George E. Hopper Middle School

Client: Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
Completion Date: 2007
Construction Cost: $24,357,042
Services: Planning, Design, Construction Administration
TASA/TASB Awards: Value
Accolades: 2008 Featured in Building of America Real Estate & Construction Review Magazine - 2008 & 2010

This prototype middle school built to house 1,350 students has a compact and efficient design which allows for minimization of student travel distances between class changes. The organization of this plan allows for easy orientation of whereabouts in the facility. The administration and cafeteria on the first floor and library on the second floor are the central focus of the compact school. The cafeteria is surrounded by two interior paved courtyards which allow natural light into classrooms. One courtyard serves as a student area during lunch period and the other is reserved for art activities and displays.

This project was revised using CM @ Risk due to an accelerated schedule. Due to district growth, this project was moved forward one year ahead of schedule. The CM @ Risk method allowed this project’s design schedule to be accelerated by 1 ½ months and the construction schedule by 3 months. It is currently on schedule to complete in the summer of 2007.

Hopper Middle School's design utilized varius sustainable features to allow for ease of maintenance for facility staff and comfort of students and administrators. Design elements include aluminum door frames, which limited the painting required onsite, and therefore lessened VOCs. Offsite off-gasing of carpet and built-in furniture was also performed, and the carpet uses factory applied adhesive to reduce VOCs. Porcelain tile floors were placed throughout the interior to reduce the use of chemicals needed to clean floors.