Site Selection - Part 2

The Part 2 discussion is on the size and shape of the site and why it is important to the design and overall functionality of the school.

Often times land developers will approach school districts with a plot of land they have allocated for a school within their development. Although they may have good intentions (usually it is to make their development more attractive to potential buyers), they don't always give you the more desirable locations or shapes of property.  A site that is irregular in shape or out of proportion in one or two dimensions can be much more difficult to build on. The irregularity will create unusable areas, sharp corners (such as a parallelogram) or narrow access ways that are simply dead spaces with no functional possibilities. 

The most desirable shape for a plot of land is rectangular with the long side to short side ratio of 4:3. For example the long side of the tract is 400' long and the shorter side at 300'. I realize that this ratio is not possible for the majority of sites that would be available, but if you asked what would be the ideal, that would be my answer. Certainly buildings can be sited on square tracts or irregular shapes, but in general a rectangular shape gives the designer the best options for placing all the necessary elements of drives, parking, play grounds, athletic fields etc. on the site. . It is preferred to have contiguous sites with rectilinear shapes that are not too narrow and have gentle slopes. Sites with steep slopes can be used however; additional funds will be required for retaining walls and fencing.

When considering potential school site sizes and student capacity, there are several factors that should be given consideration. Each site size should be based on “ usable acres”. Usable acres can be defined as the amount of land remaining after utility/drainage easements, flood plains, power lines, and storm water detention requirements have been accounted for.

Additional consideration needs to be given to what grade levels will be located on the property. Elementary schools will require play areas. In some cases School Districts and Cities joint venture to place parks next to elementary schools to capitalize on the use of the land. High school sites can vary depending on the amount of parking and athletic venues required. The high school site below uses the following parameters: parking for 40% of the student population driving; competition football, baseball, softball fields; tennis courts, and a practice football field.  Also, vehicular access should be studied for high school sites. Additional access points are needed to accommodate larger driving populations. 

The following is a chart to outline basic site sizes for types of schools and various capacities. 

School Type	Student Capacity	Recommended Site Size
Elementary School	600-800 Students	10-15 acres
Middle School	1000 Students	30 acres
High Schools	750 to 2000 Students	60 acres
	2000 to 3500 Students	70 acres

As always, this is a guideline. The school district should employ the services of a qualified design professional to assist in evaluating the potential sites prior to purchase to ensure the best value for the district.

Michael D. King AIA

The USDOE seeks Educational Facilities Experts

The U.S. Department of Education's Impact Aid Program administers competitive grants for emergency repairs of school facilities to school districts whose property tax revenues are significantly impacted by the presence of Federal land.  The program is seeking school facilities experts to read and score applications for an upcoming grant competition.  Qualified field readers will have experience in school facilities management, administration of a state school facilities improvement program, architecture, or school business management.

 Readers are expected to read, comment on, and score applications before discussing the applications with their panel, which will be comprised of four readers.  Panels will convene via teleconference in the month of May, so readers must be generally available in that month.  Depending on the number of applications received  there will likely be two to three teleconferences over the course of the month, plus a training webinar.  Readers will be compensated for their time based on the number of applications scored.

The U.S. Department of Education solicits reviewers without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age or disability.  The Department will provide reasonable accommodations for a qualified individual with a disability to participate in the review process.  The program is seeking a geographically diverse group of readers, including readers who are familiar with the challenges of managing schools in small, rural school districts.

More information about the grant program can be found on the program's website at www.ed.gov/programs/8007b/index.html.  If you are willing to be considered, please email a current resume that describes your educational facilities experience to Amanda Ognibene at Amanda.Ognibene@ed.gov by March 29, 2013.

Site Selection - Part 1

My next few blogs will discuss the process and some of the components for site selection for new school facilities. As the recession wanes and school districts find themselves growing again, the need to acquire school sites has come to focus for many districts. 

If you are evaluating several sites, as you narrow the list to the top one or two sites, we recommend that you have a geo technical study done for each site. The geo tech study is performed by qualified engineers that will take soil samples from various locations on the site to determine the characteristics of the soil. Typically the test holes are drilled 25' to 50' depths at various locations where the building is anticipated to be located. This is important information that can be used by the  architect and contractor in estimating what the cost of the foundation system will be. 

For example, site 1 may have soil that has a large clay content versus site 2 with a sandy type soil. Sandy soils are typically more stable to build on and require less work to prepare the building pad, therefore are less expensive than building on clay soils. You may also find that site 2 has a layer of rock at a shallower depth than site 1 meaning that the piers for the foundation system are shorter in length, therefore less expensive than at site 1. 

Another factor to look for in the geo tech report would be if the soil tests show encountering any underground water. If excessive underground water is found in the test holes it may mean that the piers will need to cased. Casing piers is a process that involves first drilling the pier hole then inserting a steel casing in the hole to keep water from collapsing the hole. The reinforcing steel is placed and then the concrete is poured into the hole. The steel casing is then extracted upon completion of the pour. This process is tedious and increases the cost of the foundation system. There are other methods to drill piers in locations that have underground water, but it is safe to say anytime you encounter this situation, you will be spending more money.

The cost for having a geo tech study performed is several thousand dollars, however this is a very small cost in the total budget of a new building and could potentially save your district tens of thousands of dollars by making an informed decision on choosing one site over another by knowing the type of soil that is present.

Michael D. King AIA