Innovative ICF Design Earns Parkhill Recognition for Liberty High School Storm Shelter

Parkhill’s innovative design for Lubbock-Cooper ISD’s Liberty High School Storm Shelter was recognized by The Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF) Builder Magazine Awards as the 2025 Education Winner and People’s Choice! This was the first project for Lubbock-Cooper ISD that required a storm shelter, and only the second school in the City of Lubbock to require one. The project is among Texas’s largest high school storm shelters and has set a precedent for the walls of storm shelters to be built with insulating concrete forms (ICF). Parkhill Structural Engineer Zachary Garrett, PE, accepted the awards on behalf of Parkhill at World of Concrete in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"These awards serve as a testament to the innovative work done at Parkhill," he said. "Lubbock-Cooper ISD trusted us to deliver design excellence with this gym, and the team was able to accomplish this using ICF!"

Setting a New Standard for Storm Shelter Design

The storm shelter at Liberty High School had to meet ICC-500 requirements, which included designing for hydrostatic and lateral earth pressures on the below-grade wall portions and withstanding 250 MPH winds above grade. The walls, roof, and openings also had to meet missile impact criteria. The design challenge was to create a 45-foot-tall concrete wall capable of withstanding these loads, with a roof span of 142 feet without intermediate columns. After considering several options, an 18-inch-thick ICF wall was chosen for its simplicity in construction and to prevent rebar congestion (high density of steel reinforcement, which can result in poor concrete penetration for the structure).

Because other phases of the project included a basement, the design team and contractor decided to utilize ICF for the portion of the storm shelter that was 15 feet below grade (ground level) but also for the section of walls that was above grade. When comparing the costs of other systems, such as precast concrete, concrete tilt-wall, and masonry, to achieve the required impact ratings and design loads, ICF came in slightly lower than the other options. The speed of construction for ICF, along with the reduced need for multiple trades in wall construction, made ICF a logical choice.

A True Multipurpose Facility

Although this space serves as a storm shelter, the architecture team wanted to ensure the building still felt like a gym, particularly for students who will use it for their entire high school career before competing in a designated competition gym. To achieve this, special lighting, graphics, flooring, and coordinated HVAC placement were implemented to create a modern and enjoyable athletics space.

Lubbock-Cooper ISD has started considering how else ICF can be utilized on future projects. Several tours have been given to the Texas Society of Professional Engineers to showcase how to create cost-effective storm shelters in schools that function as multipurpose spaces. Trying out a new construction system can sometimes be a difficult sale for the contractor. This gym is evidence of the system’s current successes and long-term possibilities that the community will proudly use and enjoy.