Architects advise against paying for a roof-screen alternate after mechanical design changes

Architect Matt Larew told the Middletown School Building Committee that, as mechanical designs evolved, much of the rooftop equipment originally expected to be visible became smaller or moved, reducing the visual impact of equipment at the high-school entrance. HMFH had carried a roof-screen add alternate over the high-school entrance in the construction and bid documents; after the final mechanical layouts the architect recommended not moving forward with that alternate because visibility is now minimal. "Given the very low impact of the visibility of equipment," the architect said, he would not recommend the alternate. Committee members nonetheless expressed disappointment that other rooftop equipment — particularly on the middle school roof — remains visible. Vice chair Bill Nash said he was "not happy with it" and noted structural and cost implications if the members wished to add screening at deeper roofs, where additional framing would be required. The committee did not take a motion to add the roof-screen at this meeting. The architect said the roof-screen alternate had been prioritized for the high-school entrance only and was not carried for rooftop equipment on the lower roofs due to cost and visibility assumptions during earlier design phases.