Prince George’s County Public Schools Blueprint Schools Program – Phase 1

Photo Credit: Tom Holdsworth

Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) was facing an $8 billion deferred maintenance budget shortfall and an urgent need for additional classroom space to accommodate more than 2,000 extra middle school students. To address this problem, the school system turned to design-build and public-private partnership financing to replace its aging, overcrowded facilities and deliver six new modern educational facilities on an accelerated schedule. According to PGCPS, using design-build and financing through a public-private partnership reduced the project delivery time from 8-12 years to around just 30 months.

The six schools were constructed simultaneously to meet the accelerated schedule, but this created challenges for the design-build team that required innovative design and construction techniques to overcome. The team developed a prototype design for 4 of the 6 schools and incorporated the same design elements, including classroom sizes, bathroom designs and mechanical designs. The project made extensive use of prefabricated elements such as electrical panels, teaching walls and bathroom plumbing. The structural steel was a pre-engineered structural system that used common elements that were repeated and bolted together on site, expediting the construction of the buildings. The shared common design and building features helped achieve economies of scale to reduce costs during construction while also making future maintenance easier and less expensive.

Building with the Students and Local Residents in Mind

PGCPS and the design-build team didn’t just stop at delivering six new school buildings to improve the lives of students. Gilbane partnered with Prince George’s County Community College to contribute $60,000 to scholarships for 30 students over three years. The county also created a $1 million endowed fund to support students and educators, along with student internships, mentoring opportunities and apprenticeships, as part of PGCP’s Alternative Construction Finance Program. Additionally, the team was very active in the local community throughout the project, including PTA support with fundraisers and coat, book, food drives and community volunteer activities. The program was also a major economic driver, creating over 3,000 new jobs and awarding 34.8% of contracts to minority and community-based businesses. Each school also features a community clinic to provide medical care for nearby residents as well as play fields and green spaces available for both student and community use.

Design-Build Team

Photos