Photos courtesy of Blach Construction
Sunnyvale, Calif., Nov. 11, 2024 — Representatives from Sunnyvale School District, the project team, faculty, staff, students and community members recently gathered to commemorate the topping out of two new, two-story classroom buildings at Sunnyvale Middle School. The new facilities will address the school’s need for modern, flexible and sustainable learning spaces. Under construction by Blach Construction (Blach), the new buildings have been designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA), in collaboration with LPA, Inc.
Signifying the completion of the project’s structural phase, the event included an opportunity for students, staff and project team members to sign the final steel beam before it was hoisted into place. The 35,000 sq.ft. project will add a total of 23 adaptable classrooms, five student breakout spaces, an art classroom, a dedicated teacher collaboration space and a landscaped outdoor courtyard to the campus. Prioritizing efficiency and quality, the District elected to utilize Folia, the proprietary prefabricated classroom building solution available exclusively through Blach, QKA and GPLA, Inc. Structural Engineers and Builders. Doing so not only allows for design flexibility, it also enables construction to be completed in approximately one year.
“School facilities are integral to student achievement. As the largest school in our District, we have waited years to upgrade Sunnyvale Middle School facilities. Now that we are finally replacing old portables, we thank the project team for understanding our needs and bringing our vision of refreshed and student-focused learning environments to life,” said Brandt Burns, director of facilities and operations for Sunnyvale School District. “The team has made great progress, and we eagerly await the day these new buildings enrich the educational experience for students and faculty, alike. We also thank Sunnyvale voters for passing Bond Measures GG and C, making projects like this possible.”
Collaboration and preplanning have been key in mitigating potential challenges on the project thus far. During preconstruction, Blach coordinated with project team members to ensure timely procurement of long-lead items such as electrical components and structural steel. Through strategic ordering and expedited fabrication, timely DSA approval was secured, ensuring adherence to the project’s schedule. Additionally, it has been critical to maintain campus operations during the construction phase. To achieve this, existing portable classrooms were temporarily relocated to the back of the site, and power was successfully redirected using Building Information Modeling (BIM) for precise utility coordination.
“Sunnyvale Middle School’s new facilities embody our commitment to delivering enduring and high-performance buildings for students and staff,” said Amber Emery, project executive at Blach Construction. “By utilizing our prefabricated Folia system, we can ensure that not only will the project complete within both budget and schedule, but also achieves the District’s objectives.”
Aligning with Sunnyvale School District’s environmental and sustainability goals, site design by LPA incorporated bioretention basins that are being installed to capture and filter stormwater runoff, reducing pollutants before they enter the ecosystem. This process will be highlighted on campus through educational signage. Furthermore, solar panels will provide renewable energy for the new facilities, further supporting the District’s desire to reduce carbon footprint.
“We are integrating the Folia system into the campus by using the building massing to surround a courtyard that has been designed to provide students with a variety of learning and gathering spaces, supporting educational enrichment and their social-emotional well-being,” said Denise Flatley, senior project manager at LPA. “This new area has varied sizes of gathering spaces to accommodate student groups and teaching styles, while connecting to adjacent existing outdoor spaces.”
“This highly collaborative project will bring sustainable, modern and light-filled spaces to the campus, creating high performance learning environments for generations of students to come,” said QKA President Aaron Jobson. “It has been a pleasure to work with many longtime partners on these important new facilities.”
Designed to be Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)-verified, the two new Folia buildings are on track for completion next summer and will be ready to welcome students for the 2025-26 school year.
About Sunnyvale School District
The Sunnyvale School District’s Promise is every student is known by name, strength, and need, ready to excel in high school and beyond, and to lead a life of joy and purpose. The district is guided by its Strategic Plan based on its core belief in students, outstanding teachers and administrators, collaborative planning, fiscal responsibility, and dedication to providing personalized instruction that meet individual students’ needs. The Sunnyvale School District operates a comprehensive preschool program, eight elementary schools and two middle schools in the heart of the Santa Clara Valley. The 13.75-square-mile district serves nearly 6,000 students and has more than 800 employees. www.sesd.org
About Blach Construction
Founded in 1970, Blach Construction builds structures of enduring quality and value throughout California. The firm’s experience encompasses a broad cross section of education, housing, institutional, mixed-use and workplace building types, translating into a diverse portfolio that includes civic/community, healthcare, K-12 and higher education, hospitality, life sciences, professional services and technology facilities, as well as affordable, supportive and market-rate housing developments. With fluency in traditional and collaborative delivery methods – and true to their Silicon Valley roots – Blach continually incorporates advanced, innovative construction techniques, leveraging in-house prefabrication, self-perform and virtual design, and construction expertise to offer greater efficiencies to projects and increased value to clients.
The firm consistently wins awards across the construction industry and general business community for projects, innovation, employee engagement and community service. Quality and safety are at Blach’s core. As a result, the company is continually ranked as a “Top Contractor in California” by Engineering News-Record and has received multiple “Construction Safety Excellence Awards” from the Associated General Contractors of California. Additionally, and as a testament to its company culture, Blach has been recognized repeatedly since 2009 as a “Best Place to Work” in the Bay Area by the Silicon Valley Business Journal/San Francisco Business Times.
Blach is headquartered in San Jose with offices in Monterey and Southern California. To learn more, please visit blach.com and engage via LinkedIn.
