At 5:41 p.m. CDT on Sunday, May 22, 2011, an EF5 tornado touched down in Joplin, Mo. In the next 31 minutes, the mile-wide, multiple-vortex tornado, with winds up to 250 mph, killed 158, injured 990, and destroyed two thousand buildings, including Joplin High and nine other schools.
Two days later, Dr. C. J. Huff, Joplin Schools Superintendent, declared that school would open as scheduled on August 17. On May 24, the Building Team of DLR Group, Corner Greer Associates, Crocker Consulting Engineers, and Crossland Construction was tasked with creating an interim high school from the rubble of Joplin High.
PROJECT SUMMARY
JOPLIN INTERIM HIGH SCHOOL
Joplin, Mo.Building Team
Submitting firms: DLR Group (architect, educational planner) and Corner Greer Associates (AOR)
Owner: Joplin (Mo.) Schools
Electrical engineer: Crocker Consulting Engineers, Inc.
General contractor: Crossland ConstructionGeneral Information
Size: 96,000 sf
Construction cost: $5,500,000
Construction time: June 2011 to August 2011
Delivery method: Design-build
One of the few options open to the Building Team was an abandoned big-box retail space in the local mall. The school district quickly closed the deal on the lease, and design began on June 1. Twenty-four hours later, the team had a working Revit BIM model of the 96,000-sf structure that allowed Crossland to start ordering materials. The 3D model enabled the designers to keep working on construction documents, while at the same time presenting rendered images of interior spaces to school officials for approval.
Fifty-five business days after getting the go-ahead, the Building Team delivered a fully functional high school for 1,200 students. Joplin Interim High School opened on schedule August 17, 2011. +
Related Stories
| Aug 20, 2013
40 Under 40 retrospective: ‘U40s’ take on continuing ed, snake’s blood
Every month we’ll be touching base with past 40 Under 40 honorees to see what’s been happening in their professional and personal lives since winning the award. This month: An accomplished author of test-prep books and an architect who headed to China when the American economy turned sour.
| Aug 20, 2013
Top Data Center Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Corgan, Gensler, HDR head Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest data center architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Aug 20, 2013
First look: $550 million Billie Jean King National Tennis Center renovation
The United States Tennis Association has announced its plans for a sweeping transformation of the USTABillie Jean King National Tennis Center that will include the construction of two new stadiums, as well as a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium. The transformation will be implemented in three phases to begin at the conclusion of the 2013 US Open, with the goal of overall completion by the 2018 US Open.
| Aug 15, 2013
Design-build project delivery holds steady at nearly 40% of nonresidential construction: DBIA study
The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), the only organization that defines, teaches and promotes best practices in design-build, has released research indicating that design-build project delivery represents nearly 40 percent of total market share in the United States, based on dollar value at the end of 2012.
| Aug 14, 2013
Five projects receive 2013 Educational Facility Design Excellence Award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected five educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards.
| Aug 14, 2013
Sluggish gains in architect compensation due to weakness in construction sector: AIA survey
U.S. architecture firms have experienced modest improvements in business conditions over the last two years that has resulted in very small gains in compensation levels for staffs.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 13, 2013
DPR's Phoenix office, designed by SmithGroupJJR, affirmed as world's largest ILFI-certified net-zero facility
The new Phoenix Regional Office of DPR Construction, designed by SmithGroupJJR, has been officially certified as a Net Zero Energy Building by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). It’s the largest building in the world to achieve Net Zero Energy Building Certification through the Institute to date.
| Aug 8, 2013
Energy research animates science sector [2013 Giants 300 Report]
After an era of biology-oriented spending—largely driven by Big Pharma and government concerns about bioterrorism—climate change is reshaping priorities in science and technology construction.
