construction costs
January 18, 2008
As I read today’s (1/18/08) Boston Globe story about Newton North High School, and the astonishingly high costs associated with its construction, I can only think that we get what we ask for. The problem rests with the way communities choose who will be managing these projects and the very first few decisions on design and building plans.
The local school committee chose a committee of community members to become the building committee. These are well-meaning individuals who are donating their time to do something good for the community. They thought of what it needed or wanted in a facility, and selected a famous architect to design it. Sure, this would be great if the project was a private venture and the building was to become a museum. However, from this very first decision in choosing an architect to design the facility, the project was destined to become extravagant and very, very expensive. The building design includes a “trendy zig-zag shape” – but to what purpose? Architects love to design structures with signature elements like this, but what does it do for the function and usefulness of the facility? These features are so impressive, the building committee agrees with the design architect to move forward.
Nearly two years ago, as a member of my regional school committee, I was added to the building committee for our $71M new high school. At that point, we were more than half-way to completion. However, as I attended building committee meeting after meeting, it became clear that there were issues related to many of the design features our architect had included. Yes, the building committee years earlier did approve the design plans. However, where a building committee may be impressed by the idea and appearance of a glass window between two areas, only the architect would have known that to accommodate such a feature will require additional costs to make the glass fire-safe and to reinforce those wall areas. Where an architect can display a design for a gull-wing (think a v) roof design, and a building committee can like its appearance, only the architect would know the concerns for construction and maintenance as double the rainfall and snow would be directed towards the center rather than away from the structure.
Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School did open this past fall. While the building is functioning and operational, there are still open issues being worked on and reviewed. As I look back on the project, it is clear to me that many of our issues are related to the structure being a unique design. Rather than building a structure from plans that have already been used, learned from, and modified to correct for mistakes, every school district is intoxicated by the idea of a showplace building. Architecture firms argue that there is no advantage to standard designs. Those are just self-serving statements by people whole livelihood depends on making and selling designs.
In most parts of our lives, things and processes are standardized to reach their maximum potential. Whether that be the cup of coffee you drink on your way to work being made from a predefined amount of coffee grounds and water, or how your auto was manufactured, repetition and revision brings things closer to perfection.
A few years ago, the State discussed a proposal to require standard designs for school buildings. I remember architecture firms arguing against this saying that the proposal would not save as much money in the design phase as was forecast. But, the true savings for using standard designs is in learning from past mistakes. Plans will never be perfect, but with each iteration lessons learned can be translated into revisions of the plans so that future building committees do not have to learn the hard and expensive way. And taxpayers will not be left paying the increased costs.
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Joseph Gillis Jr.
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