High School still depicts is history with a brick veneer façade with masonry wall ties. In this order, the exterior wall consists of an air space, 5/8” sheathing, 1.2” continuous polyiso, an air barrier R-19 Batt insulation and 5/8” gypsum wall board on 6” cold formed framing. For an aesthetic appeal, the building’s façade has cast stone veneer at both the bottom and top of the wall.  

 

Coolidge High School contains a variety of windows as well in different sizes. The windows range in their glazing types; some of them are fully tempered glass, heat strengthened glass, low emissivity coated glass and fire rated glass.  

 

The roof is a R-25 roof system with reinforced single ply membrane on a 5/8” protection board over 5” polyiso. There is also a green roof on the middle school. 

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SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES

Coolidge High School is LEED Gold and utilizes a green roof as well as bioretention ponds to encourage sustainability. 

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ZONING

Coolidge High School is located in Washington, DC Zone District R-1-B. The information provided is from the DC Zoning Handbook.

 

According to the purposes of the R-1-B zone are to: 

  • Protect quiet residential areas now developed with detached dwellings and adjoining vacant areas likely to be developed for those purposes; and 

  • Stabilize the residential areas and promote a suitable environment for family life. 

The R-1-B zone is intended to provide areas predominantly developed with detached houses on moderately sized lots.

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APPLICABLE CODES

Building

Gas

Mechanical

Plumbing

Electrical

Fire Protection

Energy 

2013 District of Columbia Building Code

2012 ICC Fuel Gas Code

2013 District of Columbia Mechanical Code

2013 District of Columbia Plumbing Code

National Electric Code NFPA 70 & NEC 2011

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) / 2013 NFPA 12, 14, 20, 24

2013 District of Columbia Energy Conservation Code

HISTORICAL REQUIREMENTS

There are no historical codes or requirements that are relevant to Coolidge High School.

PRIMARY ENGINEERING SYSTEMS

CONSTRUCTION

Coolidge High School is undergoing a complete renovation of the interior space with a small amount of additional new construction. This resulted in the project being split into two main phases: demolition and new construction. For various areas of the building, these phases overlapped as worked progressed. The renovation for Coolidge High School began in the summer of 2017 and will commence in August of 2019.

 

This project is a design-build project with Turner Construction as the general contractor. Turner Construction is a widely known construction company with locations all across the country and a headquarters in New York. Turner Construction was contracted for $137 million. The building was divided into six different zones: A, B, C, D, E, and F which are shown on the figure above under Project Team.

ELECTRICAL AND LIGHTING

The power system that serves Coolidge High School is a pair of 3000-amp services. It previously used a 120/208 service system, but now uses a separate underground 277/480 electrical service with the renovation. The new system feeds the school’s building mechanical and lighting needs as well as back feeds the existing services as required for the renovated building. All of the panelboards and feeders were replaced and sized accurately.

 

LED indirect/direct pendants and lay-ins are the main light fixtures that are implemented in the renovation. These light fixtures populate the classrooms, cafeteria, kitchen, and administrative and guidance offices. With the renovation, the auditorium receives new lights for the stage, black box theater, and seating area.

MECHANICAL

Coolidge High School’s mechanical system is comprised of both a heating water plant and a condensing water plant. The heating water plant consists of two natural gas fired condensing boilers that produce 3,840 MBH of heat each as well as variable speed circulating pumps. The condensing water plant uses two cooling towers with variable speed fans and pumps to reject heat from the VRF system and water-cooled packaged Rooftop Units.

 

Within Coolidge High School, the cafeteria, library, gym, and auditorium are heated and cooled by the three rooftop units and one air handling unit. The classrooms and administrative spaces are served by a VRF heat recovery system that recirculates refrigerant for simultaneous heating and cooling. These spaces are ventilated through two DOAS systems that are modulated by VAV boxes.

STRUCTURAL

Coolidge High School’s structural system is a combination of reinforced concrete and structural steel. Since the renovation of Coolidge High School involved gutting the interior and preserving the structure of the building, there is minimal new structural construction – only structural reinforcing. Overall, the building’s lateral loads utilize brace framing with the additions of various moment frames around the new atriums. The new composite slabs are 3 ¼” lightweight concrete over 2”x18GA galvanized composite deck which therefore results in a total thickness of 5 ¼”. The slab is reinforced with 6”x6”-W2.9xW2.9 WWF.

FIRE PROTECTION

In Coolidge High School, there is a sprinkler system provided for every 52,000 square feet and is installed per NFPA 13. In addition, the building height requires a manual wet standpipe that will be a Class 1 standpipe system as well as a fire pump on the west side of the gymnasium. Also, the fire alarm detection and signaling system is an addressable type that complies with NFPA 72 and local requirements.

PLUMBING

Domestic Hot Water is supplied from two gas fired water heaters with 65% of the total load and set to deliver 140 degree water for Coolidge High School. Tempering valves are provided for showers, eye wash stations, and handicap accessible washing stations. Drinking fountains are located throughout the building, and shower heads, drains, and valves are replaced. In addition, all above grade piping is new.

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