Campus Signage (Wallace State Community College)

Aho Architects designed a campus signage and way-finding program for Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Alabama. The $425,000 signage program included a variety of sign types around the campus to assist in way-finding, building identification, and communication. The project centerpiece was a large electronic readerboard sign pylon located along Highway 31 at the front of the campus.

Building Monument Sign  |  Wallace State Community College — **Building Monument Sign** | Wallace State Community College

The project included 57 signs throughout the campus of the following types: electronic readerboard pylon, building monument, pole-mounted "flag", building letters/dimensional characters, large and small directionals.

Key features of the electronic readerboard pylon sign:

Text, Photo, Animation, Live Video capabilities
Height: 30'
Electronic display: 24' x 10' , 16mm resolution (3670 pixels/square meter)
4.72 sextillion colors
60 frames per second video

A portion of the campus with signs highlighted

Not Afraid of Heights (WSCC Bevill Center)

It's a good thing we're not afraid of heights...

One of our current projects is replacing windows and exterior elements on the Bevill Center which was damaged in the 4/27/2011 tornado which struck Wallace State Community College in Hanceville. Part of our work involves investigating the existing conditions and observing the repair work. That becomes a challenge when the work is 7-8 stories up.

Our work on WSCC's Bevill Center is one of five packages of storm damage repair work on various structures across the campus.

Aerial View of the Bevill Center  |  The purple line in the bottom right corner of the image is the storm track of the EF-2 tornado which struck the campus on the morning of April 27, 2011. — **Aerial View of the Bevill Center |** The purple line in the bottom right corner of the image is the storm track of the EF-2 tornado which struck the campus on the morning of April 27, 2011.

Resources for Designing Safe Schools

Here are some resources for designing safe schools compiled by the Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE), a practice area of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Aho Architects, LLC is a member of both the CAE and the AIA.

Now, more than ever, it is extremely important to integrate safety and security design thinking in educational environments.

U.S. Department of Education presentation William Lassiter, Dir. Of Communication, NC Dept. of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention and Steven McElroy, Director of Security Safety & Security, Columbus Ohio Public Schools http://rems.ed.gov/docs/Training_CHIL07_SafetyPhysicalDesign.pdf
Architecture, Design and School Crime Prevention, Ken Trump http://www.schoolsecurity.org/resources/school-design.html
Florida Safe Schools Design Guidelines http://www.fldoe.org/edfacil/pdf/fl_ssg.pdf
California Department of Education http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/vp/safeschlplanning.asp
Singapore Guidelines http://www.ncpc.gov.sg/pdf/CPTED%20Guidebook.pdf
FEMA Primer to Design Safe School Projects in Case of Terrorist Attacks and School Shootings http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/st/bips07_428_schools.pdf
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design http://cptedsecurity.com/cpted_design_guidelines.htm
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, Robert A. Gardner http://www.crimewise.com/library/cpted.html
Safety by Design, Don Hensely http://asumag.com/mag/university_safety_design
Designing Safe Schools, Gary C. Prager, AIA http://asumag.com/mag/university_designing_safe_schools
National Clearing House for Educational Facilities http://www.ncef.org/rl/safety_security.cfm

GSCC Bids Retrofit Roof of Electronics Buidling

We received (under budget) bids this morning to construct a sloped metal retrofit roofing system on the former Automotive Building at Gadsden State Community College's Ayers Campus in Anniston. The College has retrofit a number of older flat-roofed buildings on the campus, and this project will continue that investment.

Rendering of retrofit metal roof and new entrance canopy to be constructed in this project.

Under Budget...

We are pleased that bids were received from 6 of 7 pre-qualified general contractors, and that the low bid was substantially (22%) under budget. Aho Architects is also pleased that the average of all bids received is also under budget (by 2.8%). This is consistent with our historical cost estimating performance which is around 2% under budget.

Related work...

Aho Architects is also honored to be GSCC's architect for a complete interior renovation of the same building, under a separate project with construction starting next week. This renovation will convert the structure into a new home for GSCC's electronics programs on the campus. Aho Architects also designed renovations for electronics (robotics, electronics, process logic controls, etc.) on GSCC's East Broad Street Campus. That project is featured here on our website.

View of the existing building before renovation

A Word of Thanks...

Aho Architects and Gadsden State would like to thank the following General Contractors (listed alphabetically) for the time, effort, and investment they made in submitting bids for this project:

Alabama Roofing & Sheet Metal Co., Inc.
Assurance Service Group, Inc.
Boatner Construction Co., Inc.
Dunn Building Company
Hale Building Company
Kent Consolidated Construction, Inc.

CACC Biology Lab Project Bids are in Budget

Yesterday, we received bids for the Biology Lab Renovation Project for Central Alabama Community College, Alexander City campus. This project is the first construction project bid under a multi-year Open-End agreement for projects <$250,000 which CACC awarded Aho Architects a few months ago.

New Biology Laboratory and Lecture Space  |  CACC, Alexander City, AL — **New Biology Laboratory and Lecture Space** | CACC, Alexander City, AL

The biology lab renovation project converts existing general classroom space into a state-of-the-art lecture/classroom/laboratory facility for the college's biology classes.

A total of 6 bids were received from pre-qualified general contractors, and the results were within budget and within 1% of our cost estimate, a testament to our team's estimating abilities.

A Word of Thanks...

Aho Architects and CACC would like to thank the following General Contractors (listed alphabetically) for the time, effort, and investment they made in submitting bids for this project:

Assurance Service Group, Inc.
Battle-Miller Construction Corp.
Bullard-Cook, Inc.
Henderson & Coker, Inc.
J.A. Lett Construction Co., Inc.
M.J. Brooks & Son Construction, Inc.

Shelton State Renovation of Bldg. 200 Nears Completion

Our interior renovation of Building 200 on the C.A. Fredd Campus of Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa is nearing completion. The project should be ready for final inspection in the coming weeks.

Gadsden State Holds Open House for 2 Aho Projects

Yesterday, Gadsden State Community College held open houses at two projects designed by Aho Architects: The New Automotive Services Technology Building, and the Bevill Center Renovation. In addition to the open houses, the College held a parade between the two projects and dedicated a new campus gateway road and intersection project. (Please click the preceding links for photos and more info. about each project.)

New Automotive Services Technology Building  |  Gadsden State Community College, East Broad Street Campus, Gadsden, AL — **New Automotive Services Technology Building** | Gadsden State Community College, East Broad Street Campus, Gadsden, AL

Bevill Center Renovation  |  Gadsden State Community College, East Broad Street Campus, Gadsden, AL — **Bevill Center Renovation** | Gadsden State Community College, East Broad Street Campus, Gadsden, AL

GSCC President Dr. Raymond Staats addresses the crowd, while Gadsden Mayor Sherman Guyton looks on — GSCC President Dr. Raymond Staats addresses the crowd, while Gadsden Mayor Sherman Guyton looks on

Mary Scott Hunter, State Board of Education Member (District 8), spoke about pride of place, showing your history and what you're about

Dr. Mark Heinrich, Chancellor of the Alabama Community College System, addresses the crowd

Additional media coverage can be found on al.com and in the Gadsden Times

New Photos of WSCC Academy of Cosmetic Arts

Here are some new photos of the Academy of Cosmetic Arts at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, AL.

Click any image above for a larger view and more details.

For more information about this project, please click here for details. You can also use the following links for more information about our work for Community Colleges and other Education Clients.

A Nice Feature Wall (Interior Design)

Feature Wall  |  The 2-tone effect is achieved by using two different finishes (matte and gloss) of the same paint color. — **Feature Wall |** The 2-tone effect is achieved by using two different finishes (matte and gloss) of the same paint color.

This is an image (construction in progress) of a feature wall created by our Interior Designer and Project Manager, April Cain. This is in the Building 200 Interior Renovation project at Shelton State Community College (C.A. Fredd Campus) in Tuscaloosa, AL.

Two finishes of the same black-colored paint create the effect, which varies subtly with changes in viewing position and lighting conditions.

Shelton State Retrofit Roofs Progressing

Work is progressing on our project to add sloped metal retrofit roofs on four buildings at Shelton State Community College's C.A. Fredd Campus in Tuscaloosa, AL. The weather was pretty miserable during this inspection, but hey, what better time to inspect new roofs than in the rain? It definitely helps us to find the leaks, and fortunately... we didn't find any.

Key features of the electronic readerboard pylon sign:​

​It's a good thing we're not afraid of heights...

​Here are some resources for designing safe schools compiled by the Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE), a practice area of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

​Under Budget...

Related work...

A Word of Thanks...

Yesterday, we received bids for the Biology Lab Renovation Project for Central Alabama Community College, Alexander City campus. This project is the first construction project bid under a multi-year Open-End agreement for projects <$250,000 which CACC awarded Aho Architects a few months ago.

A total of 6 bids were received from pre-qualified general contractors, and the results were within budget and within 1% of our cost estimate, a testament to our team's estimating abilities.​

A Word of Thanks...

Key features of the electronic readerboard pylon sign:

It's a good thing we're not afraid of heights...

Here are some resources for designing safe schools compiled by the Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE), a practice area of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Under Budget...

A total of 6 bids were received from pre-qualified general contractors, and the results were within budget and within 1% of our cost estimate, a testament to our team's estimating abilities.