November 2019

Quantum principals John Riley and Jack Wiggins provided structural design and management for a new elementary school in Renton. The 9.5-acre site features a 55,800 SF facility housing classrooms, offices, conference rooms, workrooms, a kitchen, a cafeteria, common areas, a gymnasium, a music room, and a library/media center.

The site was challenging due to its unusual shape and sloping terrain. To accommodate, two classroom wings were designed to come together at the center of the building and connect the floors with a central, open stairway. The lower floor, containing administrative offices, is the main entry, while the upper floors include a library, and special services such as counseling, physical therapy, and daycare. Portions of the building are designed to be sectioned-off, improving security for after-hours neighborhood uses.

Outside, an all-weather baseball/soccer field, hard-surface play areas, covered shelters, and a small outdoor amphitheater wrap around the campus.

*John and Jack performed this project while with another firm.

Architect: BCRA Architects

Quantum Consulting Engineers provided structural design for this new 600 student middle school featuring general classrooms, administrative offices, student services, a cafeteria, computer and media labs, and a multi-purpose gym. The school is approximately 75,000 SF and located in Auburn near Five Mile Lake.

The classroom and gymnasium buildings’ structural system is composed of steel roof and floor framing with concrete floor decks, masonry walls, and prefab steel wall panels. The central commons area features exposed heavy timber roof deck, beams and columns, with a timber elevated walkway. Careful decisions were made to preserve the natural forested condition of nearly three-fourths of the property on which the school is located. The steel beam-to-column connections are detailed to evoke “branches” up to the forest canopy.The building design – developed by Bassetti Architects – consists of three wings branching off of the commons area. Each wing has eight classrooms, with four upstairs and four downstairs. Two large classrooms are located near the gymnasium in the central area. An administration area and library wing are located toward the north end of the building. The school is designed to allow controlled natural light into the interior of the structure, a building trend that has been shown to positively impact students academic performance.

Construction on Sequoyah Middle School was completed in time for the start of the 2005 school year.

Architect: Bassetti Architects

The Skyline High School Expansion Project is a large addition and renovation/remodel to the existing school for the Issaquah School District. The expansion will add approximately 52,000 SF of new construction, increasing the capacity of the school to 1,850 students.The new classroom and administration wings are three-story steel-framed structures with a concentric steel braced-framed lateral force-resisting system. The commons area expansion is comprised of a two-story steel-frame structure and a new shed roof that helps to seismically brace the existing classroom building. The program includes a new gymnasium with 114’ clear span steel-framed roof trusses. The weight room and locker room expansions are located adjacent to the gymnasiums.

Architect: Bassetti Architects