By Michelle Edgar
Special to the Daily Press
Southern California Development Forum (SCDF) members gathered in Santa Monica yesterday for a behind-the-scenes tour of one of the most ambitious emergency education projects: the rapid transformation of the former Sears department store into a temporary 100,000-square-foot high school campus for Palisades Charter High School. Led by Gensler Managing Director Kelly Farrell and Gensler Principal and Technical Director James Kelly, alongside CW Driver’s Jamie Maccartney, the tour offered attendees insight into the unprecedented “Mission Possible” project, which delivered 90 classrooms and essential student facilities in under seven weeks following a devastating fire at the school’s main campus. Proceeds from the tour supported the ACE Mentor Program, which provides career pathways for high school students in architecture, construction, and engineering.
What unfolded during the event was more than a walkthrough—it was a civic story about what can be achieved when urgency, innovation, and public-private collaboration converge around a shared goal: keeping students in classrooms.
When the fire displaced more than 3,000 students earlier this year, Palisades Charter High School was forced to move learning online. School leadership, architects, and builders were tasked with finding an immediate solution. Their answer was bold: convert a shuttered Sears building into a fully functioning school in a matter of weeks. A process that typically takes years—design, permitting, approvals, and construction—was condensed into 46 days through an integrated approach that brought all stakeholders to the table from day one.
“This wasn’t about building a school under ideal circumstances,” said Farrell. “It was about protecting educational continuity. When everyone shares the same mission, speed becomes possible.”
The City of Santa Monica played a central role as a hands-on partner. City officials attended daily site walks, fast-tracked approvals, and aligned inspections with construction timelines to ensure safety requirements were met without slowing progress.
“This project proved what is possible when a city acts as a collaborator, not a gatekeeper,” said Farrell. “Every decision came back to the same priority: get students back into classrooms as quickly and safely as possible.”
Instead of following the traditional linear process of design, then permit, then build, Gensler and CW Driver worked concurrently across all phases. Gensler’s international office in Bangalore drafted drawings overnight while construction moved forward during the day. CW Driver implemented double shifts six days a week to meet the aggressive timeline. The result: a 100,000-square-foot campus featuring 90 classrooms, food service, specialized learning spaces, and branded school graphics all completed $1.5 million under budget.
“This was architectural innovation at the pace of human need,” said James Kelly of Gensler. “We were sketching designs in real time while construction crews were already in motion.”
The space originally lacked basic infrastructure and required rapid improvisation. Heating was capped, gas service was unavailable, and water was supplied daily by World Central Kitchen. Temporary hand-washing stations were installed. Storage areas were converted into medical rooms and special education spaces. To address sound transfer between classrooms without costly roof-to-deck drywall installation, the team deployed an innovative acoustic insulation known as Insul-Quilt.
“This was architectural innovation under pressure,” said CW Driver’s Jamie Maccartney. “Every hour counted. Every decision was evaluated based on student impact.”
While the build was widely regarded as a success, ongoing operations required equal coordination. According to Rafael Negro, Director of Operations at Palisades Charter High School, the early days saw significant congestion around stairwells, requiring safety drills and new traffic flow protocols. Food service had to be reestablished under a new vendor to ensure uninterrupted meal delivery. The facility operates under a lease that requires the property to be returned to its original condition, including full demolition of the temporary classrooms at the end of its use.
“This was never built to be permanent, but it had to function like a real campus immediately,” Negro said. “We had to manage logistics, safety, food distribution, special education requirements, and overall student movement in an urban environment. Our guiding questions were always: are we safe, and are we learning?”
Negro emphasized that while the project is a success story in emergency response, its next chapter requires community engagement.
“We built this campus quickly and efficiently, but not with everything our students could benefit from,” he said. “There is a real opportunity now for industry partners, philanthropists, and local leaders to invest in enrichment - WiFi improvements, digital learning tools, wellness spaces for student mental health, arts programs, and mentorship pipelines.”
Proceeds from the SCDF event benefited the ACE Mentor Program, which introduces students to careers in design and construction—a direct extension of the project’s legacy.
“This project didn’t just build a temporary school—it inspired the next generation of builders,” said Peter Barsuk, Board Member of ACE Mentor. “Students are seeing what’s possible when a community steps up.”
Pali High Charter is increasingly being viewed as a model for educational resilience and civic problem-solving. “We didn’t just open a temporary campus,” Farrell said. “We opened a new model for how communities respond to crisis—with urgency, partnership, and purpose.”
In Santa Monica, the future of education was not paused — it was reconstructed in seven weeks.