Hilldale Elementary Builds 11-Classroom Safe Room

Hilldale Elementary Builds 11-Classroom Safe Room addition, which will be able to protect all of its students, teachers and staff during severe weather or a tornado.

These classrooms will be a warm, comfortable learning environment all year, sound proof and energy efficient. Should the need arise, they would also function as a safe room for the entire school.

The project is located on NW 16th St. in Oklahoma City. Classes run from August through June, which includes Oklahoma’s worst storm season. After the devastating effects of previous tornadoes, you can see why it is important to have a proper safe place to protect the students and staff in the event of severe weather.

With more than 700 children currently enrolled, Hilldale Elementary is always booming with excitement. Between regular class times and after-school programs and activities, there is little time when the building isn’t occupied. Providing a safe room to protect everyone makes sense.

[pullquote style=”right” quote=”dark”]ICH has been a part of many ICF school projects in Oklahoma, including Elgin High School and the Ada Early Childhood Development Center. ICFs deliver extreme safety and protection all-year-round and provide a quiet and energy-efficient structure keeping building utility and maintenance costs low.
-Tony Martin,
CEO ICH[/pullquote]

Despite the number of options available, Hilldale chose to build with BuildBlock ICFs. The new section will not only be safe, but it will also be highly energy efficient. This project was built with BuildLock 10-inch KnockDown ICFs, with walls that can withstand winds over 250 mph.

This project was installed by local BuildBlock master distributor, ICH (http://ichhp.com). ICH is involved with many school safe room projects around Oklahoma.

ICFs are the perfect technology to build an entire school out of for energy efficiency and reduce long-term operating costs. ICFs are simply insulating forms for concrete that stay in place after the concrete is poured. The EPS foam provides high density insulation and an air tight wall. With taxpayers covering the costs of energy in public schools, it makes sense to build them as energy efficient as possible. BuildBlock ICFs buildings can reduce energy bills 40-60 percent compared to traditional construction.

ICFs may be used to build any structure and are incredibly strong and resilient. BuildBlock provides engineering for residential projects and safe rooms engineered to FEMA 361 & ICC 500-2014. These safe rooms can have spans up to 22ft, wall lengths up to 44ft, and wall heights up to 20ft. Though all commercial projects must have site-specific engineering, these tables may be used as a reference.