June 2, 2014

Grays Harbor Community College: Gene Schermer STEM Building

Image of the South entrance to the renovated Building 22 at the campus center.

General Project Info

Location: Aberdeen, WA
When: 2014
Company: Forma Construction
Footprint: 70,000 sq.ft.
My Role: Laborer Foreman

History of the building

The College’s science, technology, engineering, art, and nursing classroom building, named in honor of longtime GHC Chemistry instructor, administrator and Foundation board member Dr. Gene Schermer, has met standards to qualify for LEED Gold certification, as determined by the US Green Building Council. The building construction and design were cited for sustainability and awarded points that determined the certification.

🧩 Construction Project Features

Aggressive construction schedule on an occupied campus.
Greenroof installation
Challenging terrain and jobsite constraints

💡 Technologies and Skills I used

Elevation control
Reading plans
Reading shop-drawings
Planning and schedule coordination
Forklift operation
Organized and led safety meetings and performed safety inspections
Led concrete placements and finishing operations

Photos

This project features a green-roof system

Photo taken from outside, showcasing the greenroof landscaping system over the ground-level wing of the new building.

…above the ground level wing

Photo of the interior of the ground-level wing of the new building. The skylight in this image is the sloped, round object in the middle of the first two photos above.

Lots of new technology spaces

Photo of the ground-level technology and community spaces in the new building.

…and artistic elements

Photo of an art installation hanging from above within the skylight and metal inlays cast into the terrazo floor below. Lots of unique features on this project including multiple art installations and intricate metal inlay patterns cast into the terazzo flooring.

The 4-story wing of the building was challenging to construct

Photo taken from the Northeast direction of the exterior of the new building showcasing the metal-clad siding and end-to-end storefront windows. The multi-story portion of the STEM building is filled with lab classrooms with end-to-end storefront windows to let abundant natural light in and breathtaking views of the Chehalis Basin and a portion of Grays Harbor.

…on a sloped job-site with small buffer zones for construction

Photo taken from the Northwest direction of the outside of the building showcasing extensive brick veneer and 4 stories of exterior sunshades. We employed mobile cranes and rented forklifts and boom-lifts with massive telescoping capacity. Some up to 60 meters (180ft) of total reach!

Including a roof-top green-house

Photo taken from the Northeast direction of the outside of the building, high enough to show the roof-top greenhouse.

That’s it for photos

I don’t have a lot of other photos of this project; my participation on this project wasn’t very long, because I was re-assigned to Thornton Creek Elementary School pretty quickly.

🌐 More Info

👉 Forma Construction Portfolio Page: Gene Shermer

👉 SRG Partnership

🎯 Objective / Learnings

Challenging logistics and terrain
Advanced waterproofing installations
Extensive artistic installations