“What we’re trying to do is build in long-term materials ... metal roofing is a good product that is fairly easy to put down.”

School Renovation and
the Importance of Maintenance

By Eric Butterfield, Editor, School Construction News

Charles Boney Jr., AIA, is a principal and director of research and development for Boney Architects, Wilmington, N.C., where he began his service in 1978. He served as principal architect for Governors’ Village, an award-winning design project for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., school district. Currently he is designing renovation/addition work for eight schools in Robeson County, N.C. This year he served as director of research for the American Institute of Architects’ school facilities survey, the results of which were reported at the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education conference held April 8-9 in San Francisco. In anticipation of our interview, Mr. Boney sent us the following quote, which he felt was particularly appropriate considering the current state of K-12 schools in the United States.

“It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money—that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do ... If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

— John Ruskin (1819-1900)

In reference to John Ruskin saying it’s unwise to pay too much but it’s worse if you pay too little, do you think too many school districts are doing just that: building facilities that are going to have to be replaced too soon?

       I can’t really document that. But what we were trying to do with our research [AIA school facilities survey] was to look at what had been done in the past. One of the architects who worked with me, Jim Biehle [Inside/Out Architects, Clayton, Mo.] kept saying, “Look at all these buildings that were built back in the ’50s and the ’60s that we’re having to tear down now;” or, about the ones built in the ’70s that were built so fast and so cheap, “Are they receiving an inordinate amount of maintenance dollars?” That’s one of the reasons we put this research project together.

       I don’t think my research is really conclusive. What we did find that we can apply to the buildings we’re doing today is that quality is very relative. It’s relative to the person you’re talking to, it’s relative to the maintenance the building receives, it’s regional. Wood windows in the dry Midwest might be great, but not down here in Wilmington, N.C., because they rot out.

       Trying to apply the lessons we got out of the survey, I think the message there is to really know your client. Know what they’re able to maintain and not able to maintain and know what they value. There are some school districts where the kids are so well behaved and value the buildings so much that you could probably use sheet rock in the corridors. Then there are other districts where if we put sheet rock in the corridor, it would be destroyed in a matter of weeks.

Speaking of materials, many of your survey respondents said that quality, longevity and flexibility were important, then ended up using materials similar to what their predecessors used. What different types of materials do you think districts should consider using?

       One of the recurring comments I saw in the survey concerned floor materials. We would all like to be able to use terrazzo because we know it will be there for the life of the building and is a low-maintenance installation. It looks good for a long time. There are various groups that have done studies that show that if you base your selection of floor materials on long-term costs, terrazzo will cost, let’s say, half or less than half of VCT (vinyl composition tile). VCT is one of those recurring materials, it wears out every time—more than wears out, it just gets ugly over time. It gets dirty and the dirt is embedded. It’s hard to revive the stuff and it is labor-intensive to maintain.

       In the survey, architects would say, “We’ve chosen materials to be long-lasting materials.” When I look at the before pictures, they show vinyl tile on the floor, and when I look at the after pictures they show vinyl tile on the floor. When I looked at the before pictures of the walls, they would have concrete block, and we’ve got concrete block in the new building.

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