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Thank you to SHW Group, LLP. for this month's header image.
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Last week we announced the Green Piece Award winners. So, this week we are announcing the Hi Tech award winners. In the coming weeks we will reveal the "Students' Love It" winners followed by a very special Fitness announcement. Finally, we will let you know the "Schooldesigner Best" .
If you missed the green piece winners, click here to view them:
You may also print a pdf of the Green Piece Winners by clicking here:
Happy to hear from you,
Joel K. Sims, AIA
Founder/ President
Schooldesigner.com
phone: 717-735-1985 |
| MEET THE HIGH TECH JUDGES |
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Susanne Meixsell Dr. Carol Cash Elaine Solomon Michael Duffy
Superintendent Asst. Professor Mktg. Principal Ex. Director
PA VA AZ NY
Pat Deutschman Michelle Bergwall Richard Ostop Lauren Zmood
Board Member Dir. of Construction VP Bus. Devl. Consultant
FL OK CT Australia |
| High Tech GOLD And The Winner Is ... |
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DIGITAL CLASSROOM
HIGH TECH Gold
by SHW Group, LLP
High School 2011, LaPlata, MD: Scheduled to open in the fall of that year, this school will boast a unique focal point of K-12 interdisciplinary instructional programs: a state-of-the-art, multi-use digital classroom. It will take on the form of a multi-use dome theater containing digital surround sound and high-resolution projections. It will seat approximately 150 students and use advanced projection technology to generate an immersive, experience. As a resource for both the high school and the Southern Maryland community, its purpose is to serve as a virtual communication center promoting science literacy, allowing students to apply skills in mathematics, the sciences, and technology.
The high-performance school itself will provide a healthy environment for students and teachers, along with high levels of acoustic, thermal, and visual comfort, including large amounts of natural daylight and superior indoor air quality. It will be cost-effective to operate and maintain because its design employs energy analysis tools that optimize energy performance, a life-cycle cost approach that reduces the total costs of ownership, and a commissioning process that ensures the facility will operate in a manner consistent with the design intent. It is sustainable because it integrates energy conservation, high-performance mechanical and lighting systems, environmentally responsive site planning, environmentally preferable materials, and water-efficient design.
Juror Michael Duffy says: "I am skeptical of the claims that are sometimes made for what technology can do for education. Good design - high-tech or other design - is not going to erase the achievement gap in this country. However, good design and advanced technology should be the foundation upon which good school programs are operated."
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| High Tech SILVER And The Winner Is ... |
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ACADEMY OF INFO
HIGH TECH Silver
by Fuller D'Angelo
Academy of Information, Stamford, CT: The showpiece of this school is located at one end of the atrium on the intermediate level: the library. Cylindrical in shape and two stories high, it is covered by a 60-ft. translucent dome. All of the book stacks and fixed items have been located on the exterior perimeter wall with reading/study functions in the center to provide flexibility for dual functions for group instruction and after-hour activities. Wireless electronic equipment on movable carts is provided for the center study area.
The library can best be experienced from the Teachers' Lounge perimeter ring, which forms the second story of the library and has a view of the cyber café, cafeteria, and distant athletic fields.
The challenge of the over school design was to utilize the proper vocabulary of architecture, engineering and information technology to create a functional, sculptural school building that excites high school students studying these fields. While they are satisfying the required curriculum, pupils are able to learn the basic fundamentals of construction by observing the immediate interior and exterior environment. The engineering aspects of various areas were conceived to have the structural, mechanical, electrical, and information technology components exposed to view. This assists in learning because the building is also their guide.
Juror Pat Deutschman comments: "The cylindrical library, with its imposing dome skylight, is very dramatic. It is both breathtaking and inviting. Students would be drawn in by light and brightness to designated work space that does not detract or compete with the library nature of the book stacks. Even teachers have their own "floor" where they have work stations that both overlook the central workspace below and are completely engulfed in the open-to-the-sky dome roof. Who would not want to spend all their time in this stimulating and comfortable space?" |
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High Tech BRONZE And The Winners Are ... |
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GREEN TOUCH SCREEN
HIGH TECH Bronze
by The Miller|Hull Partnership
(Previous award: Green Piece Gold)
Bertschi School, Seattle, Wash.: Administrators made a conscious effort to incorporate as many sustainable elements as possible into their new gym/arts building to encourage environmental stewardship in students. As a result, every sustainable element has been documented and made available to the students by a green touch screen in the lobby that can be used independently or incorporated into various curricula locally or via the Web.
Energy savings from the PV panels, daylighting, natural ventilation in the gym, and dimmable electronic lighting are correlated with building power usage and current weather conditions from a weather station on the roof. Water saved by using harvested rainwater to flush the dual-flush toilets and, on rare occasion, to irrigate the native, drought-tolerant landscape, can be measured by level indicators in the cisterns and flow meters in the plumbing.
The green touchscreen also teaches students about the sustainable choices for building finishes, hidden building components, and site features. For example, lumber and glu-laminated beams from sustainably managed forests were used throughout. Wherever possible, rapidly renewable materials were used, including wool carpeting, cotton batt insulation, cork, wheatboard wall panels and cabinetry, and a bamboo gym floor. Information is available about common materials with recycled content such as gypsum wallboard, metal roof panels, aluminum storefront, and rubber wallbase are included as well as lesser-known products, such as rubber play tiles in the play court, fly ash and recycled water in the concrete, and the synthetic turf playfield.
Juror Carol Cash says the reason she chose this project was because "it was new and utilized so many sustainable features that faculty and students support."
MINIMAL TRANSITIONAL
HIGH TECH Bronze
by Kasavan Architects
Gilroy High School, Gilroy, CA: The design concept for this school was to create a marquis building with distinctive volume, massing, and materials that are intentionally in contrast to the existing buildings. The massive roof, with extended wings over the patio, gives the building a monumental stature while serving to protect students from rain and sun. This is reinforced by the cantilevered gables over the side entries.
The design intent was to minimize the sense of transition from exterior to interior reinforced by the full height glazing and bi-folding doors providing wide comfortable access to the interior. Where structural elements pass through the glazed wall, glass is located under the member by design to show the window wall carries no roof load.
The building is directly adjacent to the existing food service facility. The glazed "prow" of the dining hall reaches into the central campus quad. The roof is supported by a "grove of columns" reflecting the actual grove of trees in the courtyard immediately beyond the adjacent patio. The large overhanging roof extends the welcome shading from the trees into covered patios.
Juror Susanne Meixsell had several things in mind as she was evaluating entries, including spaces that offered flexibility to adapt well to educational best practices and the incredible speed at which technology changes; spaces that were conducive to learning, inspiring for kids to be in, and practical for employees to work within; and spaces that were cost effective to operate from a maintenance standpoint. For her, this project filled the bill.
BREATHING NEW LIFE
HIGH TECH Bronze
by NOWarchitecture
(Previous award: Green Piece Gold)
Westbourne Grammar Senior Science (7-12), Melbourne, Australia: This 1981 laboratory building has been updated into a technological, sustainable wonder. Fresh air is cooled by manifolds in an underground rainwater tank added to the facility's south side and induced through the building's louvered glazed partitions by thermal chimneys added to the facility's north side. The additions are lightweight construction to minimize embodied energy. The thermal chimneys are layered in front of the existing façade, forming a series of glazed shafts inserted between existing brick piers. Photovoltaic panels form part of the process of ESD education by contributing electricity to power equipment.
Recycling the embodied energy of an existing building for new needs proved a highly effective way of minimizing waste of precious global resources. To that end, the original concrete structure was stripped back to expose thermal mass for improved cooling and heating performance. Minimalist and strategic design has produced a sophisticated, controllable passive cooling and natural cross ventilation system.
The interior has been remodeled to improve natural daylighting and cross ventilation by using glazed partitions with grilles. The laboratories include serviced, stainless steel benches that pivot, allowing the laboratory layout to easily change to suit different groupings. Laboratories can be opened up to connect directly with seminar spaces, the student research library and state-of-the-art digital display technology.
Juror Carol Cash states that she liked the project "because it took an older building and updated it for the 21st century, using sustainable features." | |
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