Making Waves - Richmond
Making Waves Academy is a non-profit charter school that serves low-income students in grades 5 through 12. The campus expansion increased the campus size to 20 acres, and the school now has the capacity to increase its student body from 800 to 2,000 students.
Site Square Footage: 98,400 sq. ft. (Phase I)/250,000 sq. ft. (Phase II)/29,000 sq. ft. (Phase III)
Date Completed: 2012/2019/2022
Client: Making Waves Academy
Architect: HKIT Architects (Phase I)/Studio Bondy Architecture (Phases II and III)
Structural Engineer: Bluestone Engineering (Phase I)/Structural Engineers, Inc. (Phases II and III)
Civil Engineer: HDK Associates (Phase I)/BKF Engineers (Phases II and III)
General Contractor: Overaa/Mark III (Phase I)/Vance Brown Builders (Phases II and III)
Rockridge Geotechnical, Inc. (RG) conducted design-level geotechnical investigations for the three phases of this project. The first phase included seismic upgrades to two existing buildings and the construction of exterior features such as a turf field, landscaping, and a basketball court. Phases two and three included the construction of two new two-story classroom buildings, a gymnasium, an amphitheater, and additional site improvements.
RG performed a geotechnical investigation for the project and consulted with the development and design teams from the early stages of the project through entitlement, schematic design, and design development. The primary geotechnical considerations included highly expansive soils and the presence of existing fill within the proposed building footprints.