Project Team & Process

Architects, Consultants, OPM, Volunteers, Town & District staff working hard together

PROJECT TEAM

Delivering a new Lynch Elementary School requires teamwork between the Owner, Architect/Engineer (A/E) and Contractor. While is it far too early to know "who" will build the New Lynch (contractor yet to be determined), the Owner and A/E teams have been assembled and have been hard at work for a year!

The "Owner" with direct engagement and decision-making authority is the EFPBC. This Committee seeks to engage the public, provide updates, welcome feedback and make decisions which meet the needs of the district and students while staying within budget and schedule (see Costs & Schedule page).

MSBA requires district Core Replacement projects to have an OPM, or Owner's Project Manager. The team from Hill International was selected in April 2021 and plays a helpful role in our communications with the MSBA and meeting key project milestones.

In October 2021, the MSBA's Designer Selection Panel named the Boston firm of Tappé Architects as a finalist for designer and in early November the EFPBC executed a contract with Tappé and their engineering/consultant team (see below for detail). Tappé has a successful track record with Winchester, as the architect of the Vinson-Owen Elementary School, 2010-2013 and Ambrose Elementary School, 2004-2006.

EFPBC

Winchester's Educational Facilities Planning & Building Committee (EFPBC) is a public body with diverse representation in many aspects of the design, planning, management and construction industry. The Committee has effectively managed a number of large school building projects delivered on schedule and on -- or under -- budget, including the recent two-phase McCall expansion (2018-2020), Winchester High School (2015-2017), Vinson-Owen Elementary (20110-2013), Parkhurst School renovations (2011), and the McCall E-Wing addition (2007). Meg White from the Engineering & Planning Department supports the EFPBC as the Town's Project CEO, reviewing all contracts and authorizations for payment with the OPM. EFPBC meeting postings and agendas can always be found on the the Government Calendar at www.winchester.us.

CONSULTANT TEAM

Owner's Project Manager Hill International

Architect Tappé Architects

Educational Programmer NewVista Design

Mechanical Engineer Griffith & Vary

Plumbing & Fire Protection Architectural Engineers

Structural Engineer Engineers Design Group

Geotechnical Engineer Weston & Sampson

Civil Engineering Nitsch Engineering

Landscape Architect Warner Larson

Accessibility Consultant Hastings Consulting

Sustainability Consulting Andelman & Lelek

Traffic Engineering Howard Stein Hudson


EFPBC

Jay Nardone, Chair

Brian Carlisle

Don Cecich

Frank Hackett, Superintendent

Todd Kosterman

Geethanjali Mathiyalakan

John Miller

Lisa Matrundola

Christian Nixon, Vice Chair

Mark Scott

John Siciliano

Colleen Ryan Soden

Emily Clark, Alternate Member

The Process and where we are Today...

In partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Winchester is seeking the redevelopment of the Lynch Elementary School.

The project today is limited to the so-called Feasibility Study which includes the development of an educational space program, the evaluation of multiple conceptual design solutions, the selection of a preferred pre-schematic option and then developing the selected option to Schematic Design level for MSBA Board review and approval to advance the project further.

Today the project does not include construction, which must be funded separately once the preferred schematic option is developed by the design team and approved by the MSBA board in October 2022. Following Fall Town Meeting's consideration of the Project Funding Agreement, a town-wide vote for funding final design documents and construction is scheduled for January 7, 2023 (see schedule milestones, a bottom of this page).

An MSBA project may include a renovation of the existing school, a renovation of and addition to the existing school and/or new construction.


Multiple options were required for study during Feasibility Study phase:

  • Renovation & addition onto existing

  • Partial demo and new-build/expansion (sim to Winchester High School)

  • New free-standing school (sim to Vinson-Owen)

  • Multiple site options for all

  • Multiple phasing options for all


After exploring all the required options above, the project team's Preferred Option (N5) was approved by the MSBA on April 30 for further development through the summer to a Schematic Design level. A schematic design package for the New Lynch was submitted on September 1st to the MSBA.