Guatemala (Santa Cruz de Quiche)
Primary School Design
Colegio Utatlan
EMI Project 5339
[project map]

July, 2003

Photos and Documents
Front of New School Building (.jpg)
Dedication Ceremony (.jpg)
interior Elevation (.pdf)

July 6, 2005 Update
A dedication ceremony for the new school building was held on June 16. Richal Smith [team member] was able to attend the dedication, along with most of the eMi-Guatemala staff and interns, who accepted a plaque of thanks for our work. The eMi-Guatemala office had taken our drawings and translated them into Spanish for construction.

The school was constructed very close to the design we prepared, although there were some modifications - as there usually are. Below is a pdf of the interior elevation design drawing that you can compare to the building photos. A flat concrete roof was built instead of the metal half-dome vault roof we had proposed. And the second staircase on the interior courtyard side was not built – perhaps because the old primary school is still standing for overflow space and they didn’t want to encroach on the remaining play area. The interior entrance stair was there, but with a seemingly unnecessary column framing it out. And they constructed a water tower next to the new school. Although Richal said it was a little disappointing to see these changes, he said the building did look fantastic and overall he was thrilled to see it built.

There are now 1350 students at the entire campus, up from the 1200 attending when we were there.

Original Project Scope
Colegio Utatlan is a Christian school located near heart of Mayan culture. While Utatlan may be the name of the nearby Mayan ruins, Colegio Utatlan has been used by God in the community to break down strongholds and teach people about Christ.

Colegio Utatlan opened 37 years ago. The school now goes from kindergarten through high school, with a total of 1180 students. Through Bible classes and various other outreach related programs conducted by the school, an average of 150 – 200 children and youth accept Christ each year.

Colegio Utatlan currently has capacity for 240 Elementary school children, and they would like to double that elementary school capacity and add other needed facilities. They have asked EMI to provide a master plan which includes future classrooms, library, storage room, computer lab, and outdoor sports areas.

Project Team
Craig Hoffman - EMI Team Co-Leader
Sarah Young - EMI Team Co-Leader
Richal Smith - Lead Structural Engineer
Jeremy Phillips - Lead Architect
Stephen Youngblood - Lead Facilities Engineer
Jackie Kistler - Architectural Intern
Matthew Workman - Engineering Intern
Sara Purvis - Engineering Intern

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