Fast-tracked High School and Fieldhouse/Storm Shelter Creates Exciting Challenge for Architects at Studio+

When the community of Babcock Ranch, Florida was ready to add a high school, they needed it done quickly. But they also expected it to be carefully designed and built in the conscientious, forward-thinking spirit that Babcock Ranch is known for.?

The brainchild of NFL player-turned-developer Syd Kitson, Babcock Ranch is innovative, resilient, and self-sustaining. An 870-acre solar farm makes it the nation’s first solar-powered town. All powerlines are underground, and houses are built well above sea level with the strength to take the brunt of at least a Category 3 hurricane.?

Shopping, dining, hiking, biking, nature trails, and a nearby wilderness preserve are all part of the landscape and active lifestyle. Excellent schools are within easy walking distance. No wonder 5,000 residents (and growing) now call it home.?

The fieldhouse solution

Steady growth fueled the need for the new school as well as a gymnasium/recreation and cafeteria facility that would serve both Babcock High School and the existing Babcock Neighborhood School located next door on the same campus. An ICC 500 rated and certified storm shelter was also a high priority since the city, county, and state all recognized there wasn’t one in the area that could house potential evacuees from Babcock Ranch and nearby communities in an emergency.?

The logical answer was to build a separate multipurpose field house between both schools that would also be strong and flexible enough to function as a safe, comfortable hurricane storm shelter.

Timing was of the essence…and the challenge

With funding in place and approval to move forward, the challenge was getting both the high school and field house designed and built within an 18-month schedule. Architecture and interior design firm Studio+ and construction management company DeAngelis Diamond were tasked with meeting the time-compressed deadline as well as meeting the expectations of the visionary Kitson & Partners team.?

According to Sandy Troffer, AiA, EDAC, LEEP AP, WELL AP and Principal at Studio+, “Our practice had never worked on a designated storm shelter before. The team never hesitated. They dove right in and quickly got acquainted with project constraints,? requirements, and critical design parameters.” It was also a new experience for Charlotte County officials responsible for reviewing the plans.

A highly collaborative design process

Troffer says the fast-tracked process involved collaborating closely with the client, which included members of the board of Babcock Ranch and Syd Kitson himself. “While this building needed to function on a day-to-day basis as a fieldhouse, we needed to also design it both structurally and in layout to hold over 1300 people in the event of an emergency, complete with washrooms and support spaces to accommodate that many people, and an emergency water supply that could last a week.”

Kitson even thought of the furry friends that evacuees would need to bring with them to the shelter. That meant housing 250 to 300 pets and including space for storing hundreds of pet crates and carriers. He also wanted restrooms, change rooms, and showers to be easy to clean, whether that was during and after everyday use or a storm shelter event. That meant adding hose bibs, epoxy to the floors, and special drains in those areas.

There aren’t many storm shelters being built in general. Construction in Florida is usually focused on meeting the state’s FBC 2020 building code. “This shelter needed to be designed and built according to the very stringent ICC 500 code,” explains Troffer. “In addition to identifying space sizing and other criteria, ICC 500 has extensive requirements around wind load forces, wall and openings, and other factors.”

With less than six months to complete the design, Studio+ used their Revit software with ASSA ABLOY’s Openings Studio plugin to build a virtual model in parts and phases. That allowed the firm to generate 3D animated views of exteriors and interiors including visualizations of doors, windows, and hardware. This helped stakeholders quickly understand the design and expedited the approval and permitting process to keep momentum going.??

Studio+ shared that Syd Kitson was heavily involved with the fieldhouse design. As a former pro athlete, he wanted its gymnasiums to have multiple basketball courts complete with the highest quality wood floors, equipment, and aesthetic touches to create a positive event experience. “We’re all very proud of that space. The scale and size of it, along with the beautifully detailed courts -- it is so impactful. Collaborating with such an engaged and innovative developer kept things interesting and enjoyable for the team.” Troffer shared.

The taller the space, the thicker the walls

High school level competition requires a clear height of 25 feet from the finished floor to the lowest part of the steel spans above. Since the fieldhouse is also a storm shelter, the higher you go, the thicker the walls need to be when factoring in all the forces a hurricane generates. The facility has spans almost 50 feet wide and an extremely deep steel structure, which calls for walls to be a foot thick.

As the design phases progressed, DeAngelis Diamond tracked the projected budget. By the time the plans reached completion, it looked like the project was headed to go over budget unless they did some value engineering exercises to save costs. That meant looking at roofing, the number of openings in the building, the amount of steel, and other areas to trim. Fortunately, Studio+ was able to cut back on several glazing units without detracting from the overall design.

Typically, only a limited number of openings are used when designing a structure that needs to withstand 200-mile-per-hour wind speeds, and those being planned must have highly reinforced, ICC 500 tested and certified doors, frames, windows, and hardware. Florida Product Approval is also required.

ICC 500 storm shelter door solutions

Because there aren’t many products on the market that meet the strict requirements, Studio+ turned to Steve Tongco at ASSA ABLOY to help zero in on the right fit. Ultimately, the firm went with Curries StormPro? door assemblies and SARGENT hardware for the 16 sets of double and single doors in the fieldhouse.

Curries StormPro Resistant Systems include ICC 500 tested and certified steel doors in 16, 14, and 12-gauge face skin options, frames in 16, 14, and 12-gauge options, a 1-3/4” door thickness, multi-point locks, and the ability to add narrow light 4” x 25” factory-installed StormPro glazing, among many other features and choices.?

StormPro door assemblies offer multiple hardware options – some with concealed vertical rods with pins that latch into the frame top and bottom to ensure they’re secured and hold tight during a storm event. Some also have astragals outside for additional strength. Everything in the door assembly – the door, frame, hinges, panic bars, exterior hardware, and so forth – must be tested together and come as a certified package.

Along with mechanical locks, four pairs of fieldhouse doors and two singles included ASSA ABLOY electrified locks and/or access control solutions so certain openings and areas could be closed off and secured conveniently and remotely.?

Troffer notes that doors, frames, and door hardware are very specific elements in design, and there are important hardware codes for how to specify door swings, handles, pulls, locks, hinges, and finishes. “Navigating the requirements for these elements can be complex, which is why Studio+ relies on the support and expertise that ASSA ABLOY provides in door solutions and consultation. Their expertise really helps us get things right, work efficiently and stay on schedule.”

Just in time

Completing the project on schedule turned out to be fortuitous. DeAngelis Diamond began construction of the Babcock high school and fieldhouse right as Florida’s hurricane season ended in November 2021. Per the plan, both were completed just ahead of the 2022-23 school year – smack dab within the mid-August to late October peak hurricane season. A few short weeks later, Hurricane Ian made landfall on September 28th and Babcock Ranch was in its path.

Fortunately, Babcock residents and their resilient homes fared quite well with scarcely any damage or power loss despite the near-Category 4 winds. Others in nearby towns were not quite so lucky. Thankfully, the Babcock Ranch Fieldhouse turned out to be a just-in-time blessing for those from surrounding communities seeking shelter. So was the generosity of the many good citizens of Babcock Ranch who pitched in to cook, supply, support, and comfort their neighbors.??

Now that’s great planning and a great community.?