Spotlight On Success: Campbell HS

Aerial view of Swinerton’s expansion project at James Campbell High School.

School Expansion

Swinerton completes $34M interconnected five-building expansion at James Campbell High School

For years, James Campbell High School in Ewa Beach has dealt with an overcrowded campus. To ease congestion at Hawaii’s largest high school, Swinerton recently completed the construction of five interconnecting structures.

The new jaw-dropping features at Campbell HS include space dedicated to Hawaiian studies, with floor-toceiling mirrors and foldable Nanawall

BY DAVID PUTNAM PHOTOS COURTESY SWINERTON doors opening up to an outdoor performance space with synthetic turf. Another standout addition is the stateof-the-art culinary space with professional-grade kitchen equipment.

The five structures at Campbell HS, which has more than 3,000 students in grades 9-12, are interconnected by pedestrian walkways.

Completing the $34 million expansion for the state Department of Education was no easy feat when work began in 2018 and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as Hawaii public schools closed and then reopened. Subburaman Subburaman Venkataraman, Venkataraman Swinerton’s project executive, says a

key challenge was “coordination. This project is an expansion of a currently existing and operational school. To work around an existing operational facility, in terms of school schedule, student access, faculty and student safety, etc., posed a challenge.”

Venkataraman also noted challenges arising from “unforeseen conditions. Lack of skilled workers—this is a problem facing our industry. There are not enough skilled workers to fill a growing demand. And COVID-19— the pandemic did impact the work and project completion.”

Most impacts on the work due to the pandemic were outside the project, says Venkataraman, citing “supply chain delay in delivery of materials on-site due to shutdowns in various parts of the country, travel restric-

“In addition to having the traditional in-person meetings, we utilized virtual meeting technologies such as Microsoft Teams to keep connected and progress the project forward.” —Subburaman Venkataraman

tions as key personnel and agents were unable to travel as previously planned and the availability of governmental personnel for final inspections and clearances.”

Internally, he adds, “social distancing requirements caused inefficiencies and reduced production rates. This results in delays and increased costs.

The open study outdoor areas for students and faculty

Ground level at the completed five-building facility at Hawaii’s largest high school

BUILDING A BETTER HAWAII TOGETHER

James Campbell High School campus expansion creates 21st century learning environments for students and teachers.

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1003 BISHOP ST., SUITE 1340 I HONOLULU, HI 96813

Workforce disruptions due to quarantine restrictions due to potential exposure” also had to be overcome.

The project’s five different structures connect together “to create a 21st century learning environment,” Venkataraman says. “The construction of the new structures provides for 27 classrooms that will include general education classes, five science labs, a culinary arts lab and herb garden, Hawaiian studies classroom, two faculty centers and an outdoor performing space, as well as additional meeting spaces and faculty offices.”

Construction tasks included selective demolition, cast-in-place concrete, precast structural concrete, masonry, structural steel, architectural and laboratory casework, TPO membrane roofThe open courtyard and herb garden begin to take shape.ing, pedestrian deck coating, exterior Gypsum sheathing, Gypsum board are more common now considering experts help create, adapt and manage assemblies and cement plaster, glazing, our COVID-19 pandemic. detailed 3D building models to provide acoustical ceilings, tile, operable parti- “Building Information Modeling a rich visual display of all building tions, painting, fire suppression sprin- (BIM) allowed our team to share the components and systems. kler system, electric traction elevators, blueprint of the structures collabora- “These models detected any existHVAC, plumbing and electrical and tively with our project partners,” he ing systems clashes, assisted with site communication systems. adds. “We utilized BIM 360 Field and logistics and scheduling and identified

The key to the success of the proj- Docs as our document management potential problems well before they ect, Venkataraman says, was “collabo- platform to connect the office to the arose.” ration and effective communication. field.” Along with Swinerton’s crew, the In addition to having the traditional He says Swinerton is “committed to project team included TM Designers in-person meetings, we utilized virtual continuously optimizing our construc- Inc. as construction managers, G70 meeting technologies such as Microsoft tion processes. At the Campbell HS International Inc. as architects and Teams to keep connected and progress project, we utilized 3D modeling and “all our subcontractors and vendors,” the project forward. Virtual meetings laser scanning. Our in-house VDC Venkataraman says. The project cleared partial acceptance in June. “The COVID-19 pandemic and government shutdowns really threatened the opening of the new campus by the upcoming school year,” Venkataraman says. “The team worked together extremely hard with our subcontractors to get the remaining work completed while following the government and our company guidelines and established protocols. “Our team kept clear and constant communication with city and state officials to coordinate the necessary inspections and obtain the Certificate of Occupancy. “We were able to accomplish this goal and to turn over the facility for their intended use. We also assisted with coordinating the furniture deliveries for the school and with the teachers to move into the new classrooms.” Along with meeting space in the courtyard, Campbell HS has added 27 new classrooms for its more than 3,000 students in grades 9-12.