Aurora Christian School

Sometimes what God has in mind for us doesn’t fit our original plans.

Aurora Christian School in Aurora, Illinois, had seen many construction projects in the past, nearly all of them remodels or renovations. Renovation can be messy and complicated work. The school had decided that they weren’t going to do it again.

With their current facility in downtown Aurora nearly bursting at the seams, they had their eyes set on a brand-new facility at the edge of town. The property was already purchased, and talks with Aspen Group, their design/build firm, were in progress. Then, God intervened.

A large warehouse, complete with office space, was due to become available. The location was not far from the land the school had purchased.

“This came up, and we thought, ‘We don’t want another renovation,’ but we came and saw it, and the Lord had this for us,” said Collette House, dean of education. “It lent itself so well to being a school. It even lent itself to the plans we had been drawing for new construction.”

Over the next several months, Aurora Christian School worked closely with Aspen Group to determine the feasibility of converting the warehouse to a school.

Tony Mull, an Aspen Group design manager, took the school’s original new construction plans and tweaked them.

“He fixed everything, and improved on our dreams and our goals,” said House.

Believing that God wanted them to proceed, the school sold most of their land and bought the warehouse in a deal that put them financially far ahead of where they had originally thought they would be. But the challenge still remained: convert a 160,000-square-foot warehouse into a school, and do it in nine months.

The key to making that happen was Aspen Group’s design/build process. Aspen architects are tightly integrated with their construction staff, enabling potential problems to be worked out while drawing the plans, instead of during construction. Of course, with a renovation, there are many unknowns. Having the architect and builder on the same team allowed for quick resolutions to unexpected challenges.

 “In design/build, we had everybody at the table every week,” said Paul House, school founder and superintendent. “And the man who designed it has to answer why, and we get answers quickly. The people who are doing the daily work have the architect’s ear, and we’re all going the same direction. We moved ahead very quickly on this project, and I do not believe that we would have met the occupancy goals or hopes if we had gone with a composite team.”

Aspen Group also got their subcontractors involved at the very beginning. Together, they brainstormed about the best, most cost-effective ways to do things, given the limitations of the current structure.

The warehouse presented many challenges. Channels had to be cut through the concrete floor for plumbing and network cabling. Support posts every 40 feet had to be incorporated into the design. And, like most warehouses, there were virtually no windows.

Aspen Group’s architects created a floor plan that leveraged the strengths of the existing building and minimized its weaknesses. Dozens of new windows and doors were cut into the thick concrete walls. Skylights were added. Miles of new interior walls were framed up. The floor plan design style was intended to make the school seem like less of an “institution.”

 “We created two pods – one for the middle school and for the high school,” said Mull. “Each pod has a central gathering place with a skylight. We wrapped the classrooms around those cores. As a result, the hallways meander. We didn’t want big, long, straight corridors. There is always something exciting around the next bend.”

In between the two pods, Aspen created a large central cafeteria, something Aurora Christian had never had before.

“We put a huge skylight in the cafeteria, too,” said Mull. “Natural light provides warmth and drama. It draws people to those areas.”

Once construction began, Aspen held weekly meetings with the owners to keep the project on pace and talk through any issues. In the construction industry, meetings like this often can be tense.

“With Aspen, we have discussions, we may even have differences, but we don’t have conflict,” said House. “When there is a problem, it’s fixed. When we came up against a hurdle, we felt like with Aspen, they and we are a team.”

Much of the sense of teamwork with the client is because Aspen Group personnel wholeheartedly support the mission of the school.

“They really do have a heart for ministry,” said House.

“It’s been exciting for me in my involvement with Aspen Group to see the commitment from them, not only to the work here at the school and their diligence in making sure everything has been finished for us, but, more importantly, that they do share in our mission, our overall mission,” said Matt Davidson, dean of students.

As testament to Aspen Group’s integrated architecture and construction process and close teamwork with the client, this ambitious interior renovation was completed on schedule. The middle school section was finished mid-September. The high school was completed late December to allow for move-in during Christmas break.

And so, things turned differently than Aurora Christian School had originally planned. Already, the school is enjoying the fruits of their new facility. Enrollment has begun to rise, community interest is high, and the students and staff are relishing their beautiful and functional new space.

“This project is something we did not anticipate, something that is bigger than we ever thought would happen,” said House. “This experience has expanded our mind to believe that God has greater things for us than we can think about. We believe this facility is a step toward bigger things.”

Aspen Group, www.aspen-grp.com,  is a leading design/build firm with more than a decade of experience serving the church and para-church markets.

Fast Facts
School: Aurora Christian School
Location: Aurora, Illinois
Grades Served: K-12
Design/Build Firm: Aspen Group
Project Description: Convert a 160,000-square-foot warehouse into a school in nine months
The Challenges: Channels had to be cut through the concrete floor for plumbing and network cabling. Support posts every 40 feet had to be incorporated into the design. And, like most warehouses, there were virtually no windows.
The Solutions: Aspen Group’s architects created a floor plan that leveraged the strengths of the existing building and minimized its weaknesses. Dozens of new windows and doors were cut into the thick concrete walls. Skylights were added. Miles of new interior walls were framed up. Two pods were created—one for the middle school and one for the high school—with a connecting cafeteria.