What You Need to Know:��

• DLR Group released renderings and a modernization plan to replace��roughly 30%��of Palisades Charter High School classrooms lost in the Palisades Fire one year ago.��

• The plan includes a new two-story classroom building, a single-story academy building, and restored athletics facilities, with interim spaces planned to keep programs running during construction.��

• Los Angeles Unified School District expects a partial campus return in January, with major construction slated to begin in late 2026 and full occupancy��anticipated��in 2028.��

• Design priorities include expanded career technical education space, indoor-outdoor learning areas, and wildfire-resiliency strategies spanning site planning, materials, and indoor air quality protections.��

Learn More:��

LOS ANGELES — DLR Group has unveiled a rebuild and modernization plan for Palisades Charter High School, releasing new campus renderings on the one-year anniversary of the Palisades Fire that destroyed about 30% of the school’s classroom space.��

Working with Los Angeles Unified School District and community stakeholders, the design team said the effort is intended to return students and staff to permanent facilities while adding flexible learning environments and resiliency features shaped by wildfire risk.��

As lead architect, DLR Group’s scope includes a new two-story classroom building and a single-story academy building, along with a restored track and field area that adds a new field building and a renewed facility to replace the baseball field. The firm said construction sequencing will incorporate strategically placed spaces to support on-campus programs while work is underway.��

Los Angeles Unified plans a partial campus return this month, using remediated surviving buildings and modular interim classrooms. New-building construction is expected to begin in late 2026, with full occupancy of the reimagined campus��anticipated��in 2028.��

Programmatically, the team is using the rebuild to address spaces lost in the fire and update learning environments. With career technical education areas impacted, the two-story building is planned to centralize film, media, engineering, and maker spaces. DLR Group said the CTE suite is designed to support acoustic needs, advanced filming capability and indoor-outdoor flexibility. The plan also adds collaborative and gathering areas intended to serve the broader campus.��

The design concept emphasizes interwoven indoor-outdoor circulation and gathering spaces, extending learning beyond traditional classrooms.��DLR��Group said the approach draws inspiration from the campus setting between coastal cliffs and a canyon. Planned features include learning stairs; ground-floor science, engineering, and maker spaces connected to outdoor learning zones; and stacked classroom configurations paired with adjacent teacher collaboration areas. Outdoor plazas, rain gardens, and amphitheater-like spaces are intended to support layered moments of learning and gathering.��

Fire resiliency measures are embedded in both site planning and building systems, according to the release. Landscape strategies include native, fire-adapted plantings, terraced slopes, shaded fuel break areas, and a maintained 30-foot defensible zone around new buildings that��avoids��woody plants and bark mulch while using fire-resistant ground covers. Stormwater features are designed to serve as fire breaks while providing rainwater collection.��

On the building side, DLR Group said the design specifies Class A roofing and non-combustible cladding, including metal panel systems and brick veneer to align with existing campus architecture. To support indoor air quality during wildfire events, the buildings are designed to shift to a protective mode, with sealed economizers, reduced roof penetrations and rooftop mechanical strategies intended to limit smoke intrusion. Rooftop solar panels are planned to provide power support during emergencies.��

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What You Need to Know:

• University of Texas (UT) San Antonio is advancing five facility projects across its main campus and downtown footprint in 2026.��

• The investments include new student housing, a refreshed museum space, expanded downtown academic and business-support locations, and a major new academic building.��

• The largest project highlighted is San Pedro II, a $130 million, 180,000-square-foot building tentatively scheduled to open in spring 2026.��

• A new $35 million athletics training center is also expected to be completed this fall, with $5 million contributions from both Bexar County and the City of San Antonio.��

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SAN ANTONIO — UT San Antonio is heading into 2026 with a wave of facility investment that adds housing, expands downtown academic and business-support space, and upgrades athletics infrastructure. Five projects — some already in use, others nearing completion — highlight where the university is putting construction dollars to work.��

Blanco Hall (Main Campus residence hall)��

Blanco Hall��is welcoming��its first students and��expanding��on-campus housing for first-year students and sophomores. The 155,000-square-foot residence hall at Barshop Boulevard and Tobin Avenue adds capacity for��nearly 600��students and includes communal areas for study and collaborative learning. A dedicated kitchen space is also planned to support dietetics instruction as a shared nutrition research and practice lab.��

Institute of Texan Cultures (Frost Tower relocation and refresh)��

The Institute of Texan Cultures will reopen in its new home at Frost Tower, 111 W. Houston St., on Thursday, Jan. 29. UT San Antonio staff worked with design and museum partners to “reimagine,” according to��, the museum for a more modern, interactive experience in its new setting.��

The reopening will feature the main gallery exhibition, “Common Threads,” organized around four themes: home and family life; heritage and traditions; arts and culture; and community.��

One Riverwalk Place (downtown footprint expansion)��

One Riverwalk Place is becoming a larger hub for UT San Antonio in the city’s urban core. After Spring Break, the Valdez Institute for Economic Development plans to move its��operations there, shifting business advising and training services closer to the downtown business community.��

In fall 2025, the building also became home to the��Klesse��College of Engineering and Integrated Design’s School of Architecture and Planning.��

San Pedro II (new $130 million academic building)��

San Pedro II is tentatively scheduled to open in spring 2026,��nearly two-and-a-half��years after its groundbreaking. The $130 million, 180,000-square-foot building on Dolorosa Street sits across from San Pedro I along the San Pedro Creek Culture Park and is planned as a business- and innovation-oriented facility.��

UT San Antonio says the building will expand immersive experiential learning and professional development opportunities and support training for careers in fields such as cybersecurity, AI, computing and data sciences. Alongside San Pedro I — home to the College of AI, Cyber and Computing and the National Security Collaboration Center — the new facility is intended to strengthen the university’s role in the city’s high-tech corridor and contribute to broader investment in the San Pedro Creek area.��

Training Center (new $35 million athletics facility)��

On the main campus, a new two-story, $35 million training center is expected to be completed this fall next to the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence. The 53,000-square-foot facility will support daily operations for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball, while games continue at the Convocation Center.��

Plans include two full-sized NCAA practice courts and program-dedicated support areas such as locker rooms, lounges, training and hydrotherapy space, meeting��rooms��and coaches’ offices. The project is backed by Bexar County and the City of San Antonio, which each invested $5 million.��

This article is based on reporting originally published by UT San Antonio Today on Jan. 5, 2026.����

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by Mark A. Sullivan, AIA, LEED AP��

Colleges and universities are used to making hard choices when it comes to campus structures and facilities, but those decisions seem increasingly fraught, thanks primarily to the unpredictability of market forces. Where previously the choice might have been between building a splashy new athletic center or creating an amenity-rich technology hub, now administrators and trustees are frequently deciding to put new construction projects on hold, owing to construction cost escalations and, for some, reductions in annual budgets for capital investment. Instead, more of today’s funding is being directed toward strategic renovations of existing buildings, either to enhance current functions or adapt spaces to new uses.����

This trend started a couple years ago and has accelerated since, according to , with experts noting a rebound in investment in existing campus assets over the past several years. As an example, higher education institutions in 2023 saw a 26% increase in this type of investment over the previous year. Until these schools see the economy stabilize and become more predictable, this trend is sure to continue, with larger, more expensive projects on hold at least temporarily.����

This is a good thing, arguably. While universities typically lean on big projects as a way to stay competitive for recruitment, existing facilities often languish, sometimes not even receiving necessary maintenance, much less updates. Yet, campus staff, faculty and students interact with these buildings daily, making them critical assets for school performance and student experience. Typically, these structures and spaces require only modest funds and some imagination to realize their value and capture their full potential, and often they are just as visible as the new amenities and offerings universities often want to build and show off. This current era of campus renovations is encouraging high-value, sustainable investment that breathes new life into some forgotten treasures.����

Doing More with Less��

These days campus planners and facilities directors are looking to architects for help identifying opportunities for value-driven projects. The goal is to generate plans for upgrading or adapting an existing asset in whatever way delivers optimally enhanced per-square-foot value, while expending few precious resources. That value may come from improving basic functionality, extending building use life, or adapting to realize new uses. In many cases, renovation and adaptive reuse deliver the biggest bang for the institution’s buck, especially when the facilities are likely to be viewed by prospective applicants, or are regularly trafficked by current enrollees.����

Our architecture firm, based in Princeton, New Jersey, has been involved in a lot of campus renovations lately, and our discussions with facilities leaders suggest there are more on the horizon. The main factor in this market has been a significant hold on capital investment, but there are other factors at play. For example, one historic university here had been aggressively building new projects for years based on annual capital budgets in the billions of dollars, and now reports show that amount for 2025 and 2026 is likely closer to $500 million –- still ample in scale, but a notable cutback nonetheless and prohibitive for most large-scale new construction.��

Yet capital improvements on- and off-campus continue apace. Most recently we administered major upgrades to a row of historic townhomes used for faculty and graduate student housing within walking distance from campus. The project included complete interior refreshes and modernization, including kitchen and bath redesigns with new furnishings, fixtures, lighting and appliances throughout. The upgrades to these Tudor Revival-style lodgings are expected to improve the university’s ability to recruit talented professors and researchers.��

Read the full article, including how to ensure high impact with low cost and address challenges with older buildings, in the ��

Mark A. Sullivan, AIA, LEED AP, is a partner with JZA+D, an integrated architecture and interior design firm that has completed dozens of educational projects across the Northeastern United States.��

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By Michelle Kelly

In the ever-evolving landscape of K–12 education, school districts across the country are grappling with a pivotal question: When is it more prudent to renovate an aging facility, and when is it time to start fresh with a new build? The answer is far more nuanced than a simple cost comparison.

K-12 schools nationwide grapple with aging infrastructure, learning environments that fail to support today’s educational models, rising maintenance and operation costs and limited capital budgets. The decision to renovate or replace a K-12 school facility is one of the most consequential choices a district can make, impacting not only finances but also educational outcomes and community trust.

With rising materials and labor costs, it’s increasingly important for school districts to evaluate the cost of planned renovations against the cost of new construction today and in the future. While many projects are identified as part of multi-year bond programs and prioritized accordingly, budgeted funds are increasingly insufficient to complete the desired facility and program updates when the project is scheduled to begin.

Before proceeding with design, engaging an independent third-party cost estimator to assess both renovation and new construction options can provide critical context for making data-informed decisions.

Beyond the Bottom Line

“People often treat estimating as a checkbox during design,” said Conor Clarke, a cost estimator with OCMI Inc. “But it should be treated as a strategic step during programming or conceptual design — if not earlier — to help districts understand the constraints of renovation and replacement options.”

Michael Mejia, an expert in educational facility cost analysis at OCMI, agrees. “It’s not just about cost—it’s about fiscal responsibility and long-term planning. Especially in California, where DSA [Division of the State Architect] regulations can dramatically shift the scope of a project.”

The 50% Threshold: A Critical Pivot Point

When renovation costs near 50% of the cost of new construction, comparative estimates become essential — not only to determine whether to proceed, scale back, or opt for full replacement, but also to uncover hidden project factors that could significantly affect the final cost. Conducting these estimates early helps reduce risk and supports long-term, strategic planning for school districts.

In California, DSA mandates that if renovation costs exceed 50% of the replacement cost value (RCV), the project must include seismic upgrades — often triggering a cascade of additional code compliance requirements and costs. This threshold is calculated using DSA’s IR EB4 form, which sets a baseline replacement cost (currently $517 per square foot for K–12 schools). This is often significantly lower than actual market rates, which have been unable to keep pace with market movement over the last 10 years.

“Most of our renovation projects already exceed that $517 per square foot figure,” Mejia notes. In San Diego, for example, school construction costs range from $800 to $1,200 per square foot. Even modest renovations can inadvertently trigger seismic upgrades.

In Nevada, where no statewide threshold exists, the Clark County School District sees the highest renovation costs in HVAC and roofing, with only minimal to moderate interior updates. When costs near the replacement threshold, the question becomes: Is it worth spending millions to put a band-aid on a school that still falls short of meeting modern educational needs?

“Sustainability targets, although necessary from a climate standpoint, further increase the likelihood of these types of triggering events due to their higher associated costs,” said Clarke.

Areas with significant carbon reduction initiatives, like Washington and California, have a higher predisposition to seeing project costs in excess of replacement thresholds driven by the associated codes and standards that must be factored into a design, as opposed to the nature of the initial project.

Read the full article — including tips on calculating hidden costs, balancing needs with budgets and the case for new construction — in the July/August issue of �鶹������.

Michelle Kelly is a director of Business Development at OCMI Inc. in Seattle. OCMI is an independent cost estimating firm that takes a data-driven approach.

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BEST has been a significant source of school construction funding since its creation in 2008 by the Colorado state legislature. The program is funded by a share of revenues from state school trust lands and a smaller amount of Colorado Lottery revenues.

The grants have helped many schools get the funding they need for projects that range from building schools, campus renovations and maintenance issues.

This year there are 48 districts, 12 charter schools, one board of cooperative educational services and the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, requesting state funding. The requests seek a total of $297.7 million in state funding and promise $142.1 million in local matching funds.

The board will decide which schools are the most in need and deserving of the grant funding — but as of now they haven’t decided how much state money they will commit to. Reports from EdNews Colorado say the funds could be as low as $130 million, which could leave many districts without any BEST funding.

BEST grants have helped fund schools from districts across Colorado, but its main focus is on funding for rural areas that often times have outdated facilities and are in need of serious repairs but lack the necessary monetary means. The BEST 2011-12 fiscal year report showed rural areas received 38 percent of BEST grant funding while urban-suburban areas received 14 percent.

As of January 2012, BEST has provided over $674 million in grants out of approximately $1.7 billion requested by districts. Those grants have helped fund 237 projects and 147 schools across the state.

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