CARTER HIGH SCHOOL

Flexibility was a priority in the design and construction of Carter High School. One of the buildings in California’s Rialto Unified School District, the school was planned with evolving needs in mind.

Designed by Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke of Riverside, CA, the school consists of a series of two-story buildings situated around a terraced courtyard and circular pedestrian street. The intent of the arrangement was to create an efficient campus footprint that could be easily supervised while minimizing the distance students needed to travel to get from building to building. It also provides a measure of relief from seasonal weather extremes, whether in the form of wind or sun.

To evoke a traditional civic building image, the school’s exterior walls are covered with plaster. To provide a contemporary flair, the architect added curved metal roofing and modernist details. In combination, the materials used on the project meet the school district’s requirements for durability, ease of maintenance and a long service life.

The curved metal roof assembly included curved metal decking, with both the panels and decking curved to specification by Curveline. It’s crimp-curving process can be used with hundreds of profiles of metal roof, deck and wall panels.

For the roofing, the architect specified 24-gauge Klip Rib, a concealed-fastener roof panel produced by the Fontana, CA, plant of AEP-Span. The panels were provided with a factory-applied Rawhide PVDF paint finish. The installation of the roofing was completed in phases with Crowner Sheet Metal of Baldwin Park, CA, and Action Sheet Metal of Los Angeles, CA, both involved.

The metal roof deck was 18-gauge B-36 decking by ASC Steel Deck of West Sacramento, CA. The G-60 coated steel panels have a bare finish. Sharing the installation duties were The McIntyre Company of Pomona, CA, and Columbia Steel of Rialto, CA.

The construction manager was Ledesma & Meyer Construction Co., Rancho Cucamonga, CA. McManhon Steel of San Diego was the general contractor for a portion of the project designated Phase 3.