- Construction Career Feature
How Covered Walkways and Pavilions Benefit Schools without the Expense of Traditional Construction
by Annie Walker
by Annie Walker
Across our towns, across our neighborhoods, and across the state of Florida, schools are expanding and portables are being added at a frantic pace to meet their needs. While the number of students in a particular school may not be increasing, outside influences are forcing school campuses, whether elementary, middle, or high schools, to grow quickly and efficiently. Covered walkways and pavilions are a large part of the answer to those schools' spatial needs.
Why Covered Walkways and Pavilions Are Needed
There are two prominent reasons that schools are being forced to add classrooms to their existing campuses.
First, school planners were unable to prepare for the population boom in Florida. Many schools were built using the best available date only to be overwhelmed by an influx of new students (especially in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties) that has strained the capacity limits of the schools. As of this date, many schools across South Florida (including Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties) are admitting many more students than their original physical campuses allowed for. Lunchtimes now start in many schools as early as 10 a.m., as the lunchrooms can’t handle enough students to have them all eat within the normal 11:30-1 range.
In fact, we were recently informed by one school in Martin County that it had to add portables to the campus before the school ever officially opened!
Second, in 2002 the citizens of Florida — responding to a classroom overcrowding crisis — voted to have the Florida legislature mandate reduced class size. Research showed that smaller classes improve learning, strengthen discipline, reduce dropout rates, and raise students’ grade point averages. Schools that were experiencing the overcrowding are now being forced to add classrooms to achieve the legislation’s mandate of no more than 18 children in a class for pre-K through second grade, 22 in fourth through eighth grade, and 25 in high school.
This has brought about a need for quick expansion, and many schools have opted to add portables as a way to quickly and cheaply add classroom space to accommodate the need for reduced classes. The state has since mandated that any portable that is expected to (or does) stay as part of the campus for four years must be considered permanent and thus needs protected access to and from it.
The Benefits of Using Covered Walkways and Pavilions
Covered pavilions help expand crowded lunchrooms and let schools offer students the opportunity to eat during a normal range. Taking advantage of the temperate Florida climate, the use of a covered pavilion filled with picnic tables and chairs can double the seating capacity of a school’s lunchroom. If a school of 1,800 has a 300-person-capacity lunchroom, it would have to offer six separate lunchtimes. By adding a pavilion it can cut that number down to three.
The same can be done for gymnasium space. While older students may have more intensive needs of an indoor space, covered multipurpose space can easily service the needs of younger children who don’t need access to equipment normally found in a full-fledged gymnasium.
Walkways allow school administrators to ease their campus crunches. Since the laws have mandated more class space but can’t provide larger campuses, some schools have even resorted to placing portables on their ball fields. Covered walkways allow a school to expand to remote areas of its campus. The covered walkways link the new classrooms to the main campus while protecting students not only from inclement weather, such as rain, but also from the deleterious effects of the Florida sun, such as skin cancer. (Additionally, our company’s proprietary system is capable of sustaining concentrated loads, severe hailstorms, and hurricane winds up to 150 miles per hour.)
But, of course, the main benefit is cost. While traditional brick-and-mortar construction can cost a school $150 or more per square foot in construction costs, covered pavilions and walkways can be erected for a small fraction of that cost. Additionally, the maintenance cost for an aluminum covering consists of just cleaning the gutters and is much lower than maintenance costs for traditional construction.
Better yet, the proprietary system that our company has developed can be demounted and relocated to allow for changing demographics. This means that if one school needs the covered walkways this year but finds that its enrollment drops the next, the entire system can be moved and adapted to another school that may have a new need for the walkways. This allows a county-wide school system greater flexibility and greater ease of mind when deciding to make a significant purchase.
For example, Gove Elementary in Belle Glade, Florida, recently installed a covered walkway system fully knowing that it will be moving campuses within the next few years, since it understood it would be able to take most of the system with it and reinstall it in the new location. This will save the Palm Beach County school millions in additional construction costs.
The reusability and aluminum construction of the covered walkways and pavilions also mean the system is very environmentally friendly. If a system isn’t going to be reused, the aluminum pieces can be recycled for reuse. Additionally, the structures are architecturally pleasing and can be customized to match any style or color scheme.
Given the need for financially and environmentally responsible solutions for increased classroom and campus space, covered walkways and pavilions offer the perfect answer.
About the Author
Annie Walker is president of Aluminum Solutions Group (ASG), a leader in affordable, attractive covered walkways and pavilions. ASG has supplied and installed these aluminum systems for school boards and private owners. ASG provides a total turnkey operation from the original design charrette to the final inspection. For more information please call 561-999-9932 or visit www.aluminumsolutionsgroup.com.
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Annie Walker |
There are two prominent reasons that schools are being forced to add classrooms to their existing campuses.
First, school planners were unable to prepare for the population boom in Florida. Many schools were built using the best available date only to be overwhelmed by an influx of new students (especially in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties) that has strained the capacity limits of the schools. As of this date, many schools across South Florida (including Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties) are admitting many more students than their original physical campuses allowed for. Lunchtimes now start in many schools as early as 10 a.m., as the lunchrooms can’t handle enough students to have them all eat within the normal 11:30-1 range.
In fact, we were recently informed by one school in Martin County that it had to add portables to the campus before the school ever officially opened!
Second, in 2002 the citizens of Florida — responding to a classroom overcrowding crisis — voted to have the Florida legislature mandate reduced class size. Research showed that smaller classes improve learning, strengthen discipline, reduce dropout rates, and raise students’ grade point averages. Schools that were experiencing the overcrowding are now being forced to add classrooms to achieve the legislation’s mandate of no more than 18 children in a class for pre-K through second grade, 22 in fourth through eighth grade, and 25 in high school.
This has brought about a need for quick expansion, and many schools have opted to add portables as a way to quickly and cheaply add classroom space to accommodate the need for reduced classes. The state has since mandated that any portable that is expected to (or does) stay as part of the campus for four years must be considered permanent and thus needs protected access to and from it.
The Benefits of Using Covered Walkways and Pavilions
Covered pavilions help expand crowded lunchrooms and let schools offer students the opportunity to eat during a normal range. Taking advantage of the temperate Florida climate, the use of a covered pavilion filled with picnic tables and chairs can double the seating capacity of a school’s lunchroom. If a school of 1,800 has a 300-person-capacity lunchroom, it would have to offer six separate lunchtimes. By adding a pavilion it can cut that number down to three.
The same can be done for gymnasium space. While older students may have more intensive needs of an indoor space, covered multipurpose space can easily service the needs of younger children who don’t need access to equipment normally found in a full-fledged gymnasium.
Walkways allow school administrators to ease their campus crunches. Since the laws have mandated more class space but can’t provide larger campuses, some schools have even resorted to placing portables on their ball fields. Covered walkways allow a school to expand to remote areas of its campus. The covered walkways link the new classrooms to the main campus while protecting students not only from inclement weather, such as rain, but also from the deleterious effects of the Florida sun, such as skin cancer. (Additionally, our company’s proprietary system is capable of sustaining concentrated loads, severe hailstorms, and hurricane winds up to 150 miles per hour.)
But, of course, the main benefit is cost. While traditional brick-and-mortar construction can cost a school $150 or more per square foot in construction costs, covered pavilions and walkways can be erected for a small fraction of that cost. Additionally, the maintenance cost for an aluminum covering consists of just cleaning the gutters and is much lower than maintenance costs for traditional construction.
Better yet, the proprietary system that our company has developed can be demounted and relocated to allow for changing demographics. This means that if one school needs the covered walkways this year but finds that its enrollment drops the next, the entire system can be moved and adapted to another school that may have a new need for the walkways. This allows a county-wide school system greater flexibility and greater ease of mind when deciding to make a significant purchase.
For example, Gove Elementary in Belle Glade, Florida, recently installed a covered walkway system fully knowing that it will be moving campuses within the next few years, since it understood it would be able to take most of the system with it and reinstall it in the new location. This will save the Palm Beach County school millions in additional construction costs.
The reusability and aluminum construction of the covered walkways and pavilions also mean the system is very environmentally friendly. If a system isn’t going to be reused, the aluminum pieces can be recycled for reuse. Additionally, the structures are architecturally pleasing and can be customized to match any style or color scheme.
Given the need for financially and environmentally responsible solutions for increased classroom and campus space, covered walkways and pavilions offer the perfect answer.
About the Author
Annie Walker is president of Aluminum Solutions Group (ASG), a leader in affordable, attractive covered walkways and pavilions. ASG has supplied and installed these aluminum systems for school boards and private owners. ASG provides a total turnkey operation from the original design charrette to the final inspection. For more information please call 561-999-9932 or visit www.aluminumsolutionsgroup.com.
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