AI-generated transcript of Overview of MHS Building Project Designs

[Jenny Graham]: Hi, everyone. I'm Jenny Graham. I'm the chair of the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee. And I'm here today with Matt Rice, who's our principal architect on the project. And we're here to talk about some of the exciting work that the building committee has been doing over the last couple of weeks. So if you've been following along, you know that we started out with 29 options. And the feedback overall was that that was a huge number and it was really really overwhelming to think about like how to look at 29 different choices and decide sort of the pros and the cons. And in our last meeting at the end of March on the 27th we actually moved from 29 options to six And those six options are somewhat governed by the requirements set forth to us by the Massachusetts School Building Authority in terms of sort of the structure of what we kept. But also in that meeting, there was lots and lots and lots of good discussion from the 25 thoughtful people who are donating their time and spending lots and lots of energy understanding this process. with us about what they're thinking about, how they're making decisions, and asking lots and lots of good questions. So Matt, I don't know if you have any impressions from that meeting in terms of what you heard from the committee and how that's informing your work going forward, but that might be helpful to share before we dive into all the options.

[Matt Rice]: Sure. So I think the process was a very healthy one in terms of the dialogue back and forth. And we felt really happy actually coming out of that meeting with the quality and the variety of the different options that were selected, primarily because it gives us the ability to look at very different scenarios around the site, be they addition renovation options, be the code repair option or new construction options.

[Jenny Graham]: So Matt, can you tell us what A and B means, just for anybody who had a hard time sort of following along with those 29 choices?

[Matt Rice]: Sure, yeah, and we tried to simplify it in terms of understanding, and that's really where this A, B, C, and D nomenclature came from. But the A options were really focused on the code repair scenario for the project. This is a scenario that is dictated by the Massachusetts School of Building Authority in terms of making sure that we have a baseline understanding of what it would actually take to repair, to fix the building that is here. And so when I say fix it, it really does cover the whole range of things that are wrong with this building right now. It would address things such as the lack of energy code compliance here, both in the exterior envelope as well as the mechanical systems, the electrical systems. All these things are not code compliant as they would stand, so they would all need to be replaced as part of that baseline option. The B option, we actually have the chance to keep the existing structure. completely reconceive of the internal workings of the building, in addition to sort of bringing it up to code and doing all those things that we have to do, will actually have the ability to really improve and meet the educational plan. So that's a key distinguishing factor between A and B, even though it looks like the majority of this existing building will remain in place in terms of the structure that's here and sort of the general organization of the building. We will be reimagining it as part of this option. The C options were very much more focused in terms of the area of the existing building that we're looking at renovating. So the C options look primarily at renovating the gymnasium, the pool building, as well as the PE spaces that are immediately adjacent to the gymnasium. So the gymnastics gym, as well as the fitness center that are located there. We broke those out specifically because they are unique program elements from the Massachusetts School Building Authority reimbursement model. The gymnasium itself is much larger than what we can build if we were going to be building a new gym, which is what we'll look at when we get to the D options. And then the gymnastic gym and the fitness room are again large spaces that are not typically allowed to be built that large as part of a new build. And the pool is a complete unique element from a MSBA funding perspective. When we're talking about renovation, either in the B or the C option, we're really talking about dramatic reimagining of what those existing spaces are. We need to keep the bones of what's there, the structural frame, and not too much more than that actually, because we do need to replace the entirety of the exterior envelope of all those existing buildings, and then the interior finishes need to be completely replaced and rethought about in terms of what they look and feel like. So we definitely have the ability in the need to completely reimagine those spaces.

[Jenny Graham]: Great. So D equals new construction. Correct. Okay. Does that mean it's in a completely different space than the building today?

[Matt Rice]: It doesn't have to be in a complete difference. It just means that everything that we're building at the end of the day is completely new. There will be no renovation associated with it, but it may be a portion of that new construction overlapping on the existing building.

[Jenny Graham]: Can you talk a little bit about what's ahead in terms of these designs?

[Matt Rice]: Yeah, and I would say that we're actually happy that we don't have like a clear winner as well in terms of the process. It really goes to the value of this process of us investigating and having everyone in the community have an opportunity to talk about where are our priorities and try to figure that out.