St. Martin’s Episcopal School expands facilities

Responsible stewardship, citizenship and community service are core elements of the mission of Atlanta’s St. Martin’s Episcopal School. These values permeate every element of the school and are embodied in the sustainable design and construction of a major expansion of the school’s facilities.

Evergreen Construction, serving as Construction Manager, is working with St. Martin’s administration as well as Program Manager, Richmond Sterling, and Collins Cooper Carusi Architects to ensure that the completed project achieves the project’s programming and sustainability objectives. The project, which features a new Middle School building as well as extensive renovations to the existing campus buildings and site, has been designed to not only meet the needs of a growing school but to do so in a manner that supports St. Martin’s commitment to stewardship, citizenship and community service.

Targeted to achieve LEED Silver certification, the $8 million project’s most prominent component is a new 3-story, 40,758-sf Middle School building enabling St. Martin’s to not only accommodate future growth but also consolidate its Middle School, into a single facility. Extensive renovations to the existing facilities will also ensure that K-5 students are housed together in a single building.

St. Martin’s goal of immediate and sustainable environmental sensitivity is clear in both the design and construction of the project. The design maximized the current space by redeveloping an existing plot and incorporating a number of sustainable features including a vegetated roof garden with a rainwater collection system, reducing the building’s “heat island’ effect.

Additional sustainable features include full-cutoff LED site light fixtures which eliminate light pollution and automated interior light, water and energy systems. The fully implemented systems are designed to reduce water consumption by 30% and overall energy consumption by 21% as compared to non-green buildings of similar type and size. Steps have also been taken to ensure that the site supports a sustainable environment through the installation of synthetic turf playfields, low impact landscaping and reserved/marked parking for low emission and fuel-efficient vehicles.

Evergreen Construction’s approach will provide immediate environmental benefits by recycling over 75% of construction waste, ensuring it never reaches a landfill. Evergreen will also utilize regional materials; with over 20% of the total construction materials coming from regional sources. Additionally, recycled materials will comprise more than 20% of the construction materials used by Evergreen in the project.

The facility, when completed, will enable St. Martin to meet the growing demand from families who want to experience the comprehensive and rigorous academic curriculum offered within a loving environment that nurtures the child’s spiritual and intellectual growth.

The newly constructed Middle School Building will feature state of the art classrooms, laboratories and administrative spaces while the existing facilities will undergo a major transformation. Once renovations are completed, K-5 students will find updated computer, science and media labs, a refurbished cafeteria/kitchen, locker rooms, administrative offices, as well as, a music/movement/room, the library and outdoor spaces including an enhanced outdoor amphitheater. BD+C

In its 2021 Life Sciences Real Estate Outlook, JLL predicted that access to talent would be a primary concern for an industry sector that had been growing by leaps and bounds. A year later, talent still guides real estate decisions. But market conditions of a different sort were cooling the biotech field: namely, investors that have soured on startups which underperformed after going public. What this means for new construction and renovation going forward is unpredictable, as the drivers behind life sciences’ surge are still palpable.