New Costa gym design ready for state approval
A rendering of the new Mira Costa gym. Courtesy Gensler New Costa gym design ready for state approval
Architects for the new Mira Costa gymnasium presented final designs to the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Education last week in preparation for submitting plans to the Division of the State architect, the final stage before actually going out to bid.
Construction of the 70,000 sq. ft. stateArchitectrt athletic facility is expected to begin next November and be completed by May 2020. The building includes a 20,000 sq. ft. three-court gym, a nearly 9,000 sq. ft. naturally lit community “Pavillion” gym, a 60-person classroom, a dance room, locker rooms, an outdoor terrace, a sports medicine center, and a strength and fitness center.
Architect Steve Chang, from Gensler, the firm designing the gym, went through the details of the project for the school board’s final approval at its Feb. 7 meeting. He emphasized the project’s flexibility, connectivity, and equity, noting that the designs are built to include more or fewer features, depending on the construction market’s bugetary impact, while the final gym is designed to serve all students equally and connect well with both the rest of the campus and the larger Manhattan Beach community.
He led with a feature sure to generate Mustang enthusiasm.
“There is going to be a huge 20,000 sq. ft. gym with three courts, and it will be much bigger than Redondo’s gym,” Chang said, as a chorus of “whoo hoos” emanated from the boardroom dais. “I thought I’d point that out.”
The project’s cost estimate at present is $38,985,000, just below the $39 million Measure EE funds designated for the new gym. The architects had value-engineered a few spaces out of final designs, and last week sought and obtained from the board an addendum to their contract to submit two sets of designs to the state — one with the additional features, which include a second classroom and a flex/dance room (at a cost of $550,000), an entry shade canopy ($130,000) and drywall detailing in the big gym ($73,000). The extra design work cost $87,000. Chang described the dual plan submission a “rip cord” strategy that most cost-efficiently gives the district the ability to adapt to the volatility of the construction market over the next 10 months.
“It’s about as difficult predicting what the construction market is going to do as the stock market,” Chang said.
The strategy was unanimously approved by the board.