For Skanska, making the grade in September and October came with a flurry of education wins.
The Stockholm-based builder and developer announced Oct. 1 it had signed a $163 million contract with the University of Mary Washington to construct a new theater and renovate fine arts buildings in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
The full project scope includes site development, infrastructure, core shell and interior fittings for a new, 293-seat, multistory theater, which will encapsulate about 68,230 square feet. Skanska will also renovate 82,000 square feet in the existing fine arts buildings and construct a 8,950-square-foot addition on the campus.
Work has begun on the project, with completion expected in February 2030.
Across the country at the secondary school level, Skanska will also construct a new, three-story, 350,000-square-foot high school with classroom capacity for 1,600 students.
The contractor announced Monday it won a $110 million contract from the Renton School District in Renton, Washington, to build the new school. The project includes core classrooms and learning environments for career and technical education as well as health services, community areas, a library, cafeteria, gymnasiums and lighted sports fields.
Skanska has begun work on the project and anticipates completion in the fall of 2029.
Also in the West, Skanska signed a $78 million contract amendment with an undisclosed, existing client, the firm announced on Monday. The project will replace an existing school in the same location as the previous building. Work on that project has begun, with completion expected for 2029.
All three of those wins made it before the bell signaling the end of the third quarter, and Skanska will include them in its Q3 bookings.
In another illustration of its education footprint, Skanska announced Sept. 30 it had begun construction at Sumner High School in Seattle. The contractor is overseeing Phase 2 of the multiyear, three-phase expansion project for the biggest high school in the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District.
In 2024, local voters approved a $737 million bond measure to expand student capacity and fund improvements throughout the district, and local news outlet KIRO7 pegged the Sumner project at $412 million. The contract value for Phase 2 is $67.1 million, Skanska spokesperson Daniela Arellano told Construction Dive via email.
The first phase added three central campus buildings, a library, a 12,000-square-foot common area and technology upgrades, per the release.
In Phase 2, the project team will construct a new three-story, 103,000-square-foot building housing about 50 classrooms and a range of special education and CTE program spaces. Specialized areas in the building will include a greenhouse, robotics, aerospace manufacturing, CAD and digital design classrooms, early learning classrooms, a culinary arts kitchen and childcare space.
The final phase will add a performing arts center, gym, pool, music rooms and athletics fields.
Phase 2 of the school, first built in 1911, is set to wrap in fall 2028, according to Skanska.
