Half Moon Bay, Calif., Nov. 19, 2020 – When students and teachers are welcomed back to school premises, Cabrillo Unified School District (CUSD) will celebrate the opening of its new kindergarten triplex at Hatch Elementary School. The three buildings, totaling approximately 9,200 square feet of modern indoor and outdoor learning spaces, were delivered using Folia, a highly adaptable, efficient, prefabricated building solution.
“The one-story Folia buildings perfectly met our requirements at Hatch Elementary School,” said Sean McPhetridge, superintendent of CUSD. “They are modern, flexible, sustainable and ideally suited for the ever-changing needs of a kindergarten program. And while we have not yet had the pleasure of seeing students enjoying their brand-new environment, we are looking forward to that day.”
The first single-story Folia structures to be completed, the Hatch Kindergarten Triplex was completed, ground-up, in a record eight-month timeframe. The three buildings are centered around a new outdoor play area that includes a playground, as well as outdoor learning environments that support progressive instruction. Two of the buildings boast two 960 sq. ft. classrooms and the third has two large 1,260 sq. ft. classrooms, all designed to encourage a variety of cooperative learning situations. Each classroom features a full restroom and sink and are conjoined by ample teacher prep space that offers visibility into the classrooms and the playground for continued supervision. Large and clerestory windows in the classrooms provide balanced daylighting, while operable windows and high ceilings in both the classrooms and the prep spaces stimulate natural ventilation.
“The daylighting and ventilation features that are standard to every Folia were purposefully incorporated to assist in improving student performance. Now it is evident that they’ll support a healthier classroom as well,” said Aaron Jobson, principal at QKA. “Additionally, while initially designed to promote collaborative learning, these single-story Folia classrooms will also enable socially distant learning, which is clearly imperative during this pandemic era.”
Designed and built by Folia partners Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, Blach Construction and Gregory P. Luth & Associates Structural Engineers, the Hatch Kindergarten Triplex was completed in just eight months and well within budget. “Because much of Folia is prefabricated, we are able to offer greater schedule and budget efficiencies,” said Blach Vice President of Operations Keith Craw. “Not only are we excited to expand our portfolio to include single-story Folia options overall, we thoroughly enjoyed working with CUSD on this project specifically. It is particularly gratifying to have been involved in bringing to life these new, high performance and flexible spaces where many kindergartners will begin their academic education.”
About Folia
Folia is an education industry building solution developed by Blach Construction, Quattrocchi Kwok Architects and Gregory P. Luth & Associates (GPLA) Structural Engineers. While Folia is built with the same type of materials and structural systems found in conventional school buildings, it is delivered more quickly and at lower cost. It offers a flexible alternative to traditionally designed buildings with the same level of quality and longevity thanks to a design that is optimized for prefabrication and rapid installation. Folia is DSA (California Division of State Architect) pre-check approved, and because much of the building is prefabricated, it can be delivered in less than a year. This level of prefabrication also allows the project team to maintain a higher degree of safety and certainty during construction, mitigating weather extremes and minimizing waste and rework. It was designed to meet the building standards of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) with an emphasis on indoor air quality, natural daylight and acoustic performance. Additionally, all future Folia projects will incorporate a new ionization-enhanced filtration system that meets pandemic-era air purification needs. Folia is solar-ready and ideal for Zero Net Energy (ZNE). Learn more at buildfolia.com.
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