Adams City High School/Community Learning Center

Outstanding Community Contribution

The New Adams City High School, a design-build project led by H L Architecture of Denver and Aurora's Adolfson & Peterson Construction, replaces the aging Adams City High School and includes classrooms for traditional high school as well as a center for technical education.

The 293,000-sq-ft high school and technical school campus is a first-of-its kind, according to the project team, which had no exiting prototype to draw from. The design for the project drew heavily from classic European villages, making a single structure appear as a cluster of individual buildings wrapped around a courtyard.

Located on nearly 60 acres in Commerce City, the school is the first new facility Adams 14 School District has built in 40 years. Elements inside the new school include: a state-of-the-art theater; a culinary arts program with its own kitchen; flexible classrooms without a standard front where teachers rotate based on the needs of their lessons; a rifle range and armory in the basement for the ROTC program; an auto body and repair shop, manufacturing technology; construction trades, including carpentry; health center education; and a multi-media space for learning media production techniques.
The project team utilized BIM technologies in the design and construction of the new school. The decision to use BIM allowed for 80% of the project's materials to be pre-fabricated before delivery to the site, saving 4 to 6 weeks on installation.

The project team also utilized construction waste recycling, electronic submittals and sustainable building practices. The project is not currently seeking LEED certification.

Project Team:
Adams City High School
Commerce City
$59.4 million
Owner: Adams 14 School District
General Contractor: Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Architect: H+L Architecture
Engineers: Structural Consultants Inc., BCER Engineering Inc., Encore Electric
Among the Subcontractors: C. Morgan Masonry Inc., Anderson Steel Erectors, Tom Hansen Inc., Hall Irwin Construction, LE Sports Surfaces
Start: Sept. 2007
Finish: July 2009

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