The William O’Brien Middle School is an onsite replacement of the original 1976 facility that provides collaborative education space and increased capacity for 1,400 students. In addition to providing academic space, the new construction improves school campus safety, access, and circulation. Site limitations dictated the development of a new prototype middle school design for Washoe County School District that could be adapted to compact sites. Consisting of five program “building blocks” the design is adaptable to a wide range of site configurations.

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The new school is one of the most energy efficient schools in the region. Energy solutions include high performance glazing, integral user-controlled classroom blinds, and a geothermal environmental system.

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Project delivery included an aggressive design and construction schedule. To meet this schedule, construction was broken into three phases: mass grading, building construction, and demolition of existing structure and construction of new athletic fields.