Westlake Academy Opens 12 New Classrooms Manufactured by OMC

Hundreds of middle and high school students at Westlake Academy will attend classes for the first time tomorrow in 12 state-of-the-art classrooms located in two new 6,400 square foot buildings manufactured in a modular facility by OMC – Offsite Modular Construction, LLC. In what may be a record for school construction, the entire process of design, construction, delivery, and installation of the buildings was completed in just over 100 work days.

Though similar projects have been known to take multiple years, Westlake Mayor Sean Kilbride never doubted that OMC could deliver the quality Westlake Academy wanted on the tight timeframe that the school district required. “We can’t thank OMC - Offsite Modular Construction enough for their hard work and meeting our tight deadline. It was important for us to provide our students and staff with a safe and aesthetically pleasing space
for learning. The quality of these buildings is far superior to the ones that were in place here for so many years. We’re quite certain our students will be as happy with the results as we are.”

OMC Chief Operating Officer Jed Thies says he’s excited to be able to contribute to the community while illustrating the benefits of modular construction in the education sector. “So many of our Texas schoolchildren are educated in buildings that are woefully inadequate to facilitate a safe and enjoyable learning experience, and with modular manufacturing technology available, that doesn’t have to happen anymore. Modular construction’s predictability, speed, quality, and adaptability is a game changer for education.”

In addition achieving an unprecedented speed of delivery while maintaining the top-quality construction that is a hallmark of every one of OMC’s factory-produced structures, the Westlake Academy buildings also include numerous innovations that contribute to student education and technology utilization, health and safety, along with durability and sustainability features that benefit the entire community. Some of these details include:

• Enhanced design features that improve safety and durability of buildings and are highly resistant to the extreme North Texas weather events
• Windows throughout the classrooms to allow for natural light, improving mood and alertness and decreasing student fatigue
• Teacher-controlled dimmable LED lighting in every classroom and high-end cabinetry
• Double-shaded windows when needed to reduce energy consumption and increase security
• Wi-Fi access points with IT closets
• Significantly reduced risk of airborne diseases spreading between classrooms thanks to separate HVAC systems for every room and HEPA 15 air filtration technologies commonly seen in hospitals but rarely in schools
• Security doors with access control at every classroom and integrated surveillance equipment

OMC’s high quality, sustainable, efficient approach will help solve the problems that plaguing the construction industry, including lengthy and uncertain delivery timetables due to labor and materials shortages, as well as the cost overruns and waste endemic to traditional construction.

These improvements are expected to have an immediate impact in a US modular home market that has doubled in size in the last six years, despite only accounting for three percent of domestic new home construction starts. The global modular construction market is projected to exceed $191B by 2027.

Click here to see the entire Westlake Academy Installation in a short video.