Laramie High School

Features include a three-level, 575-seat theater/auditorium, open design learning environment, full kitchen/commons, indoor swimming pool, main and auxiliary gyms, football stadium and practice field, and welding, vehicle and wood labs.

The threat of cold temperatures posed a challenge to this project. Through the winter, temperatures reached -20 degrees with winds at over 80 mph, causing work delays. But with an unmovable completion date tied to the district opening, the project team made up the lost time and completed the project on schedule.

One of the project goals was to encourage strong local participation, so U.S. Engineering partnered with a local subcontractor that helped with the plumbing and underground scopes of work. Open communication and collaboration were critical to successfully complete the mechanical work on time.

MECHANICAL HIGHLIGHTS

• 17 roof-mounted air handling units (355,000 total CFM), one of which was a de-humidification heat recovery unit for the swimming pool
• Redundant 375-ton chillers that provide chilled water to the building
• Four 4-million-BTU condensing boilers for the building’s heating
• A 575-seat, 20,000-sq-ft auditorium featuring a 53-ft ceiling with 2 balcony levels, with all mechanical systems above an acoustical cloud ceiling and behind the acoustical wall so nothing but the diffusers are exposed.