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Project

Maryland School for the Blind Renovations

The Maryland School for the Blind pursued this multi-phase renovation project to modernize outdated spaces and facilities to better serve special needs students. The $18.5 million project included an 11,000-SF addition, as well as renovations and programmatic updates to four academic buildings: Andrews Hall, Case Hall, Campbell Hall, and the historic Newcomer Hall. Renovations focused on improving the accessibility and functionality of the school’s learning and support spaces through new exterior amenities, better lighting, acoustical upgrades, and increased programmatic flexibility.

The first phase of the project involved the renovation of Andrews Hall to accommodate the Early Learning Center Preschool Program. The second phase involved renovations and construction of the addition to upgrade the learning environments of Newcomer, Case, and Campbell Halls. These buildings now house General and Functional Academic Programs for elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as library, therapy, office, gym, and nutritional spaces. CEI provided full structural, civil and landscape architecture designs for this project, completed in 2020.

Highlights

  • Structural work included remediation of water intrusion at the lowest level of the historic Newcomer Hall, as well as preservation designs to restore the building’s envelope.
  • The 2-story, 11,000-SF addition features CMU load-bearing walls and standard spread footing foundations.
  • Site designs included bicycle paths, sidewalks, ADA accessibility, and playgrounds with interactive educational infrastructure, as well as extension of the campus loop road and car/bus drop-off locations.
  • The site was approximately 6.2 acres and required stormwater management, erosion/sediment control, NPDES Permit, reforestation, and afforestation.