Charlotte Preparatory Lower School

Home to kindergarten through fourth-grade students, this new facility is double the size of the old Lower School and offers light-filled learning spaces, as well as office areas, a reception area, kitchen, and dining hall. The Choate project team dedicated time before the project even began to find the right solutions in order for the project to come to life, working in the midst of a full school year and keeping the safety of school students, faculty and staff, parents, and trade partners top of mind.

One focus of this project was to keep education of the students uninterrupted while the Lower School was being built. With a full parking lot used for faculty parking and school drop-off and pick-up in the morning and afternoon, Choate coordinated with a church close by to secure their lot for project team parking. 

School being in session allowed for simplified scheduling, with the project team working around sporting events, summer camps, holidays, and even teacher workdays and taking note of who is near the jobsite and when. 

On any jobsite, safety is top of mind for the Choate team. With close to 400 children playing on the playground at the fence line of this buildout, safety took on a new meaning for the team. While working on the steel elements, trade partners used magnetic welding blankets to shield themselves and their work, protecting students' eyes from potential damage. As part of the Site-Specific Safety Plan (SSSP), the superintendent and project manager also covered the framework during welds, proactively safeguarding the kids' vision.

The team had to strategize the build before it even began. As the front of the school was used for faculty parking and student drop-off and pick-up, Choate decided to start constructing the back of the school and work their way to the front. Because the site was so tight, laydown space was at a premium. Leaving final walls out to lay down equipment is normally ideal for the extra room, but to accommodate the tight site, the team put the masonry walls back into place and installed the finishes as they completed each phase of the buildout. Throughout the project, the team coordinated special times for the lifts to install roofing, glass panels, and siding that aligned with the school activities schedules and downtimes. 

Even before the project was awarded, Choate identified an opportunity to improve site efficiency: a separate access point away from the school's front entrance would streamline the buildout and keep disruption to a minimum. That early foresight led the team to reach out to the parks and recreation department, securing written approval to cut a temporary entrance through the trees at the back of the site.

This proactive approach paid off throughout construction. The temporary access gave the team room to maneuver heavy equipment and reach the back of the site with ease, all while keeping the front of the school clear for daily drop-offs. It's a small example of a larger commitment: doing the homework upfront, understanding a client's unique constraints, and building solutions before problems arise.