How Hybrid Design Maximizes Flexibility and Value for School Districts

The Problem: The Sowers Middle School campus was vintage 1970s, ill-equipped to support the 21st century programming the Huntington Beach City School District (HBCSD) was committed to providing. The portable classrooms were outdated and energy-inefficient, the infrastructure was not conducive to collaborative learning and the campus layout did not allocate exterior space for outdoor learning and social activities.

The Process: HBCSD’s Facilities Master Plan called for Sowers’ entire campus to be modernized using Measure Q bond funds. After assessing the school’s needs and site issues, Studio W Architects, the Architect-of-Record, presented HBCSD with two options:

• Modernize the existing campus or
• Rebuild the campus with new construction

HBCSD and Studio W concluded that new construction would be more cost-effective and developed a conventional plan to revitalize the entire campus, replacing the dated portables and “honeycomb” design with energy-efficient new buildings designed for 21st century learning.

Challenges: The conventional concept captured the district’s vision, but when it came time to build, the $72.2 million price tag exceeded the district’s funds. With construction costs escalating and site issues adding to the expense, the design team needed to find a more economical solution.

Hybrid Design: Instead of scaling back the plan, Studio W proposed a hybrid design, incorporating AMS modular classroom buildings to lower costs while meeting the project team’s high expectations. AMS replaced Sowers’ old portables with five new GEN7 high-performance buildings customized to Sowers’ specs and arranged to enclose a large central quad. Building fronts open to the shared quad for indoor/outdoor learning while rear elevations form a secure perimeter that heighten student safety.

A stick-built administration building, student union, gym, locker room facility and STEM lab complete the revitalized campus, integrating seamlessly with the modular buildings to provide a cohesive aesthetic.

Outcome: The hybrid design reimagines the campus for next-gen learning with collaborative spaces, art and science labs and open classrooms that take advantage of the SoCal weather. GEN7’s DSA-PC design lowered upfront and lifecycle costs with energy-efficient features that promote productive learning—abundant natural light, whisper-quiet acoustics and natural ventilation systems that ensure healthy IAQ.

Going with a 60/40 mix of modular and stick-built reduced the cost of the large-scale project to around $54 million, executing HBCSD’s plan at a savings of $130/SF vs conventional construction.

The Problem: SUSD was experiencing capacity constraints. After years of transporting students in the Quail Lakes neighborhood to other schools, the district approved plans for a new K-8 school that could accommodate 500 students. SUSD’s goal was aggressive—to design and build a new facility within two years, meeting current programming requirements with the flexibility to adapt to future needs.

The Process: Faced with a tight budget and an even tighter timeline, SUSD and AOR TETER Architects took a practical approach. They turned to modular construction from the outset, partnering with AMS to design and build a complete modular campus on SUSD land.

Challenges: The high-profile project—named to honor beloved local education pioneer Flora Arca Mata—needed to be fully customized to meet the community’s high expectations and the strict requirements of the Quail Lakes HOA. SUSD challenged the design team to deliver the community’s exact vision on an accelerated schedule, creating a campus that looked stick-built on a modular budget.

Hybrid Design: A hybrid plan aligned costs and aesthetics, mixing two AMS EVOLVE modular classroom buildings and an admin/library building with a site-built multipurpose building to complete a fully-custom campus built to the same design standards as a conventionally-built campus.

AMS pushed the envelope on design, elevating features and materials to deliver the buildings quickly without sacrificing the aesthetic the team wanted to achieve. High-end materials were customized to create a distinctive identity for the new school. Blue lap siding, white fascia and trim, privacy windows and traditional gable roofs create a residential look that’s carried across modular and traditional buildings to blend the new school into its upscale neighborhood.

Outcome: Constructing modular buildings in the AMS factory while the site contractor completed demolition, grading and foundations onsite cut the schedule in half. The highly-efficient modular construction process lowered upfront costs, with AMS value-engineering the design to save even more. Using enclosed, conditioned hallways in the two-story modular classroom building and arranging admin building modules to maximize the utility of every square foot saved thousands of dollars.

Flora Arca Mata used less than 1% contingency. Minimal change orders and no overtime—due to AMS’ precision manufacturing—kept the project on-schedule and allowed SUSD to re-allocate reserve funds for add-on improvements. The hybrid solution—an 80/20 mix of modular to stick-built—was responsive to needs, meeting all project goals while saving SUSD $10 million in costs and accelerating delivery of a complete custom campus by a year.

The Problem: The 2021-2022 Education Budget Bill requires all California public schools to offer Universal TK by the 2025-2026 school year. Like many districts, Lemon Grove did not have the infrastructure to expand or add transitional kindergarten (TK) programming on its existing elementary school campuses.

The Process: The state’s stringent TK requirements—a minimum 1,350 SF with in-classroom restroom—made it unfeasible to convert existing space to TK. LGSD quickly identified new construction as the best approach, with modular construction the most expedient, cost-effective solution. Partnering with AMS jumpstarted design, providing access to DSA-approved TK designs that could be customized to LGSD’s vision and budget.

The Challenges: With land and space at a premium in urban San Diego County, building new facilities on all LGSD campuses would be difficult. The district and community wanted the new facilities to be progressive and amenity-rich, capable of meeting a variety of early learning needs—an expensive undertaking, even with the ability to scale custom DSA-PC designs districtwide.

Hybrid Design: The design team took an innovative approach, electing to centralize TK expansion for all LGSD schools in a consolidated Early Childhood Education Center at the Palm Campus. Creating one large PreK-TK learning complex maximized the district’s flexibility while containing costs to provide an inclusive space that promotes the socio-emotional growth and development of all Lemon Grove 2-4-year-olds.

The GEN7 modular classroom buildings are the core of the new campus, creating a series of student “neighborhoods” clustered around a winding walkway that connects a variety of outdoor recreational and independent learning spaces. A large multipurpose building is stick-built, meeting student and staff needs with a library, central multipurpose room and administrative offices.

The new campus is sustainable and connected to nature, with solar panels, wellness gardens and native-landscaped paths that encourage children to explore, discover and learn in creative ways.

Status: Modular’s parallel construction process is critical to accelerating project delivery. The project broke ground in fall 2023, with sitework and construction of the traditional MPR building taking place onsite while 16 modular classroom modules are being fabricated in the AMS factory. The classrooms will be delivered 95% complete in spring/summer 2024, with the new facility on schedule to open later this year.