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As the year moves into full swing,
schooldesigner.com spoke with some experienced
school designers to get the inside scoop on design
trends for 2007. We especially wanted to hear what
architects across the country think about client
expectations and design focus.
The prevailing trend is toward designing schools that
meet school district criteria and are integral partners
in the educational process and community goals.
Sure, designing schools that enhance education
doesn’t sound revolutionary, but it’s the little things
that matter the most.
In this first part of a three-part series, we focus on
some excellent examples, including school size,
technology, and more.
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Learning How to Learn
By Sarah Sims
Learning How to Learn
Often the challenge for architects and educators is
getting students to connect with their
environment. “The classroom is no longer four walls
and desks on a grid,It’s expanding to the hallway,
the gym, the bus port, and the cafeteria" says Steve
Crane of VCBO Architecture. I would add that the
classroom is even expanding beyond the
building into the school yard. In Virginia, VMDO
Architects is in
the process of designing a new school with a sundial
and wetlands area.”
Other firms, like RuckPate Architecture, are moving
toward the use of outdoor amphitheaters that double
as outdoor classrooms and community resources. The
trend is getting students to be involved in the
learning process, even if it takes painting the pipes in
the mechanical room to attract their interest. An
essential part of this trend is designing for the
students. Where do the students learn best? Ask the
kids, and you might be surprised to hear what they
have to say. Active learning takes place in
well-designed schools that students want to attend.
Glass
promotes visual openness but auditory privacy. Wood
paneling creates a warm atmosphere, and students
respect a school where they enjoy learning.
Community involvement is on the rise with schools as
well. Schools are not just academic buildings, they
are becoming community and civic centers.
Sizing Up Size
School size is difficult to label as a design trend
because preferences vary across the country. The
school design sector is booming in places like the
intermountain area (Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada,
etc.), the eastern seaboard (Florida), and the
northwest. It’s also steady in the Midwest, North
Carolina, California, and Wisconsin.
Communities with expanding populations
desire “schools within a school”—large schools that
have small learning communities. Re-thinking the
traditional classroom layout is also continuing to be
an area of focus as schools address learning styles.
SHW Group has designed two classrooms with an
adjoining shared flex space. Where land is at a
premium, districts are looking to expand up rather
than out. Rogers Marvel Architects designed a 12-
story structure to house the Stephen Gaynor School
and Ballet Hispanico. In other cases, districts are
looking for prototype schools to keep parity across
the district and offer the same educational benefits
to students. While the trend varies, one thing that
most experts agree on is that smaller is better.
Age Appropriate: Early Childhood to Grade
13
In 2007, design is more than grades K-12. Where
dual-working families make up a large portion of the
school district, clients are asking for early childhood
centers. Architects are looking to design centers for
children younger than kindergarten as either stand-
alone facilities or as part of the elementary school.
On the other end, the Vo-tech school is being
revamped. A “grade 13 mentality” looks to offer
students more specialized learning opportunities as
they approach graduation. Centers that teach
marketing, pre-law, and horticulture are changing
their look. SHW Group recently designed a “grade 13”
center that relied heavily on design found in the
corporate world to mimic the real corporate world
evident in restaurants, stores, and office buildings.
Hard Driving Toward Technology
In an age of e-mails, internet, cell phones, and i-
pods, education is rapidly evolving. Crane sums it up
by saying, “Adapt to today’s paradigm in education.”
How does this translate into design trends? Recently,
VCBO built a middle school with a cyber cafeteria
where kids can access the internet during lunch time.
In addition, RuckPate Architecture has developed a
concept called “Neighborhood Technology Centers,”
where space is shared by two grade-level teams and
is a “high-tech, low-tech” space. The room is
equipped with wireless internet and presentation
abilities but also has a large area for group work and
large-scale projects.
Also, libraries are becoming media centers where,
contrary to our school day experiences, talking is
allowed!
Finally, architects should be anticipating the
convergence of many technologies into one platform,
according to Chad Novak of H+L Architecture. “These
days, we have cell phones that are internet browsers
and PDAs, and that send e-mails and play music,” he
says. “This trend will eventually move into the
classrooms.”
Sarah Sims, a schooldesigner.com intern, is
a sophomore at Grove City College, Pa.
Have a great school example worthy of our design
trends part two or part three? Send submissions for
consideration to Joel K. Sims at
Joel@schooldesigner.com by February 14.
In the next two parts we will share examples of :
Early childhood Centers,
Community Use Space,
Schools Fighting Childhood Obesity,
Schools that are Getting Greener,
Schools that are Locking Up Security Design
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A Look at Acid-Stained Concrete Flooring
By Gaye Goodman
If you’re looking for a long-lasting, durable and cost-
effective flooring for your next renovation or new
construction project, consider acid-stained
concrete.
What is acid-stained concrete?
Acid staining is a bit of a misnomer, since the mild
acid-water solution in
such stain is merely a carrier. It opens the pores of
the concrete so the metallic salts dissolved in it can
better penetrate the surface of the slab and combine
with calcium hydroxide in the cement. The upper
1/16th to 1/8th inch of the surface of the slab is
having its color changed permanently.
What colors are available?
Seven or eight companies
in the United States manufacture acid stains, but
none have come up with more than 10 earth-toned
colors. Copper-based compounds produce blue or
green shades, iron gives rusty colors, and manganese
yields black-browns. Some stains are combinations of
these, as shown in Photo 1.(see stained concrete
photos)
Rather than conceal color variations in the concrete,
acid stains accentuate them. A slab that has cured
with darker gray speckles from rain or hail can, after
a single stain application, look as mottled as the
surface of a damp rock. Because the stain flows
readily, lower areas of the slab and small indentations
become darker. When clear sealer is applied to
preserve the floor from abrasion, translucency and
value differences are enhanced. An artfully stained
floor gives the impression that one is looking at
patterns on the bottom of a shimmering pool of
water. Photo 2 shows the floor of a recreation center
patterned with plastic during staining and sealed with
an epoxy-urethane system.
An experienced artisan uses acid stains much the
way a watercolor artist paints on paper. The stain
may be diluted and sprayed on a dry floor for an
even, leathery look, or poured wet-on-wet over a
damp floor and “printed” with foreign materials. Photo
3 shows sprayed stain and Photo 4 shows a blue-
green stain with pieces of dampened straw scattered
into it.
How green is it, and how much does it cost?
If durable clear sealers are applied (solvent-based
rather than water-based sealers) and if proper
maintenance is used, acid-stained concrete floors
are as durable as tile and cost less to install. Acid
staining requires some slab cleaning and wall
protection, but one can obtain 150 to 200 square
feet per gallon of stain.
An acid stain installation can be custom tailored to
the architect’s plan for $2.10 to $5.00 per square
foot depending on the size of the job. Stainers have
large economies of scale so that a job of 10,000 sq.
ft. can be bid at less than half the price per foot of a
job that is only 2,000 sq. ft.
The metallic salts in acid stain residue are generally
found in fertilizers and considered non-toxic. A few
stain colors contain chromium, however, so careful
disposal of waste is recommended.
The most toxic part of acid staining comes with the
solvents used in the penetrating acrylic sealers:
toluene and xylene being two of the most common.
The crew applying them should wear complete body
and respiratory protection. Once the sealers
have “gassed off” (in 36 hours), the sealer becomes
an inert acrylic.
Two coats of an acrylic wax or “final finish” (such as
On an’ On by Spartan Chemical or Ironstone by
Butchers) must be specified for schools on top of
whatever clear sealer is chosen. These top coats
may be maintained by buffing and, if replenished by
the janitor during school holidays, the original sealer
and the stain under it can endure unscarred for
decades. The college hallway shown in Photo 5 was
taken four years post-completion, in a situation
where the janitorial staff was trained in maintenance
by the stainer.
What should specifications include?
Attractive stainwork requires a caring and
experienced stain
artisan, which you can find through writing detailed
and iron-clad specifications for the staining
procedure. Here are some things to know when
writing specifications.
1. A wide range of concrete hardness and
formulae
will accept stain well. so it is not necessary to
specify these. However, it is important to specify
that the slab not be over troweled (burnished) and
that no liquid curing compound be applied. Both tend
to block the even penetration of acid stain.
2. If you are building in a humid climate, or
in a low
moist area, efflorescence could become a problem.
All stain sealers are made to be semi-permeable to
allow for the release of water vapor from the surface
of the slab, but a moisture-vapor barrier under the
slab is necessary in some climates to keep calcium
chloride deposits from collecting along cracks and
marring the darker stain colors.
3. All slabs will crack somewhat. Good
stainers can fill
cracks with cementitious materials that endure well,
accept stain color, and actually add to the stone-like
veining of a floor. It is not necessary to specify
decorative saw cuts to prevent crack travel but saw
cuts can facilitate the staining of adjacent colors.
(Photo 6 of Moriarty HS) The floors of the school in
Photo 6 were scored to 3/8 in. depth. It enabled the
stainers to hold plastic shields in the slots and spray
contiguous areas with contrasting stain colors with
no overlap.
4. Staining takes place toward the end of
the
building process but before the installation of built-
ins, toilets and baseboards. Therefore, protection of
the slab should be required of the general contractor.
Most contractors protect the slab with rosin paper
rolled out wall to wall and taped to itself with
masking tape, which allows the slab to cure
evenly.
5. If ceramic wall tile or concrete block walls
are
planned, those finishes should be installed before the
stainer is installed. The grout near the floor is
susceptible to ugly stain marks, so specify that the
stainer first seal the lowest two inches of grout with
Okon Waterproofing Sealer (which is invisible on
grout, porous stone and plaster) before masking the
walls.
Want more information?
Several websites have
information and forums for stainers that can be
searched for feedback from those in the field. For
concrete countertops, www.chengdesign.com and
www.buddyrhodes.com set the benchmark. For
concrete floor creations,
www.acidstainconcrete.com,
www.concretedecor.net, and
www.decorativeconcrete.com provide more answers.
The best decorative concrete magazines
are “Concrete Construction” published by Hanley
Wood, and “Concrete
Décor,” published by Bent Mikkelsen.
Gaye Goodman is Founder and Managing Partner of
Faux Real LLC
Please email her at gaye@fauxrealfloors.com
more on Faux Real
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Thank you to H+L architecture for providing the
image for this month's newsletter. See their Profile Page on
schooldesigner.com
Let us hear from you,
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