K12 Education
Bernard F. Norton Elementary School
Client
Ahlborg Construction Corporation
Project Owner
Cumberland School Department
Location
Cumberland, Rhode Island
Project Value
$40,800,000
Industry
K12 Education
Account Executive(s)
Joshua Harden, Tom Thomas
Services Provided
Construction Logistics Animations |
Presentation Coaching |
Presentation Development |
Renderings & Animations |
Still Renderings |
K12 Education
Bernard F. Norton Elementary School
Client
Ahlborg Construction Corporation
Project Owner
Cumberland School Department
Location
Cumberland, Rhode Island
Project Value
$40,800,000
Industry
K12 Education
Account Executive(s)
Joshua Harden, Tom Thomas
Services Provided
Construction Logistics Animations |
Presentation Coaching |
Presentation Development |
Renderings & Animations |
Still Renderings |
Project Overview
The Bernard F. Norton Elementary School was a $40.8 million K-12 project in Cumberland, Rhode Island, commissioned by the Cumberland School Department. The new three-story building was organized around a central entry level with direct street and bus access, housing Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms alongside school administration and community spaces. A lower level provided access to the gymatorium, art and music programs, and outdoor play areas, while an upper level housed 2nd through 5th grade classrooms and shared community spaces. The client engaged PRESWERX to support the pursuit with a presentation, presentation coaching, renderings, and animations.
Client Challenges
The client was pursuing a multi-story elementary school replacement for a New England school department with a thoughtfully organized program and strong community investment in the outcome. The pursuit presented several distinct challenges:
Communicating the design logic and construction approach of a three-level school organized around a central entry, with distinct learning environments for different grade bands.
Visualizing the new school in a way that helped the school department and community stakeholders understand how the building would work and feel for students.
Differentiating the construction team in a competitive selection for a project with programmatic complexity and a school community closely invested in the result.
Preparing presenters to explain the building's organization and construction approach clearly and confidently in a live school department interview.
The materials needed to demonstrate a team capable of delivering a thoughtfully designed, multi-level elementary school on a community school department's budget and timeline.
Scope of Work
PRESWERX built the selection presentation and provided coaching to prepare the client's team for the Cumberland School Department interview. Renderings visualized the new three-story building's exterior and key interior environments across each level, giving reviewers a clear picture of how the school's grade bands, community spaces, and outdoor areas would be organized and experienced. Animations brought the building's three-level layout to life, illustrating the student journey through each floor and the school's relationship to its site. Coaching prepared the team's speakers to present the full scope and design logic of the building with clarity and confidence.
PRESWERX Approach
PRESWERX focused on making the building's three-level organization legible and compelling for a school community audience. The program had a clear and thoughtful logic, and the materials needed to communicate it.
Developed renderings that captured the building's exterior character and key interior environments, reflecting the scale and warmth appropriate for a New England elementary school.
Built animations that illustrated the building's vertical organization, showing how students would move between the entry level, the lower activity spaces, and the upper grade classrooms.
Coached presenters to explain the building's design logic clearly and to connect the program to the school community's values and expectations.
The result was a presentation that made a well-designed school building feel intuitive and accessible to a community-minded selection panel.
Results Delivered
PRESWERX delivered a complete pursuit package that gave the client a polished, wellorganized case for a community school department selection with high stakeholder investment.
Renderings provided the Cumberland School Department with a photorealistic view of the new BF Norton Elementary across its exterior and key interior spaces organized by level.
Animations made the three-story layout and grade band organization easy to understand for reviewers from both technical and community backgrounds.
Coaching prepared the team to explain the building's design logic and construction approach with the confidence and clarity a school community expects.
The client walked into the selection fully prepared, with materials that matched the care the Cumberland community was investing in its new elementary school.
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