Holy Trinity Classical Christian School

Beaufort, SC

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School under construction, nearing completion.

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School rotunda entrance

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School entrance

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School interior foyer

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School recreational center stage

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School gymnasium and recreation center.

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School music classroom

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School weight training room

The Client

The Holy Trinity Classical Christian School is a K-12 educational facility in Beaufort, SC. The school began its journey in 2012 with just 100 students. As word of its exceptional education spread, the school’s enrollment nearly tripled to 275 students by 2016. To meet the rising demand, the school relocated the preschool to a satellite campus and rented classrooms and offices at the Parish Church of St. Helena. The school’s remarkable growth and renewed emphasis on student enrichment called for expanded facilities. Holy Trinity sought the expertise of A101 Architecture and 29E6 to engineer a sprawling 80,000-square-foot fellowship hall. This new space, named Hathaway Hall to honor founders Bishop and Barbara Hathaway, would feature a gymnasium with a stage, bleachers, locker rooms, classrooms, storage areas, and an outdoor chapel.

The Challenge

The Hathaway Hall project presented two significant challenges:

1. The site suffered from moderate seismic activity and liquefiable soils.

2. The post-COVID construction landscape saw fluctuating costs and shortages, notably with open web steel joists, our initial choice for spanning the gymnasium. A101, an architectural firm renowned for its innovative and sustainable designs, decided to bring in 29E6 to help tackle these issues. Working closely together, we discovered creative solutions to overcome these unique challenges.

Fig. 1: A101’s site development plan, showing Hathaway Hall in relation to the existing Holy Trinity School and Phase 2 development.

The Solution

29E6 held discussions with all stakeholders in the project:

A101, Architect

Choate Construction, Contractor

MacAlijon, Fabricator

29E6, Structural EOR

Holy Trinity Classical Christian School structural design charette notes

Fig. 2: A101’s floor plan of Hathaway Hall, showing our agreed structural solutions based on our structural design charette.

Early in the design process, 29E6 held a charette to explore the best structural options for Hathaway Hall. The project team agreed on the following innovative solutions to address the project’s challenges:

1. The building would have earthquake drains and rammed aggregate piers to improve soil strength, reduce footing sizes, and enhance the soil’s bearing capacity.

2. The structure would use 12-inch-thick concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls and a steel roof system, with two main wide flange roof trusses spanning 115 feet. The main trusses would support wide-flange joists and a steel roof deck. The decision to use wide-flange roofing members was our creative workaround to the shortage of open-web steel joists.

The Results

Thanks to the expertise and efficiency of Choate Construction, the project contractor, Holy Trinity’s Hathaway Hall was completed on time and within budget. This recreational center is a valuable addition to Holy Trinity School as well as the community. Providing a space for children’s exercise, sports, competition, and a forum for theater and arts, makes this building a fine tool for folding important Christian values into education. This is just one example of what we mean by enhancing the world around us, and an example of how we help make architects look good.

Holy Trinity sections trusses and joists

Fig. 3: A101’s section views of Hathaway Hall, showing the main roof trusses and wide flange joists.

29E6 thanks Choate Construction for use of their photography featuring this project.