Concord, MA – CTA Construction Managers, members of the community, school building committee members, and representatives from Hill-LiRo, SMMA, and Ewing Cole Architects recently gathered to celebrate the topping off of the new Concord Middle School in Concord. CTA Construction was awarded the contract to construct the new 142,537sf middle school in 2023.
Over 2.1 million pounds of steel were erected, and 10 million pounds of reinforced concrete were installed to create the structure for the new building. The new structure, which is comprised of three wings, will serve 700 students in grades 6-8. The construction of the new school is adjacent to the existing Sanborn Middle School.
“We were very excited to celebrate this recent construction milestone with CTA Construction Managers and the community,” said Lorraine Finnegan, senior vice president at SMMA, the architect who designed the new school with Ewing Cole Architects. “The entire design incorporates the natural environment with sustainability as an uppermost priority. Once complete, the school will have floor to ceiling windows to maximize student’s views of the surrounding forest, and additional windows placed to allow maximum natural light into the lower-level classrooms.”
“It has long been a goal of the town to increase the amount of electricity procured from renewable sources,” said Ian Parks, program director at Hill-LiRo, the town’s project management firm. “The proposed heating and cooling system will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42%, and the proposed solar array that will be installed will help the project meet our net zero energy goal.”
“The completed structure will include not only traditional classrooms, but team common areas for students to work together. These team areas will include moveable walls and partitions to make the space an even more flexible learning environment,” said Dr. Laurie Hunter, superintendent of schools.
“We’ve completed the foundations, steel erection, and underground plumbing is ongoing,” said Lyle Coghlin, principal, CTA Construction. “We are looking forward to the continuing progress our teams are making on the school campus, including the interior/exterior framing, sheathing, envelope construction and interior MEP work.”
The new school complex is scheduled to be completed during the 2025-2026 academic year.
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CTA Construction previously worked with Hill-LiRo on several municipal projects, including the Lowell Elementary School project in Watertown, and the new Swampscott Elementary School. This will be the 46th large-scale school construction project CTA Construction has built in Massachusetts.
