‘Kit’ School Plans Speed Construction

Shrinking class sizes and stepped-up residential development are spurring demand for new elementary schools. However, building new schools can be both a costly and slow-moving process as committee members haggle over the design, and building costs pile up.

Irvine architectural and planning firm LPA Inc. has put together a set of one-size-fits-all school designs in an effort to reduce some of the discussion and the amount of money spent on construction.

The program, called “kit of parts,” uses standard blueprints for school elements like classrooms, offices and libraries. The plans use less space for halls and utility rooms on the inside, and more walkways on the outside. The only differences are the arrangement of rooms on a site or the way they are dressed up with paint or tile.

“It’s harking back to how schools were built in the 1950s and 1960s, when there was a little more standardization,” said Jim Kisel, LPA’s school coordinator

LPA’s first kit school, Canyon Rim Elementary, which will accommodate 625 students, is under construction in Anaheim Hills. It is expected to be complete this fall. Another school, Running Springs Elementary, is planned for the area later this year, said William Flory, director of facilities and planning for the Orange Unified School District. Flory said the plans for Canyon Rim saved the district about a year of design time, which would cost about $100,000. Another kit school is planned in Paramount.

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Melinda Fulmer covers real estate for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7832 and at [email protected]