The administrators of School District 30 in Northbrook, Illinois had finally run out of space. For a dozen years, the dedicated 12-person staff, which serves more than 1,000 students, put aside their own space needs to focus on school construction efforts. Housed in an aging office trailer, administrators required more room to house employees and store key district documents and files.Timing turned out to be the district's greatest challenge.

Major renovations were being made on a middle school building and bus drop off area on the district's campus. The close proximity of these construction projects meant the district needed to build its new office without delaying the work being done on the school or interfering with traffic patterns. Administrators turned to the fast track techniques of modular construction, and as a result, enlisted the help of ModSpace to create their new headquarters. The company worked closely with the district's architect, Carole Donovan Pugh of Green Associates, to develop a single-story building that offered enough offices, work and storage space and meeting areas to accommodate staff and teachers, students, parents and other visitors.

From the start, ModSpace came up with unique techniques to save money and get the doors open quickly. Arrangements were made for the school's contractors to install a drop ceiling for electrical wiring and a sprinkler system during off-site building fabrication rather than on-site which could take up more time. For most modular construction projects, manufacturers typically use cranes to lift modules onto the site and then roll the units into place. ModSpace helped the district avoid the expense of a crane by developing a unique rolling method.

To keep the project on schedule, the special roller system was designed so it could be used to carefully set the building in place while the basement floor was drying. Within 80 days, the12,000-square-foot permanent office building was ready for occupancy.The design adopted from the ModSpace branch office provided an ideal layout for the district's staff. Along the perimeter of the district building are a reception area, seven offices, rest rooms, kitchen/dining area and a large conference room. Flexible workstation space and a workroom are in the center. To give it the distinctive diamond shape, angled hallways were installed throughout the building instead of straight corridors. With nine-foot ceilings, the building gets plenty of natural light from its large Pella windows. The eggshell white wall coloring adds to the brightness of the hallway and offices.

Several modifications were made to better serve the day-to-day functions of the administrators. Closet space was added to most offices, while one room was enlarged to accommodate teacher/student conference sessions. A moveable wall enabled the conference room to accommodate gatherings and meetings of up to 60 people. ModSpace also installed air-lock entrance doors to minimize energy costs from wind flow and reduce noise from outside. In the rear, an 800-pound elevator was installed for easy access and transport to the basement. A red brick exterior finish was selected to help the office fit in with the other buildings on campus.