Compiled By Joel K. Sims, AIA

As noted in the February issue, the current design trend is toward schools that meet district criteria and are integral partners in the educational process and community goals. In this third of a three-part series, we bring you more excellent examples of schools across the country that are incorporating these design trends.

Michigan: Early Education/Charter School

Designed with young children in mind, Detroit Country Day's Preschool (Beverly Hills, MI) features a "hamlet" theme, where the facility is a hamlet and each classroom is a cottage. Upon entering the front door of the hamlet, you are taken down a village street, lined with trees, lampposts, mailboxes and even clouds overhead.

Seven cottages, all with separate front entrances, serve three-to-five-year-old children. Finished in a Victorian style, the details, color, trim and finishes differ, customizing and creating a unique "personality" for each cottage. Cottages also feature a front porch, back porch, separate toilet facilities, kitchen, and sound system.

At the end of the street is a commons area, which serves as a gross motor activity playroom. Its design emulates a little red schoolhouse. The hamlet also features direct access to the outdoor play area, called the Castle grounds.

Illinois: University "Lab School"

As part of its campus expansion, Governor's State University (GSU) (University Park, IL.) developed a "lab school" to supplement its Early Childhood Education Department training and provide on-site child care services for the students, staff, and faculty. The Family Development Center not only serves the early childhood age group, but also grades K-4 as a charter school from the local school district.

In addition to the school, the facility accommodates a community Parenting Program that provides on- and off-site services, as well as training in physical, mental, occupational, and speech therapy programs for GSU staff and students.

Located at the community side of the campus, the facility aligns its front door with the university's main entrance. Inside, the classroom houses are separated by greenhouses where children work with teachers and parents to grow plants and vegetables.

The facility also includes an abundance of natural light and a dedicated fine arts classroom with a kiln and a large glass wall for light play.

Philadelphia: Elementary School

When completed in 2008, the Commodore John Barry Elementary School will accommodate 646 students from pre-K-8. The site, which housed the original school, is bounded on all four sides by two-story brick row houses that date to the early 1900s.

The design challenge was to provide a LEED silver-rated academic facility on a tight urban site. To maximize outdoor play areas and neighborhood green space, a four-story school was designed. The building design preserves more than 40 percent of the site as open space.

The design divides the school into three vertical zones. The base zone houses functional spaces, including the lobby, cafetorium, and administrative offices. These create a public commons for the students and a community meeting place. The middle zone consists of two identical floors that contain grade-assigned classrooms. The classrooms are arranged to create smaller internal communities, either "small schools within a school" or grade-related instructional clusters. A two-story gymnasium occupies the center of the middle zone. The top zone is a special learning center. Classrooms for arts and science and the instructional media center share outdoor decks for hands-on learning experiences.

San Francisco: Child Care Center

Michigan: High School

In 2003, Whitmore Lake Public Schools decided to create a sustainable comprehensive high school in conjunction with the community's commitment to "go green." LEED certification was the goal.

It was a priority to link the building and the curriculum. One way this was accomplished is through an outdoor teaching area in the form of a large pond. The pond serves as a storm water detention basin, a component of the ground source geothermal HVAC system, a reservoir for the school's fire protection system, and a habitat for study.

The geothermal HVAC system has 42 miles of underground piping and uses the earth's natural cooling temperature to shed heat in the summer and gain it in the winter. Through time, this significantly decreases heating/cooling bills.

Other sustainable design initiatives include white roofs that reflect heat, and exterior high-performance glass that sheds heat in the summer and insulates in the winter. In addition, a third of the site was left in its natural condition.

Whitmore Lake High School was completed in 2006. In March 2007, its application for LEED certification was submitted.

Alabama: Middle School

Homewood Middle School was designed with three basic principles: create an exceptional learning environment, foster community interaction, and set a standard for environmental sustainability.

The site is located adjacent to the community, but was separated on one side by a busy highway and on the other by a steep ravine. The design solution created two main entrances, one by automobile and the other via a pedestrian bridge across the ravine to the city's historic core. These routes physically and symbolically connect the school to its neighborhood, making clear the invitation to community participation.

The building's north-south orientation and basic shape maximize the advantages of prevailing winds and natural light. Enhancing these principles with a sophisticated building automation system, the school achieves cool daylighting in 95 percent of the building while using 38 percent less energy than a code-compliant school of similar size.

In the spring of 2005, this building became the first middle school in the nation to receive LEED silver certification. Most importantly, the building has engaged the community and the faculty has embraced sustainability as part of its project-based learning curriculum.

California: Chartwell School

The Chartwell School campus is located on the former Fort Ord military base on a knoll surrounded by native coastal oaks. It was designed as a high-performance learning environment for children with dyslexia.

A sustainable design approach emphasizes strategies that create a superior learning environment, such as daylighting in every room, healthy indoor air quality, ample fresh air controlled by CO2 sensors, and radiant heating. The Multi-Use Room has north-facing glazed doors that open to expand the indoor space to an outdoor plaza for large events. The school's interior has wood paneling that was milled from deconstructed barracks at Fort Ord.

Exterior materials include redwood salvaged from wine casks. A recycling rate of more than 90 percent was achieved during demolition and construction.

A rainwater cistern includes a sluice that teachers can use to teach how water flows or students can play in when supply exceeds demand. The cistern then irrigates the science garden.

Chartwell is a net-zero electricity school, with photovoltaics producing all the energy it uses. Because of daylighting and controls, energy use was reduced by about 50 percent, making the cost of the PVs a reasonable investment with an approximate 10-year payback. A Web-based monitoring system allows faculty to incorporate energy production and usage into the curriculum.