{"id":215321,"date":"2026-08-31T15:06:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?p=215321"},"modified":"2026-09-01T09:20:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T13:20:47","slug":"precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Precast concrete puts schools back in session"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
Drosdick Hall added more than 20 research laboratories with the expansion. Images courtesy High Concrete Group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As students prepare to return to classrooms across the country, school construction is also back in focus. Two recently completed projects show how precast concrete can help education facilities meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture.<\/p>\n

Montbello High School in Denver reopened after a decade-long closure with a $152 million renovation and expansion. The 25,799 m2<\/sup> (277,694 sf) project modernized the 40-year-old campus while adding classroom wings, a gymnasium, and administrative space. The project earned a 2026 PCI Design Award<\/a> in the School (K-12) Building category.<\/p>\n

The design team used 198 insulated architectural precast concrete panels to unify the existing and new construction. Acid-etched finishes, thin-brick accents, and two formliner patterns created a contemporary exterior while echoing the surrounding neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Using precast concrete also helped the team work around an active school environment. The tight residential site required 205 truck deliveries and 246 precast pieces. A crane was repositioned 11 times. Crews completed the erection in just over a month, from February through March 2023. The load-bearing panels also support the steel structure and improve the building envelope\u2019s energy performance.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
The projects demonstrate precast\u2019s role in improving efficiency. Image courtesy l Integrated Studio, Cameron Campbell<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drosdick Hall expansion<\/h2>\n

At Villanova University in Pennsylvania, Drosdick Hall gives the College of Engineering a new 13,935 m2<\/sup> (150,000 sf) home. The $125 million project more than doubled the college\u2019s main academic space and added more than 20 research laboratories. It also expanded laboratory space by 60 percent. The project was recognized with a 2026 PCI Design Award in the Higher Education\/University Building category<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The project team selected precast to blend the new facility with Villanova\u2019s traditional Gothic architecture. Thin veneer stone helped achieve that continuity, while off-site fabrication allowed precast production to proceed alongside foundation, steel, and decking work.<\/p>\n

The site presented its own challenges. A one-lane road provided access to only two sides of the crane, and grading and staging areas were limited. Still, crews installed the precast exterior in eight weeks. Three large, joint-free chimneys were assembled from multiple panels, clad in stone, and installed as single roof-level units.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explore two projects which show precast concrete’s ability to meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35591,"featured_media":215322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1029],"tags":[4518,3509,10173],"class_list":["post-215321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-denver","tag-pci","tag-villanova","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPrecast concrete puts schools back in session - The Construction Specifier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore two projects which show precast concrete's ability to meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Precast concrete puts schools back in session - The Construction Specifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore two projects which show precast concrete's ability to meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Construction Specifier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-31T19:06:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-01T13:20:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"amrit_bls\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"amrit_bls\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"amrit_bls\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0c4de6fcfc742337de86ffbb2fb63778\"},\"headline\":\"Precast concrete puts schools back in session\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T19:06:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-01T13:20:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":374,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Denver\",\"PCI\",\"Villanova\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/\",\"name\":\"Precast concrete puts schools back in session - The Construction Specifier\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T19:06:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-01T13:20:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"Explore two projects which show precast concrete's ability to meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"Drosdick Hall added more than 20 research laboratories with the expansion. Images courtesy High Concrete Group\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Precast concrete puts schools back in session\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Construction Specifier\",\"description\":\"Solutions for the Construction Industry\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Construction Specifier\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg\",\"width\":288,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"The Construction Specifier\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0c4de6fcfc742337de86ffbb2fb63778\",\"name\":\"amrit_bls\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/224a29f848416e19f02b122ce7adec678f6616e1bef3ee1a2579445bf8d29427?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/224a29f848416e19f02b122ce7adec678f6616e1bef3ee1a2579445bf8d29427?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/224a29f848416e19f02b122ce7adec678f6616e1bef3ee1a2579445bf8d29427?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"amrit_bls\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.constructionspecifier.com\\\/author\\\/amrit_bls\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Precast concrete puts schools back in session - The Construction Specifier","description":"Explore two projects which show precast concrete's ability to meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Precast concrete puts schools back in session - The Construction Specifier","og_description":"Explore two projects which show precast concrete's ability to meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture","og_url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/","og_site_name":"The Construction Specifier","article_published_time":"2026-08-31T19:06:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-01T13:20:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"amrit_bls","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"amrit_bls","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/"},"author":{"name":"amrit_bls","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0c4de6fcfc742337de86ffbb2fb63778"},"headline":"Precast concrete puts schools back in session","datePublished":"2026-08-31T19:06:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-01T13:20:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/"},"wordCount":374,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Denver","PCI","Villanova"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/","name":"Precast concrete puts schools back in session - The Construction Specifier","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-31T19:06:05+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-01T13:20:47+00:00","description":"Explore two projects which show precast concrete's ability to meet tight schedules while delivering distinctive architecture","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/PCI-1-scaled.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"Drosdick Hall added more than 20 research laboratories with the expansion. Images courtesy High Concrete Group"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/precast-concrete-puts-schools-back-in-session\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Precast concrete puts schools back in session"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/","name":"The Construction Specifier","description":"Solutions for the Construction Industry","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#organization","name":"The Construction Specifier","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CS_Logo_BW_LR.jpg","width":288,"height":70,"caption":"The Construction Specifier"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0c4de6fcfc742337de86ffbb2fb63778","name":"amrit_bls","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/224a29f848416e19f02b122ce7adec678f6616e1bef3ee1a2579445bf8d29427?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/224a29f848416e19f02b122ce7adec678f6616e1bef3ee1a2579445bf8d29427?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/224a29f848416e19f02b122ce7adec678f6616e1bef3ee1a2579445bf8d29427?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"amrit_bls"},"url":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/author\/amrit_bls\/"}]}},"views":6057,"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/users\/35591"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215321"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215331,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215321\/revisions\/215331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/media\/215322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionspecifier.com\/wp-json-v2\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}