Skanska Breaks Ground on New High School in Portland

By Gail Kalinoski

Skanska is building a new $186 million high school for the Sherwood School District in Portland, Ore.

Skanska has begun construction of a new $186 million high school for the Sherwood School District in Portland, Ore., that is expected to be completed for the 2020-2021 school year. The 352,000-square-foot building will be constructed on a 73-acre campus and accommodate up to 2,400 students.

The new school, which was funded by a bond measure approved by district voters in November 2016, is replacing the current overcrowded Sherwood High School. That building will be transformed into a middle school and two current middle schools will become elementary schools. In addition to new science and technology classrooms and multiple gymnasiums, the high school will feature a 600-seat performing arts center, more than doubling the current seating capacity. The campus will also have seven sports fields and a football complex.

The facility was designed by BRIC Architecture of Portland. Cornerstone MG represents the school district during the project.

Skanska said it had signed a contract for $77 million to construct the school and plans to include the payment in its U.S. order bookings for the second quarter of 2018.

One of the leading construction and development companies in the United States, the Sweden-based firm specializes in building construction, civil infrastructure, public-private partnerships and commercial property developments.

Higher Education Projects Underway

This spring, Skanska took on two higher-education projects in the Southeast U.S. The company signed a $106 million contract in April with North Carolina State University to build a new engineering facility at its NC State Centennial Campus in Raleigh, N.C. The 226,042-square-foot building will be home to engineering labs, administrative offices and classrooms and is scheduled for completion by July 2020.

Also in April, Skanska said it had signed a $63 million contract to build the 380,000-square-foot University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute Tower at Channelside Drive and Meridian Avenue in downtown Tampa Bay, Fla. It is the first building in the $3 billion Water Street Tampa project and is expected to be ready for 1,800 students, faculty, researchers and staff by 2019.

Images courtesy of BRIC Architecture