FAQs

Folia is an innovative, patented design and construction solution developed to fill a void in today’s education market. Highly adaptable and durable, Folia leverages prefabrication and can be delivered at least one year faster and 10-20% less expensively than traditionally designed and built buildings.

Folia was developed by K-12 design and construction leaders Blach Construction and Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, with the help of the innovative structural engineering firm Gregory P. Luth & Associates.

Yes. The two-story Folia floor plan has received California Division of State Architect (DSA) Pre-Check (PC) approval. The one-story Folia floorplans will be submitted to DSA for PCs in the near-term. Pre-check approval dramatically reduces individual project DSA approval timelines.

Folia is a system, and unlike modular, Folia buildings are fully customizable. They can be easily modified to a variety of use cases, including offices, conference rooms, kitchen or dining space.

Folia’s design is highly efficient, both structurally and spatially. And, much of it is prefabricated, which reduces the construction schedule and minimizes cost escalation. Bottom line: Folia is less expensive to erect than a comparable, custom-designed and built building.

Folia can be delivered at least one year faster and 10-20% less expensively than comparable, yet traditionally designed and built buildings.

As an integrated design and construction solution, Folia is best suited to collaborative delivery methods, including Design-Build and Lease-Leaseback.

Each Folia project has its own Blach-appointed Project Executive who serves as the main point of contact throughout the design and construction process. With their experience as both Program and Construction Managers, Blach Project Executives are uniquely qualified for this role. Each project also has a QKA Project Architect who is responsible for the design and adaptation of the Folia building to meet your needs. For more information, contact Kim Scott to set up a preliminary meeting.

Yes. The Folia team will work hand-in-hand with existing architectural teams to customize your Folia design, provide site enhancements related to the building and make other improvements as needed.

Yes. Folia is a collaborative solution and we are committed to working with each client to deliver the optimum solution. We value the expertise and institutional knowledge your partners bring and are open to working with them.

Inspections by the IOR and special inspectors are essentially the same as a site built building, except that shop inspections will occur while work is being performed in the shop. This may include welding or any other aspect of work that requires inspection because it will not be accessible to inspect when the components are delivered to the field.

Yes. Folia is highly adaptable and can be customized to tie in with your existing architecture. In fact, we recently completed a Mission-style Folia for San Benito High School District. You may see it on buildfolia.com

Yes. Folia’ features high quality, durable systems and materials that are standard practice on many school projects. These selections can be quickly adapted as necessary to meet any District Standard.

The Folia team has worked hard to design Folia for the lowest possible life cycle cost and ease of maintenance without sacrificing quality and feels this is best addressed with large wall-mounted monitors. However, these can be modified to District standards if needed. We do not include monitors in our baseline pricing, but are happy to include them and handle the procurement of them if its easier for your District team. Data/Telecom, Fire Alarm, and Clock/PA systems are included in the baseline Folia design. A security system is not included in the baseline design but can be included.

Yes. Dimming, and even black-out shades, can be provided if necessary. Our design team will work with your school to make sure that appropriate daylight control measures are in place to meet the needs of your digital presentation system.

Folia has a concrete and steel deck floor system that provides for excellent acoustic isolation between floors. This design provides far superior acoustic isolation to wood framed two story buildings. Walls, doors and windows are all designed to limit sound transmission between spaces. Folia is designed to the strict acoustical standards for sound isolation included within the CHPS criteria to provide high performance learning environments.

School site security is a complex issue that is highly specific to each school site. The Folia team has many years of experience addressing school security concerns and will work with you to make sure all security concerns are addressed. In general, security presents two conflicting concerns relative to glazing. For all scenarios except that involving an active shooter — which is the vast majority of the time — the large glazing areas are good for student safety and security. Having transparency between the classroom and the outside allows passive supervision of the exterior, greatly reducing areas of the campus that are not well-supervised. This is called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), a widely used design approach that is incorporated into the Folia design. In the event there is an active shooter scenario, shades provide an effective means of limiting visibility, in addition to the areas of the classrooms that do not have glazing. Lastly, the break-out spaces can serve as safe areas as well. Because Folia can be adapted to meet specific security needs, our team will work with you to make sure your school’s security concerns are addressed.

Yes. Folia is designed to exceed the standards of the California Green Building Code and the California Energy Code. It meets the Criteria of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), through which we are currently pursuing CHPS Pre-Fab approval. Additionally, we are pursuing LEED Gold Certification on at least one recent Folia project.

Yes, Folia is solar-ready. Photovoltaic (PV) panels can be added to any Folia project, either during construction or later, as the need arises.

There are many variables in sizing a solar PV system for the Folia building, including local climate and site conditions. We estimate that a PV system of approximately 70-90kW would be required to make Folia a Zero Net Energy (ZNE) building. To calculate a final cost, more specific analysis can be performed once the building location and orientation are determined for each project.

The warranty on Folia is the same as it would be for a purpose-designed and built building. The basic warranty is one year and many of the specific materials/equipment have longer warranties. As an example, the roofing included in the base design has a 25-year warranty. The warranties on materials and equipment will depend on the specific materials/equipment used on each project.

Folia is a durable and long-lasting building that is built using the same materials and systems as a standard, site-built, steel-framed building. The estimated useful life of this type of building is usually quoted at 50 years. However, with regular maintenance and periodic upgrades, similar buildings have proven to last much longer.