Gilbane Building Completes 117,000-Square-Foot Elementary School in Silver Spring

Highlights

• Gilbane Building has completed JoAnn Leleck Elementary School at Broad Acres in Silver Spring, Maryland.
• The three-story school spans 117,000 square feet and will accommodate 894 students.
• The project increases capacity from 761 students at the previous school.
• Building systems include geothermal heating and cooling and flexible learning spaces.
• Construction was delivered through a construction manager at-risk approach.

The delivery of a new 117,000-square-foot elementary school in Silver Spring, Maryland, adds classroom capacity while replacing an existing educational facility with updated learning and building systems. Gilbane Building recently marked completion of JoAnn Leleck Elementary School at Broad Acres with a ribbon-cutting ceremony involving Montgomery County Public Schools and project partners.

New School Adds Student Capacity

The three-story facility is designed to accommodate 894 students, increasing capacity from 761. The building includes flexible learning environments intended to support different educational needs, along with a central courtyard that brings daylight into interior areas.

The project also incorporates geothermal heating and cooling. The system is intended to provide year-round building conditioning while supporting the facility's sustainability objectives and Green Globes certification.

Gilbane Building delivered the project under a construction manager at-risk delivery model, working with Montgomery County Public Schools and the design team of Craig Gaulden Davis | PBK.

Community Participation and Contracting

The project included workforce and community engagement activities intended to connect Broad Acres residents with construction trades and the broader built environment.

Procurement also produced participation above Montgomery County Public Schools' 20% Minority Business Enterprise target. The project team used smaller bid packages as one approach to expanding opportunities for diverse businesses to compete for work.

The approach provides a model for public education projects where owners are balancing facility capacity, sustainability requirements and participation goals within the construction procurement process.

Why It Matters

For public-sector owners, the project demonstrates how school construction can combine increased student capacity with energy-related building systems and flexible educational spaces. The use of CMAR also provides an established delivery framework for coordinating design, construction and trade participation on complex public facilities.

With the new school scheduled to welcome students in fall 2026, the project expands educational capacity in the Broad Acres community while adding updated infrastructure to the Montgomery County Public Schools system.

Source: Gilbane.