In the Neighborhood: Wagman and Warehaus Selected to Create New Upper School for York Academy

(York, PA ) When it comes to redevelopment of urban North George Street in York, Pa., Wagman Construction and Warehaus (formerly LSC Design) know a thing or two about the rehabilitation of this downtown locale. Wagman moved its construction operations to 231 North George Street in 2009, while Warehaus relocated to 320 North George Street in 2013. The neighboring companies have both been selected to create the new upper school for York Academy at the site of the former Pensupreme Dairy buildings situated down the street at 2 West Hamilton Avenue – just a stone’s throw across the Codorus Creek.

“The fact that we’ve partnered with a team right in the neighborhood is a bonus,” said Dr. Dennis Baughman, chief executive officer of York Academy. “It’s been fantastic to have this neighborhood collaboration and hold project planning meetings that are just a short walk away from our office, as well as theirs. The entire team also brings a strong commitment to the renewal of downtown York; their interest in bringing this project to life is something really unique and an added perk to the project.”

Determined through a qualifications-based selection process, Warehaus is serving as York Academy’s architect and Wagman is serving as York Academy’s construction manager for the project.

“Wagman has been committed to rebuilding downtown to meet the community’s needs for the future. Our team has completed work for the Codo 241, Codo 26, the Susquehanna Commerce Center, and the York Revolution stadium,” said Kevin Snoke, president and chief operating officer of Wagman Construction. “We’re thrilled to serve as construction manager for the York Academy Upper School. The fact that the project is right down the street makes it special and also strengthens the comradery of the team. There are not too many major projects where the designer, builder, and the owner are in walking distance from each other.”

Scheduled for completion in fall 2018, the new 65,000 square foot upper school is part of York Academy’s plan to offer grades 8 through 12 by 2022. The academy opened in 2011 with kindergarten through second grade and has added a grade each year. The new upper school will offer structured, yet flexible spaces designed to promote the shift from teacher-centered instruction to pupil-centered learning. It will maximize shared spaces and provide a configurable learning environment to support various methods of curriculum delivery while meeting student needs and learning preferences.

Five academic houses that surround a common group learning area are at the core of the design, each offering three unique classroom settings for flexible and varied instruction. Included in the building will be art rooms, a makerspace, a blackbox theater, a dining area with outdoor patio, and a gymnasium.

“Warehaus is passionate about designing spaces that are thoughtful and intentional,” said Jonathan Wehri, director of design at Warehaus. “For York Academy, not only did we want to deliver a learning environment that supported their pedagogy, we saw an opportunity to breathe life into something close to our hearts – downtown York. The new upper school will become the new gateway to downtown, and we’re honored to be a part of such an exciting project right here in our community.”

About Wagman
Wagman is a multi-faceted construction firm with major operations in heavy civil, general construction, and geotechnical construction services. Founded in 1902, Wagman is a fourth generation, family-owned company with offices in Pennsylvania and Virginia and is headquartered in York, Pa. As a full service general contractor, Wagman Construction facilitates growth and development in senior living, healthcare, higher education, urban, institutional and industrial markets in central Pennsylvania, Virginia & Maryland. For more information about Wagman, please visit www.wagman.com

About Warehaus
Warehaus, formerly LSC Design, is an award-winning architecture and design firm based in York, Pa. The firm was originally founded in 1980 as Land Survey Consultants. Since then, the company has evolved to offer architecture, site design and engineering, structural engineering, interior design, 3D scanning, building sciences, historic preservation, master planning, sustainable design consulting, BIM coordination, and spec writing and code consulting services. In 2015, the company was recognized as a “Best Place to Work” and one of the “Top 250 Privately Held Companies” by the Central Penn Business Journal. To learn more about Warehaus, visit www.warehausae.com.

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