Skanska Books $418 Million in School and University Construction Contracts

Skanska has disclosed four education projects in Virginia, Washington State and the western United States worth a combined $418 million, including a $163 million theater and fine arts program at the University of Mary Washington and a $110 million new high school in Renton, Washington. Three of the contracts will be counted in the company's third quarter U.S. order bookings.

What Happened

Construction Dive reported on October 7 that the Stockholm-based contractor announced three education wins totaling $351 million over the past week, and separately started work on a fourth project valued at $67.1 million, for $418 million overall (Construction Dive). The company's own releases supply the project details.

The Four Projects

• University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia: $163 million. Skanska signed a contract to build a new multistory theater of about 68,230 square feet with a 293-seat performance hall, renovate about 82,000 square feet of existing fine arts buildings and construct an 8,950-square-foot addition. The scope covers site development, infrastructure, core and shell, and interior fit-out. Work has started, and completion is expected in February 2030 (Skanska).
• Renton High School, Renton, Washington: $110 million. The contract with the Renton School District is for a new three-story comprehensive high school of about 350,000 square feet with classroom capacity for 1,600 students. Planned spaces include core classrooms, career and technical education, art and science areas, health and special services, a library, a cafeteria and commons, gymnasiums, a lighted baseball and softball field and a practice football and soccer field. Construction has started, with completion expected in fall 2029 (Skanska).
• Undisclosed client, western United States: $78 million. Skanska signed a contract amendment with an existing client it did not name. The project replaces an existing school on the same site. Work has begun, and completion is expected in 2029 (Construction Dive).
• Sumner High School, Washington: $67.1 million. Skanska began the second of three phases of a campus expansion for the largest high school in the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District. Phase 2 is a three-story, 103,000-square-foot building attached to the existing school, with about 50 classrooms plus special education and career and technical education spaces, including a greenhouse, robotics, aerospace manufacturing, CAD and digital design classrooms, early learning classrooms, a culinary arts kitchen and childcare space. It also adds on-campus parking. Completion is scheduled for fall 2028 (Skanska USA). A Skanska spokesperson confirmed the Phase 2 value to Construction Dive (Construction Dive).

Background on Sumner

The Sumner project shows how a district can sequence a large rebuild on an occupied campus. The school dates to 1911 and has more than 1,850 students. Phase 1, now complete, delivered the first of three central campus buildings with 18 classrooms, a library, a 12,000-square-foot commons and cafeteria, a kitchen and technology upgrades. Phase 3 is planned to add a performing arts center, gym, swimming pool, music rooms and athletic fields (Skanska USA).

The work is funded by a bond measure that district voters approved in 2024, which also covers Bonney Lake High School, a new middle school and upgrades to five elementary schools. The sources differ on the size of that measure: Skanska's release puts it at $732 million, while Construction Dive reports $737 million (Skanska USA, Construction Dive). Construction Dive also cites local outlet KIRO7 for a total project cost of $412 million across the Sumner High School expansion.

Where Things Stand

All four projects are under construction or have started early work, with turnover dates spread from fall 2028 through February 2030. The Mary Washington, Renton and western U.S. contracts were all signed before the end of the third quarter and will appear in Skanska's order bookings for that period (Construction Dive).

Implications for Owners, Developers, Contractors and Subs

• Education remains dependable backlog. While private commercial work is uneven and megaprojects absorb a growing share of spending, as we covered in Megaprojects Hold One in Four Nonresidential Construction Dollars, voter-approved bond programs and university capital plans continue to release large, funded contracts.
• Career and technical space is now standard program. Both Washington high schools include dedicated career and technical education areas, and Sumner's list runs from robotics to aerospace manufacturing and culinary arts. These rooms carry heavier power, ventilation, compressed air and equipment coordination than standard classrooms, which matters for mechanical and electrical subcontractors pricing school work.
• Phasing on occupied campuses drives schedule. Sumner is being built in three phases around more than 1,850 students, and one of the other contracts replaces a school on its existing site. Owners planning similar work should expect longer durations, temporary facilities and logistics plans built around the school calendar.
• Long durations require escalation planning. Completion dates three to four years out mean subcontractors are committing to prices across several labor agreements and material cycles. Buyout strategy, escalation clauses and early procurement of long-lead electrical and mechanical equipment deserve attention at contract stage.
• Renovation is bundled with new construction. The Mary Washington contract pairs a new theater with 82,000 square feet of renovation. Owners with aging arts and science buildings are often packaging new and existing space into one contract to keep a single team accountable.

What to Watch

• Skanska's third quarter report, which will show how much education work contributed to U.S. bookings.
• November school bond referendums around the country, which set the pipeline for 2027 and 2028 starts.
• Procurement for Phase 3 at Sumner High School.

Bottom Line

Four contracts in one week do not make a trend on their own, but they show where funded, schedulable work is available. For builders outside the data center and megaproject markets, K-12 and higher education programs backed by approved bonds remain one of the more predictable places to build backlog.

Image credit: Skanska. Image from the source release.

Sources

• Construction Dive, "Skanska goes back to school with $418M in education builds": https://www.constructiondive.com/news/skanska-wins-education-builds-college-high-school-construction/832347/
• Skanska, "Skanska to build and renovate academic buildings in Fredericksburg, USA, for USD 163M": https://www.skanska.com/group/en/media/press-releases/2026/skanska-to-build-and-renovate-academic-buildings-in-fredericksburg-usa-for-usd-163m-about-sek-1.5-billion
• Skanska, "Skanska to construct new high school in Renton, Washington, USA, for USD 110M": https://www.skanska.com/group/en/media/press-releases/2026/skanska-to-construct-new-high-school-in-renton-washington-usa-for-usd-110m-about-sek-1.0-billion
• Skanska USA, "Skanska begins Phase 2 construction of Sumner High School campus expansion project": https://www.skanska.com/us/en/media/press-releases/2026/skanska-begins-phase-2-construction-of-sumner-high-school-campus-expansion-project