Diamond Bar High School Science Building

Diamond Bar High School – Building 500 – Modernization
Diamond Bar, CA
Architect – HMC Architects
Project Size: 37,665 SF

Diamond Bar High School’s recent renovation entailed replacing the outdated Building 500, originally built in 1982 housing English and History classes. The newly modernized, two-story building now houses one of the most modern high school laboratory classrooms in the region. Comparable to the likes of university/college labs, this new science building features 18 state-of-the-art Chemistry, Biology and Physics classrooms with collaborative learning spaces. The spacious, modern 1,600 square-foot classrooms have been purposely designed to hold lectures and labs with collaboration spaces located in the center of each floor. With its new tech-integrated sciences rooms and collaborations spaces, dual projectors, maker space workrooms, lab storage areas, and state-of-the-art equipment, teachers are able to modernize their lessons and provide a more practical, efficient working environment for students.

With this framework in mind, Signature Flooring, Inc. installed Tarkett Johnsonite’s IQ Optima Sheet Vinyl Flooring throughout their classrooms, corridors and collaboration spaces as this floor finish best-suited the requirements and conditions of this project.

IQ Optima is designed to create heathier indoor spaces and reduce our impact on the outdoor environment. With TVOCs under 10μg/m3, this long-lasting floor covering is asthma & allergy friendly® certified, FloorScore® certified & Phthalate-free, except for recycled materials. Featuring a no wax, no finish homogenous construction, it will never, ever need to be stripped or waxed. IQ Optima’s most beautiful benefits are its low life-cycle cost and high-performance return on investment. IQ Optima’s homogeneous construction means the colors and patterns run throughout the thickness of the material, so it maintains its good looks for life. And, with its IQ construction, it seals out the elements to make it exceptionally easy to maintain & make it the only flooring covering solution in the industry that offers a restorative property.

In looking for flooring solutions that can provide acoustical properties in the few office spaces found in building 500 while meeting the sustainability requirements, Signature Flooring, Inc. installed Mohawk Group’s Angled Perception Carpet Tile found in the Visual Edge Collection. This EcoFlex Matrix backed, 15 oz/yd2 carpet tile is constructed with Mohawk Group’s Solution dyed, ColorStrand SD Nylon Fiber. It participates in the Mindful Materials Library and is LEED eligible. The product is 100% carbon neutral plus an additional 5%, has a 52% recycled content & meets CRI Green Label Plus GLP1171. We may all have differentiating views on what makes the perfect work environment, but surely, all can come to the same agreement that noise is most certainly not part of the equation. Mohawk Group’s Angled Perception carpet tile’s ability to absorb airborne noise and mute noise levels while meeting the desired sustainability goals made this the ideal floor covering choice for the office spaces in Building 500.

When designing the flooring scope, the main focus, naturally, is the floor covering that will be installed throughout the facility. However, what will soon become a crucial detail is how the new flooring edge will sit adjacent to another floor covering, particularly, a different floor covering product. Playing a critical role in the flooring area’s visual appeal and long-term durability, Signature Flooring, Inc. installed Johnsonite’s rubber transition products to adequately & safely transition the sheet vinyl flooring to the carpet tile flooring all while being able to color match them to align with Johnsonite’s Thermoset rubber wall base that was installed throughout the building.
Piggybacking on the topic above of crucial flooring details, perhaps sitting at the very top of the list, is the foundation of all successful flooring installations. Subfloor preparation. With the projects stringent schedule in mind & the need to mitigate the concrete slabs high moisture vapor emissions, Signature Flooring, Inc. strategically assembled a crew that could tackle one of the most difficult, yet common flooring problems in the flooring industry. Concrete moisture mitigation. Using Sika Corporation’s Sika MB, 2-component, solvent free, low viscosity, epoxy moisture barrier, Signature Flooring, Inc. ensured that the concrete that was scheduled to received new floor coverings was sealed for moisture. A moisture mitigation system that was applied to over 38,000 square feet.

With its completion and ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the end of Summer 2022, on September 21st, the project met its performance, requirements and LEED sustainability goals as Walnut Valley USD celebrated the modernized 500 Building at Diamond Bar High School. A school that continues to strive to be a Dynamic, Balanced, Honorable & Scholastic.

Manufacturers Used:
Tarkett Johnsonite - IQ Optima Sheet Vinyl
Tarkett Johnsonite - Thermoset Rubber Wall Base
Tarkett Johnsonite – Rubber Transitions
Mohawk Group - Visual Edge Collection, Angled Perception Carpet Tile
Sika Corporation – Sika MB 2-part Epoxy Moisture Barrier
Sika Corporation – 425 Self Leveling Underlayment
Sika Corporation – O2-EZ Primer
Pacific Solutions’ Flooright Takeoff Software