Liberty High School Storm Shelter

Liberty High School was the first project in the district to require a storm shelter, but Nudura ICFs were chosen because they are a proven solution to comply with ICC-500 standards and have a history of successful integrations at other educational institutions. 

“Several options were discussed including 12-inch ICF walls that had intermediate bracing…and using an 18-inch uniform thickness for the ICF wall. The 18-inch ICF solution was selected to simplify field construction and prevent rebar congestion,” explained Zachary Garrett, a structural engineer at Parkhill.

The resulting ICF storm shelter serves a dual purpose, housing two practice gyms that are used daily. The 142-foot roof span requirement to enable the gymnasium functionality combined with the storm resistance would’ve been difficult for alternative building methods, but the 45-foot tall insulated concrete walls were up to the challenge.

“When comparing the costs of other systems such as precast concrete, concrete tilt-wall, and masonry to achieve the required impact ratings and design loads, ICF came in slightly lower,” Garrett said. “The speed of construction for ICF along with not having as many trades involved in the wall construction made ICF a logical choice.”