Award For Sandy Hook School Project Team

The Connecticut Building Congress will recognize the Town of Newtown, Consigli Construction Co., Inc., Svigals+Partners, and STV|DPM for their collaborative work to build the new Sandy Hook School in Newtown, CT.

Sandy Hook
Photo: by Robert Benson, courtesy Svigals+Partners

The Connecticut Building Congress (CBC) has announced that it will recognize the Town of Newtown, CT, Consigli Construction Co., Inc., Svigals+Partners, and STV|DPM for their collaborative work to build the new Sandy Hook School in Newtown, CT. The team will formally accept the 2017 Project Teams Awards at a presentation on June 13. The award recognizes projects that exemplify project team excellence and represent the best practices in teamwork by project owners, architects, engineers, constructors, and trades. The project, which came in the wake of the well-publicized tragedy, was made possible by a $50 million grant from the State of Connecticut.

“The powerful purpose of this project was never lost on us from day one,” said Matthew Consigli, president of Consigli. “It was truly an honor to be a partner on this special project and we couldn’t have asked for a better team. We’re humbled to receive this award and thank the CBC for this recognition.”

“It was the best possible team for this unique endeavor,” says Jay Brotman, AIA, managing partner with Svigals+Partners. “And that includes First Selectman Pat Llodra and the entire Sandy Hook-Newtown community. To receive this award recognizing this three-year collaborative effort is an important honor.”

Sandy Hook
Photo: by Robert Benson, courtesy Svigals+Partners

“This project was the best team effort I have ever seen, with total commitment from everyone involved,” said STV|DPM vice president and project executive Mark DuPre, Sr. Assoc. AIA. “We’re truly honored to be a part of such a concerted partnership.”

The 88,000-square-foot school for PreK-4 students opened its doors in Fall 2016, after a 32-month timeline that included extensive public engagement, careful planning and design, and best-in-class construction management practices.

Sandy Hook
Photo: courtesy Svigals+Partners

Involving the community directly throughout the process, Consigli, Svigals+Partners, and DPM also worked with special focus on protecting the community and the project process from unwanted attention, using a low-key and neighborly approach that is a trait of both firms. In addition, the finished school pioneered the state’s new School Safety Infrastructure requirements, and was designed to LEED Gold certification for green building.

The project was inspired by the strong sense of community and the inherent natural beauty of Newtown. The final design includes a curving plan that reaches out across the site as arms in a welcoming gesture to students. The school features three classroom wings that extend like fingers of an open hand on the site. A total of three courtyards and one outdoor amphitheater serve as an outdoor classroom and space for school events.

Other features of the project include two rubber surfaced playgrounds, marchice and garapa wood siding, and vertical sunshades (orange, red and yellow) that bring bright stripes of color to the school’s exterior and address the east/west sun angles.