Edison Preparatory School in Tulsa is one school that is taking these design considerations seriously. Construction broke ground on Nov. 25 on an 18,500-square-foot collegiate center that will also function as two FEMA-361, ICC-500-rated safe rooms. Not only will the safe rooms provide safety in the event of a tornado, but they will also double as major testing sites for the entire Tulsa Public Schools district. The addition will include two new lecture halls as the safe rooms, as well as a college-counseling center that will serve as an incentive to attract more students.

Scheduled for completion in summer 2015, the project will be quite the undertaking because of its multipurpose needs. School Construction News spoke with Kyle Casper, lead designer for KSQ Architects in the firm’s Tulsa office, about the complexity of designing such a multifunctional space.

Q: What is the main goal of the project?

Casper: Because it’s a preparatory school, the main goal of the building project is to attract students to this particular school rather than to the other schools in other districts that may have more resources. The primary goal of the school was to put a hood ornament out there that said the school was competitive and adventurous and entrepreneurial — the context and identity that prepares you for college. So, it’s an adventurous and exciting design. KSQ is known for [working on] student housing and dining projects but also has a history of putting character buildings in higher education, and we’re looking to do that in the K-12 market in Tulsa. The lecture halls are better characterized as testing centers, and they have about 100 different functions. It has been a very fascinating exercise in integrating so many things in a building and then basically locking it in a concrete vault.

Q: What are some of the key elements involved in the design of the new space?

Casper: It’s a secure school, so [the addition] is not going to be very transparent or open. They already put a library at the front doors, where everyone has to go through a secure checkpoint. It was difficult for us because our site was right next door to the library. We blocked off even visual access of how to get in and out of the building, so we wanted our building to solve and explain circulation issues.

The second really challenging issue was the programming of the building. All of the school events have so many needs. We have a laundry list of different testing requirements. For instance, we have to be able to fit [students] 5-feet apart, and everyone has to have an equal visual and acoustical access. There are a lot of technical and just testing dynamics that had to go into these storm shelters. The walls are 1-foot thick, the roof is 2-feet thick and both are made of all concrete.

Q: What are the key factors in designing a tornado shelter?

Casper: This is the highest rated FEMA shelter that you can get. There are five different ratings, but this is the 360 one, which is near absolute protection. There are all sorts of interesting things you have to do with natural ventilation backup systems and providing restrooms in a place without plumbing. You’re just rethinking everything from the ground up and then putting a testing center in the middle of it. A testing center is going to have the highest amount of technology of almost any type of building. Then, you’re putting it in an impenetrable, concrete box and planning that, when all the systems go down, everyone can still breathe and subsist. I do a lot of work for decentralized energy and risk reduction, so these ideas and technology can come out of the shelter and can be used in people’s homes, communities or shopping centers. Since the project is being mandated, we have the opportunity to have to figure it out.

Q: What do you foresee being the biggest challenge on this project when construction begins?

Casper: With any project the biggest challenge is often ensuring the project meets the wants and needs of all the stakeholders. We have principals very excited about having this building that people want to see and be seen in — as architects, that’s exciting for us also. But we always have to balance practicality, considering the structural and mechanical requirements, of course.

Q: Why do you think more 21st school designs are incorporating multidisciplinary spaces?

Casper: One thing is cost and budget. The more you can integrate program-wise into a singular space helps, but you also have to figure out security and circulation issues. It can be built into BIM, but [the school administration] also has to build it into coordinating those spaces. We used to have to provide a specific functional space, but now we are designing spaces that are able to have a lot of functions.
 

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The school is currently in the conceptual design phase but is projected to have between 28 to 30 safe rooms, one safe room per classroom. The Upland Design Group, based in Crossville, Tenn., is designing the safe rooms to meet the guidelines and standards of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“The most important advantage is the speed that teachers could get students into the localized safe rooms during an event as compared to moving their students through the corridors to a central group safe room location within the school,” said Brian Templeton, principal architect at Upland Design Group.

Each safe room, which will be about 140 square feet and lock from the inside, will be constructed of reinforced concrete masonry with a structural concrete ceiling to provide a hardened enclosure, Templeton said. Directly accessible from inside the classroom, the safe rooms will have the ability to withstand winds up to 250 mph and provide emergency lighting and ventilation.

Cleveland City Schools became interested in incorporating safety features into the design of the upcoming $18 million elementary school due to the frequency of tornadoes the area has seen in recent years. In April 2011, tornadoes ripped through the city, demolishing Blue Springs Elementary School.

“We conceived the idea of individual safe rooms and discussed the concept with their administrators and teachers,” Templeton said. “The idea took root and has been embraced by the local community.”

During regular class time, the safe rooms will function as an oversized storage closet giving a dual purpose to the space, Templeton said.

“We plan on providing fixed storage casework along one wall of the safe rooms,” Templeton said. “The teachers liked the idea of getting most of the storage out of the classroom, thus freeing up more wall space for displays and/or learning centers. “

The safe rooms at the school would allow teachers to provide safety to their entire classroom within seconds.

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Two Moore schools, Briarwood Elementary School and Plaza Towers Elementary School, were demolished by the tornado. And though the city is no stranger to devastating natural disasters, local and state officials are questioning why the schools were without safe rooms or facilities dedicated to withstanding severe weather.

According to Albert Ashwood, Oklahoma’s director of emergency management, only 100 of the state’s 1,752 public schools have storm shelters.

“Most of these projects have been anywhere between $600,000 to $1 million and have usually all been applied to brand new construction of new schools,” Ashwood said.

The destruction has incited much discussion on safe rooms and potential for legislation to mandate that every school be equipped with facilities to withstand a storm such as the one that killed 24 people and injured hundreds on May 20.

Unlike Alabama, which requires all new schools to be built with safe rooms, the state of Oklahoma currently does not require storm shelters in schools. However, Representative Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, is requesting that state legislators draft a bill that would permit a $500 million bond in order to construct storm shelters throughout Oklahoma. Approximately $400 million would be allocated to public schools while the remaining $100 million would fund storm shelters in group homes.

“We live in Tornado Alley and this will happen again,” Dorman said in a statement. “We need to provide some funding to help build storm shelters, especially in schools. I would hope the idea has bipartisan appeal.”

Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis is proposing a city ordinance that would require all new homes to be constructed with a storm shelter. However, the mayor vocalized the need for community healing before introducing such legislation.

"Clearly a disaster like this brings the topic of safe rooms to the forefront. However, at this time we need to focus on the needs of our community,” he said in a statement. “In the future, I know safe rooms, as well as other issues, will be discussed. As always, the goal of ordinances and policies is to make our community a safe and healthy place to live, work, learn and play."

Demolition of the remnants of Plaza Towers began May 30.
 

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