C.W. Driver Companies, a premier builder serving California since 1919, today announced it concluded two K-12 projects: the new $44 million Cadence Park School in Irvine and the $9 million student creation center and chapel for St. Junipero Serra Catholic School in Rancho Santa Margarita. These projects add to C.W. Driver Companies’ K-12 portfolio comprised of more than 187 education projects across the state.
The art deco-inspired Cadence Park School is the Irvine Unified School District’s (IUSD) 40th school and fourth K-8 campus. It was built to accommodate the growth of Orange County’s Great Park neighborhoods and has the capacity to serve up to 1,000 students. The 94,000-square-foot campus encompasses eight buildings on 13 acres and includes a gymnasium with an attached fitness lab as well as outdoor collaboration spaces for all grade levels. Classrooms for grades one through five will have direct access to interior collaboration spaces, and grades six through eight will have access to a quad with an outdoor amphitheater, small group instruction areas, space for outdoor science activities and a garden.
Located at 750 Benchmark, Cadence Park School features an innovation lab with a maker’s space, video production room and flexible learning space with a roll-up door to accommodate a variety of lesson types. A library with a story-telling space will double as a small group work area. C.W. Driver Companies worked alongside PJHM Architects on the project.
“We have a long history partnering with IUSD on the construction of its elementary, middle and high school campuses, and are honored to once again work with a school district that is consistently ranked no. 1 in Orange County,” said Jonathan Keene, senior project manager at C.W. Driver Companies. “This new campus will provide a state-of-the-art facility for the Great Park Neighborhoods’ growing population and add to IUSD’s impressive roster of forward-thinking learning environments.”
St. Junipero Serra Catholic School’s new 16,000-square-foot student creation center emphasizes the school’s commitment to STEM education and the arts for its preschool through eighth-grade students. The creation center features a music room, think tank, green screen and production studio, multipurpose rooms, administrative offices and kitchen with a staff lounge. The new 6,500-square-foot chapel will provide an improved space for the school’s faith-based offerings.
Located at 23652 Antonio Parkway, Driver SPG worked alongside LPA Inc. on the project. In addition to the construction of the student creation center and new chapel, the project also included extensive site work such as pedestrian walkways, water features, decorative statues, and a covered lunch area.
“We enjoyed working with St. Junipero Serra Catholic School to enrich the learning environment and community space for its students,” said Aimee Siemianowski, vice president of Driver SPG. “STEM has been a focus for C.W. Driver Companies’ higher education clients for some time now, and is growing in popularity among K-12 facilities as they work to ensure students are competitive for university programs in these high-growth, high-demand fields.”
Both projects add to C.W. Driver Companies’ expertise in K-12 construction. Other K-12 projects have included IUSD’s Stonegate Elementary School; IUSD’s Portola High School, IUSD’s Portola Springs Elementary School; IUSD’s Woodbury Elementary School Pasadena USD’s Blair Middle School; San Diego UHSD’s Pacific Trails Middle School and Grossmont UHSD’s El Capitan High School, among others.