Graceland Park O’Donnell Heights EMS & Holabird Academy

Within the inner city of Baltimore, two (2) existing Elementary/Middle Schools were replaced with two (2) new duplicate zero-energy facilities, less than two miles apart from each other. The Holabird Academy has a distinct and individual exterior palette, however shares an identical footprint with Graceland Park/O’Donnell Heights EMS. CAM utilized a project management crew that had a Chief Superintendent & Senior Project Manager oversee both sites with individual project management teams at each site accordingly.

The school is equipped with student gardens, outdoor classrooms, rooftop solar labs, and vegetative roofs. Both schools were completed simultaneously, opening on-time during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unique elements of this LEED Platinum certified project included the fact that these were Net Zero replacement schools with Geothermal Wells, ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) Perimeter Walls, and Solar Panels.

Via an allowance, CAM hired a firm (CMTA) that provided an integrated monitoring and building information system for the kids to learn and monitor the building, and features and performance. This occurs through a touchscreen monitor in the main lobby/atrium-mounted at an appropriate height for touching by children.

This was a multi-phased project insofar as the new buildings were completely built while maintaining continuity and use of the old structures a mere 100 feet away, and once occupancy of the new facilities took place, CAM had to remediate and demolish each of the old buildings to make way for new ballfields, playgrounds, and running tracks.