Photo: As Port St. Lucie is located on the coast of southern Florida, an area often in the path of hurricanes and severe weather, a portion of the school will also serve as an Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area, keeping students and school employees safe in the event of extreme weather. | Photo Credit: Spiezle Architectural Group Inc.
By Lindsey Coulter
The new 217,500-square-foot Western Grove K-8 prototype campus for Port St. Lucie, Fla., Public Schools is a massive undertaking. Construction is expected to span approximately 18 months, ending in August 2026, and will include a plethora of new facilities: two-story academic buildings, a two-story administration building, several playgrounds, a multipurpose field a gymnasium, athletic courts, a chiller plant with thermal storage and a particularly innovative auditoria.
The auditoria is a foundational and multi-functional part of the overall project. The expansive space will double as a cafeteria and auditorium, containing dining facilities, a kitchen, custodial areas, a stage, a band classroom, a vocal classroom and even an art classroom. As the campus is located on the coast of southern Florida, an area often in the path of hurricanes and severe weather, it will also serve as an Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area (EHPA), keeping students and school employees safe in the event of extreme weather.
Full-service architectural, interiors, and design firm Spiezle Architectural Group Inc., with several offices throughout Florida, was selected to provide design services for the project, which will be constructed by Wharton-Smith, headquartered in Sanford, Fla.
“Spiezle’s design for Western Grove K-8 builds on the extensive history shared between us and the school district, as we continue to evolve and modernize our prototypes, while creating a model that is easily replicable at other future school sites throughout the district,” said Anthony Donadio, principal at Spiezle. “This new school will provide students in Port St. Lucie with a safe, clean and forward-thinking facility that will suit their needs for many years to come.”
School Construction News spoke with Steven Siegel, a fellow principal and EHPA expert at Spiezle, to learn more about the intricacies of designing an expansive project for an estimated 2,000 students that considers safety and security from a multitude of perspectives.
SCN: How did the team develop the Port St. Lucie Prototype Campus auditoria? Does it look and feel different from any other spaces on campus?
Siegel: The design process involved updating a K-8 prototype built 18 years ago with modern technology and features to meet the heightened building codes and latest standards, ensuring it can withstand Florida’s intense hurricanes, storms and other catastrophic weather events. It does look and feel like a different space from the other five buildings on campus, as it doubles as a cafeteria and auditorium and is freestanding. At 33,569 square feet, this building contains dining facilities, a kitchen, custodial spaces, a stage with specialized lighting and ceilings for theatrical performances, and separate classrooms for band, vocal, and art, in addition to serving as an Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area (EHPA).
The school district preferred the auditoria to be the EHPA as the kitchen and cafeteria could provide fresh meals and space for the community to shelter in place during bad weather. The design process balanced making the auditoria look and feel from the exterior structural and interior design as an aesthetically pleasing place versus a drab shelter. Spiezle Architectural Group then enhanced the structure to withstand wind loads of up to 184 miles per hour (mph), installed standalone emergency generators for backup power, and further hardened the structure to meet Florida building codes and Florida Department of Education State Requirements for Educational Facilities (SREF). Spiezle partnered with the mechanical engineering firm CMTA and construction management firm Wharton-Smith to help transform this building.
SCN: What specific design strategies and materials were used to ensure the space can also serve as an Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area?
Siegel: The design strategies and materials used, which often exceeded code requirements, include, impact-resistant concrete block walls, hardened building envelope, impact-resistant windows, potable water storage and a roof structure that can withstand wind uplift pressures.
SCN: Is EHPA design within the state highly prescriptive, or do designers have the ability to tailor each area to the specific project and need?
Siegel: EHPA design is guided by Florida building codes and Florida Department of Education SREF protocols. These guidelines provide a baseline for designers to meet, and then the design team collaborated with emergency management officials to refine the design look and feel. This ensured the aesthetics would accomplish the school district’s goals while making this a more inviting shelter environment.
SCN: Has the firm designed other EHPA projects?
Siegel: Having worked on other EHPA projects in facilities—such as gyms, cafeterias and multi-purpose rooms—we’ve learned the importance of coordinating with emergency management professionals and school district personnel early on. It’s key to know what size capacity the EHPA needs to be to accommodate different population sizes within a community. Each facility also has different security precautions and features, so Spiezle was mindful of knowing these priorities as it upgraded Port St. Lucie’s Prototype Campus auditorium.
SCN: Does including an EHPA generally increase a project budget, or are they budget-neutral spaces?
Siegel: It depends on how the project is built and designed. If it’s a new build, it can increase the cost, which varies depending on the building size and the number of people it needs to accommodate. In the instance of Port St. Lucie’s Prototype Campus auditoria, it was already designed as a cafeteria and auditorium, which helped keep the cost down versus it being a new EHPA.
SCN: In what other ways does the Port St. Lucie Prototype Campus enhance student safety?
Siegel: There are many student safety measures in place at the Port St. Lucie Prototype Campus, including controlled access points, video surveillance, and a hardened perimeter with concrete block walls encircling the buildings and bollards to minimize the amount of harm that could be done. Spiezle intentionally made these perimeter walls aesthetically pleasing so that the campus is more visually appealing, rather than seeming like a fortress.
For first responders, all buildings have a distinct number, and the fire detection systems inform firefighters exactly where the issue is occurring. There is also a clearly marked evacuation zone path for emergencies. Structural resilience is paramount, and the building was upgraded to withstand up to 184 miles per hour, per the Hurricane Risk Factor 4 ratings, sustained winds of up to 143 mph, and tornadoes up to 76 mph, since all of these considerations can happen during hurricanes and bad storms.