Two DFW-area elementary schools, in the Denton Independent School District (ISD), are the first in the United States to be built with prefabricated exterior wall systems. Both use thin brick sourced by Acme Brick Company, which has posted a case study for these projects on its website:
https://brick.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/20250826_CaseStudy_Denton-ISD-web.pdf
In building Dorothy Martinez and Fred Hill elementary schools, Pfluger Architects and general contractor Balfour Beatty had a tight schedule. Voters authorized construction funds in May 2023, barely a year before the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
The project team quickly identified a prefabricated exterior wall system as the most logical solution – and brought on BakerTriangle Prefab, also based in the DFW area. Compared with traditional stick-built construction, a prefab-panel exterior offered 70% faster construction, as well as an airtight, energy-efficient envelope, and significant cost savings.
With prefab panels, exterior finish is applied at the manufacturing site.
Acme Brick Company suggested King Klinker thin brick – products that not only meshed with Pfluger’s designs but were also readily available in the quantities needed for both jobs. Acme is the exclusive source for King Klinker in Texas and 12 other states in the southeast and southwest United States.
“It’s critical to have a partnership that allows for procurement in a timely manner,” said Samuel Balunda, executive vice president of BakerTriangle Prefab, “and Acme worked very closely with us, Denton ISD, and Pfluger to present product lines that were available for use to meet this expedited schedule. Because in simple terms, when initial building construction begins, that is roughly the same time that prefabrication panel fabrication begins.
“So when the general contractor starts the proverbial digging in the ground, Baker needed to have brick here for use in fabrication,” he said. “Acme presented those readily available solutions to the project team, to us, to meet that atypical delivery/procurement scenario.”
Both schools opened on time, in 2024, each with a capacity of 750 students.
Built to the same design, they use extra-long King Klinker thin brick set vertically rather than horizontally. Brick color distinguishes the two: Black Beauty for Martinez, King Crimson with a Black Beauty base for Hill.
Martinez and Hill Elementary Schools brilliantly illustrate how to use innovative materials and construction methods to meet challenging educational budgets. And as Denton’s “hometown” brick company for more than one hundred years, Acme is proud to have contributed to the projects’ success.
Since its founding, in 1891, Acme Brick has supported architects. The company provides broad color selections and offers technical assistance as they execute their boldest designs in fired clay brick. Acme celebrates architectural creativity through sponsorship of the Brick in Architecture Awards and by publishing case studies of notable brick projects. To view recent case studies, please visit https://brick.com/resources/view-sourcebooks/case-study
Little Elm, TX
Owner: Denton Independent School District, Denton, TX
Architect: Pfluger Architects, Austin, TX
General Contractor: Balfour Beatty, Dallas, TX
Prefab Manufacturer: BakerTriangle Prefab, Richardson, TX
Products from Acme Brick: King Klinker thin brick – Black Beauty and King Crimson
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For more PRESS information contact: Ron Taylor/Ashley & Taylor Public Relations (817) 874-8206, ashleytaylorpr@gmail.com.
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