Building Trades News

Aliance for Quality Construction Honors District for Visionary Project

The Alliance for Quality Construction honored LAUSD for its recently completed Visual and Performing Arts High with its annual Q Award. AQC’s “Q Award” is given annually for outstanding contributions toward the attainment of quality construction within the building industry of Southern California. The winner is nominated and selected by the Alliance’s membership from quality union construction projects completed in the previous year.

The event was attended by craft unions, union contractors, elected officials including LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry and LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia and representatives from design architectural firm Coop Himmelblau and general contractor PCL Construction Services.

“It’s always good to take the opportunity to honor the people involved in these great projects,” said Richard Slawson, Executive Secretary of the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council. “This art school will provide a wonderful learning environment and opportunities for students from the community throughout the area. We might even see some of them on American Idol one day. Without the partnership between government, business and labor none of this would have been possible for the students.”

The modern, futuristic structures on the 234,000 square-foot, $233 million campus adds a dynamic new addition to the skyline of Downtown Los Angeles. The architecture was designed to reflect the creative force of the students who will attending the arts high school. The campus incorporates specific sustainable design measures to enhance building and student performance including: energy efficiency, ample day-lighting in classrooms, improved acoustical performances, use of low fume-emitting materials and high-efficiency irrigation systems.

“Seeing the majestic circular structures from the freeway is very impressive, but not as impressive as when one visits the campus,” says Pam Ackrich, Chair of AQC. “This campus is a one-of-a-kind project that our union crafts persons and contractors can take pride in creating from excellent designs. The downtown Los Angeles skyline is in constant change, and the new high school project adds functionality and flair to this great city,” Ackrich said. “The school shall not only be wonderful sight to behold, but it will serve a most-needed purpose for the children of LA. This is also another example of successful synergy between union trades, contractors, government and the local community.”

“It is with pride that I stand here today to see the finished product to see what our members do. When you stand back and see it, you can really appreciate the hard work of all the craft members,” said Sergio Rascon, Business Manager of Laborers Local 300.

LAUSD School Board President Monica Garcia and Guy Mehula, LAUSD’s Chief Facilities Executive excepted the award on behalf of the District.

“This school represents the best of LAUSD and this is what we want our whole district to emulate,” Garcia said. “Our children will be inspired; this school will get to 100 percent graduation. You all have built something we are very proud of. On behalf of all the children who will dream new dreams and achieve greatness, I thank you.”

While the finished campus is both inspiring and innovative, the path to completing the project was not easy for the union contractors and craftspeople who built it. The campus design included several buildings that were some of the most challenging structures ever undertaken by the School District, said Will Painter. Operations and Regional Manager for PCL Construction Services.

“There are four stories of vertical elevation difference between what we started with and where we are today. It wasn’t just a flat site. We are dealing with tremendous elevation changes. There was a tremendous pace of work and we weren’t dealing with simple box building. These are the most challenging buildings the school district has built and they were all going on at once,” Painter said.

If that were not enough, the school was built on what was once a 19th Century gravesite. The site had been relocated long before construction began. Unfortunately some unmarked on unknown gravesites were missed and workers uncovered over a dozen gravesites.

“In our nearly 100 years history, PCL has uncovered mastodon bones, archeological sites but I don’t think we have ever uncovered a dozen graves that we had to work around, give the proper respects to, bring in the forensic archeologists to identify the remains and relocate them,” said Painter.

“This was clearly the most difficult job I have ever been on,” said Michael Kershaw of Miya Steel. Miya erected all of the structural steel on the project as well as the miscellaneous steel such as the railings.

“It was very challenging because of the pitches that the steel is at. It was very complicated getting it into the tolerance they provided. In the library for example every column pitches two directions and none of them are the same,” Kershaw said. “The helix that wraps around the tower was the same thing; it was a very complicated roll. To make the steel, to fabricate it and erect it adjacent to the freeway was very challenging and required an incredibly high degree of skill.”

Councilwoman Jan Perry whose district includes the new campus was on hand to honor the project and the craftsmen and women who built it. Perry praised the school’s innovative and sustainable design.

“The fact that the school incorporates sustainable design measures to enhance student performance puts this school on the cutting edge of how we will build our facilities in the future,” Perry said. “Its energy efficiency, day-lighting in classrooms, improved acoustics, high-efficiency irrigation – we got aesthetic appeal and sustain ability in a new school for students to try and learn in another kind of setting. There’s going to be a lot creativity going on here and there’s been a lot of creativity put into building this school for these students.”

The High School for the Visual and Performing Arts was not without its critics as it was being built. PCL’s Will Painter addressed those criticisms directly.

“Kids with real talent need a place that gives training because talent isn’t enough,” Painter said. “It takes a lot of hard work and practice, getting the fingering just right, getting the dance step just right and when these kids are feeling frustrated they are going to look at what this community has built for them and say ‘I can keep going because they care.’ I think this is inspiring and thank you for letting us build it.”