Starting in January 2025 and finishing in fall 2025, phase two — which is to convert the culinary classrooms in the K-building into two Science Labs — will start after the full completion of phase one and finish in fall 2025. This construction plan that began in the fall of 2022 included a major modernization of the administration office, cafeteria and exterior and interior dining halls. The A-building will house administration facilities, a nurse’s office, a multi-purpose room for teacher meetings and additional eating areas. The B-building will feature a Design Studio and classrooms and a kitchen for Culinary Arts.

With the new administration office’s “court- yard-like entrance”, Senior Construction Manager Mohammed Sedqi explains that its location was most suitable for parents’ and visitors’ way finding and staffs’ supervision.

“The best architecture is when you don’t need a sign saying ‘admin is there’. You want to just arrive at the parking lot and clearly know where it is,” he said. “The entrance is facing the parking lot, so it’s this new face to the school entrance that helps promote the sense of place at the school.”

The renovation work includes adding 8,000 square feet to the existing 12,000 square feet of building. During the process, the crew tackled challenges with remodeling an existing building, such as the absence of utilities lines
underground and older, incorrect spokes. Sedqi also said that potential setbacks in regulatory food space checkpoints will not be a major problem, ensuring a timely debut.

PAUSD Facilities & Construction Director Eric Holm describes that many tasks, including installations of electrical wiring, landscaping and planters, were allocated to start between the end of school and start of summer school to
prevent disruption during the school year. The construction team planned to repave the streets and repaint the main exit when summer school ended on July 19.

“We try to have the least amount of disturbance to students, so we use the summer to work outside of the fences of the building construction site,” he said. “So to connect the entire power of the buildings, we had to shut down the entire campus for three days.”

Sedqi expresses a similar sentiment.

“Because of the first winter storm that hit us hard, we had a challenging period with a mud pit in construction for months,” he said. “Otherwise, summer is when we make a lot of progress without things that hit a delay like interrupting school activity.”

Holm explains that unexpected changes and additions from the original plan range from environmental concern to improved technology.

“An example is that the contractor’s access to get things would end up damaging the trees because the building was too close, so we’ve made some modifications there,” he said. “We’ve also changed as a district. Gunn is one of our test cases for a new security system and camera system inside, so that all the doors are Access Reader on this building, and you won’t need any keys to get into the building.”

For future projects, Gunn may consider cross-laminated timber, a material built from sustainably harvested big wood lumber, as used in rebuilding Herbert Hoover Elementary School in March of 2024.

“The cool thing about mass timber, which is cross laminated timber, is it being the new zero carbon footprint technology,” Sedqi said. “It’s a really good direction, and if that is successful, that might be a prototype for future projects.”

For Sedqi, whose role in construction stemmed from a childhood of building Legos, he finds it rewarding to be able to connect with students and teachers, like food services and CTE Instructional Lead and culinary science teacher Cindy Peters, to execute campus facilities or that elevate each part of the community.

“I’m proud of the culinary classroom and kitchen because I have had a lot of meetings with Cindy. If you’ve been to her class, she’s been there for roughly 20 to 30 years and it’s outdated. So I like when she’s on site and says, ‘I’m happy about this. I want to teach here.’” he said. “It’s for her and for all the students. You’re gonna get some place that is
like cooking in a place that looks like a five star restaurant. It feels really good.”

While construction is continual with interior design efforts such as installing flooring, ceiling lights and kitchen equipment; painting the walls; and putting in attack panels, Assistant Principal of Facilities Dr. Mycal Hixon points out that the administration is focused on finding ways to better students’
environments and fulfill their needs.

“It allows us to continue to support students in the best, most efficient and safest way possible,” he said. “It finally allows for a cafeteria dining space during rainy day weather and is air conditioned for students to have lunch. That definitely means a lot for Gunn, while meeting all the measures and safety disciplines as best as administration
can.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Chinyoung Shao

This November marked the end of the demolition phase of the A- and B-building modernization project and the beginning of the construction of the new buildings’ metal frameworks. The A- and B-building construction is scheduled to be completed by August 2024, and the buildings will be furnished and ready for use by December 2024.

Over the past three months, workers have installed slabs on the floors of both buildings to cover underground utilities and conduits, and have begun constructing the metal deck for the roof. According to the November Facilities and Construction Newsletter, the steel deck for roof installation will be welded next.

The construction team is working on developing the plumbing, electrical-wiring and fire-protection systems. They will continue to work on the frame, including wood framing, light-gauge framing, metal-stud framing, welding and steel frameworking, according to Senior Construction Manager Mohammed Sedqi. The construction crews will also install insulation in the walls and on the roof.

Currently, the construction project is on time, with crews caught up on last winter’s lost progress.

The assembly of the building’s metal framework, which requires welding and the use of a crane, presented noticeable changes. Though welding can emit concentrations of hazardous airborne contaminants, according to the Department of Industrial Relations, around 80% of welding is completed off campus, and any welding on campus is done at a safe distance from students.

“As long as we are welding (higher) up, it should not be a concern and is not in close proximity to the students,” Sedqi said.

Though there has been progress on the framework and flooring, construction has had to adapt to student needs. The pavement in front of the C- and E-buildings, fenced off during the second semester of the 2022-23 school year, was reopened with stairs and a ramp to provide students space to walk to classes.

This change, however, gave construction workers less room to work with. The opened area blocks the path of the crane, meaning that the crane needs to be wheeled between the A- and B-buildings to access the B-building construction.

“It was a tough decision (to open up the area to students) because it had a negative impact on the construction,” Sedqi said.

According to Associated Student Body President Nathan Levy, the Student Executive Council has not communicated with students about the construction. Levy said that the administrative team’s monthly newsletter will be the main source of construction updates.

Both students and administrative staff find the construction inconvenient. Although the administrative team has adapted to the current C- and E-building setup, the noise and dust from the construction present complications, according to Secretary Carole Main.

“It really is a problem when they use certain machines that vibrate or when they have machines that create a lot of dust,” she said.

Senior Alexander Lafler-Austern explained that the noise and location of the construction makes navigating the school day more difficult.

“It’s frustrating because sometimes I have to go out of my way (to avoid) the construction because I have a higher-than-average noise sensitivity,” he said. “The construction noises are literally painful when I am near it.”

However, Main is excited for the new building to be completed: It will have a central location on campus with modern amenities where visitors can come.

“The old offices were built in 1964, and we didn’t have air conditioning and we had rats, so it is nice to have (a building) that really represents Gunn,” Main said.

Started in fall 2022, the modernization effort includes a new administration office with a more prominent entrance and a food-services complex. The latter will house indoor and outdoor eating spaces and culinary arts classrooms alongside traditional food-services facilities. Both buildings are on track to be completed before the start of the 2024-25 school year.

Senior Construction Manager Mohammed Sedqi explained that contractors lost 1 1?2 months’ worth of work time due to last winter’s unusually heavy rains. Consequently, they had to work more intensely toward the end of the school year. “When March started and we had no rain, we were pushing for more people, more crews, more labor,” he said. “You had a team taking down the columns, (another) taking down the foundation. That overlap of so many activities made all that noise.”

As construction continues throughout this year, Sedqi hopes that the work will be less disruptive. The asphalt between the quad and E-building has been replaced with concrete, and fences will be pushed closer to the construction site, opening a corridor for students to walk to the southeastern portion of campus without cutting through the quad.

Looking ahead, Principal Wendy Stratton is working with new Assistant Principal Mycal Hixon, who will be overseeing construction, and Associated Student Body President Nathan Levy to make the process more transparent and accessible. Stratton believes student involvement is key, since students are important beneficiaries and the project was funded through taxpayer dollars. On his part, Levy has formed a new Student Executive Council committee that will attend construction meetings and share relevant updates in a new monthly newsletter.

Levy hopes that classes can take advantage of the ongoing work. “It could be a learning opportunity for a lot of different classes — one where they could take tours or learn more about the construction process,” he said. As an example, Levy pointed to how students in Advanced Placement Environmental Science classes could focus on the steps construction crews are taking to minimize damage to the environment and create greener buildings.

Sedqi also expressed a desire to work with students who are interested in architecture, construction or engineering. “I’ll be more than happy to get them involved in this — just to see the progress, how we are doing the work, what’s happening,” he said.