Somerton High School

Somerton, AZ


Somerton High School is the district's seventh high school and will be open for the 2023-2024 school year. Before this high school was built, Somerton was the largest city in Arizona that didn't have its own high school.

The design reflects the agriculture community and prepares students to contribute to their local economy after high school. The design also incorporates the Colorado River Delta that breathes life into this fertile desert region through a shaded outdoor courtyard that runs through the heart of campus. This space is a place for students to gather and learn together.

Somerton High School is located in a seismic design category D, with soils subject to seismic liquefaction. This results in high seismic loads. Wood was chosen as a roof system to help reduce overall building weight, thus decreasing seismic lateral loads. An engineered wood open-web truss system was selected. This system also met the project’s schedule, for other material systems could not be procured in a reasonable time. The wood roof system also provided additional economics over steel joists or steel framed systems.

“Everyone on McCarthy's Yuma team feels so fortunate to be a part of this project, working in collaboration with our partners at DLR Group, Arcadis, and the district to make the new high school a reality,” said John Kovesdy, McCarthy project manager.

Version History
  • Project uploaded by WoodWorks Innovation Network (WIN) on 04-26-2023
  • Project last updated by WoodWorks Innovation Network (WIN) on 04-18-2024
Project Details
  • Year Built

    2023

  • Number Of Stories

    1

  • Bldg system

    Innovative Light-Frame

  • Square footage

    148,000

  • Construction Type:

    V-B

  • Building Type:

    Educational

  • Material Types:

    Glue-Laminated Timber (GLT or glulam)
    Structural Composite Lumber (e.g. LVL and LSL)
    Open-web trusses

Project Team
  • DLR Group
    DLR Group Architect | Engineer
  • Carmen Wyckoff Architect
  • Jake Lund Self-Perform Project Manager
  • John Kovesdy Project Manager
  • Leslie Amaya Senior Project Engineer
  • Mark S Forman Engineer
  • McCarthy Building Company General Contractor
  • Michael Horn Contractor
  • RedBuilt Open-web trusses, Glulam beams, LVL
Version History
  • Project uploaded by WoodWorks Innovation Network (WIN) on 04-26-2023
  • Project last updated by WoodWorks Innovation Network (WIN) on 04-18-2024
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