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Thank you to Gonzalez|Goodale Architects for this month's header.
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The term "on the boards" refers to projects in the design phase. Of course with most jargon , it should be updated to perhaps "On the computer" as we have long passed the days of hand drawing on drafting boards. What is amazing about projects being designed today is that it is very difficult to determine if the project is actually a photograph or just a rendering. I can assure you that the five projects shown in the newsletter are all renderings. So, take a peak at what is being created by some architects. As always were are very thankful for all the submissions we receive. We are just not able to highlight all the projects we receive. Next week we will highlight a few more, so be ready!
On board with great design, Joel K. Sims, AIA
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On the Boards
By Ellen Kollie
How many times have you heard the phrase, "The future is now?" Probably too many. Still, the truth is that, when it comes to new school construction, administrators, designers and architects realize that the future is now, and are creating unique K-12 facilities to last well into the unknown future, using such design elements as flexibility and sustainability. Take a look at these five examples.
1. Creating Neighborhood Harmony
The community of Oakland, Calif., wanted its new school - Chabot Elementary - to harmonize with the existing school buildings and the surrounding houses built in a Bay Area English Tudor style. More, they wanted to school to include modern sustainable design techniques.
"The building combines the historical appearance of the exterior building envelope and massing with current high-performance standards of sustainability and technology in today's schools," explains Suzi Smith, marketing manager with Beverly Prior Architects, San Francisco, which designed the school.
Specifically, the design solution boasts a two-story classroom building with twelve K-2 classrooms (totaling more than 20,000 sq. ft.), a multipurpose building that will serve as an auditorium/cafeteria and renovation of the library and administration buildings.
Smith explains why a decision was made to build a K-2 classroom facility: "The existing administration/classroom building bisects the site, separating the lower grades' play area and the upper grades' play area. We wanted to keep the K-2 students closer to their playground." With the design, the Pre-K, K, and 1st graders are on the lower floor, and the 2nd graders are on the second floor. The third- through fifth-grade classrooms are located in a converted library/classroom building.
The facility also meets CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) sustainable design standards, with these features:
· Water conservation - storm water filtration bioswales integrated in the landscape design, water-conserving efficient irrigation and restroom plumbing fixtures;
· Energy efficiency - a radiant-heating system, solar control low-e glazing, ample daylight, views, occupancy and photocell sensor lighting controls, and an integrated energy management system; and
· Healthy indoor air environments - environmentally preferable recycled-content materials, PVC-free and low-emitting finishes, and balanced acoustics in all classrooms.
The $13.5-million project will be complete in 2010.
2. Building a School, Rebuilding a Community
In May 2007, a tornado destroyed 95 percent of Greensburg, Kansas. A new school complex is one of the first public buildings to be built in the process of reconstructing the community. The design is being completed by Kansas City, Mo.-based BNIM Architects.
The Greensburg School complex will house pre-K-12 learning environments to accommodate 350 students, with a planned expansion for 150 students. Project architect Joe Keal notes that the lower grades are separated from the high school by a library/media center, and that the high school is located on the second floor on top of the kitchen and administrative offices.
Some building cornerstones and gym wood flooring from the previous schools were salvaged from the storm. "Part of the difficulty with salvaging," explains Keal, "was that there was so much debris that it simply had to be cleared in order to begin rebuilding."
In addition, BNIM is looking at outside sources for material that may otherwise end up in landfills. They've been able to secure bleachers for the football stadium and kitchen equipment. These strategies are fulfilling the city's newly adopted master plan and vision to be a model "eco-community."
In fact, the school is being designed to LEED for Schools Platinum standards. Key sustainable strategies include: Geo-thermal HVAC systems, one wind turbine (MWT-250), day lighting provided in all occupied spaces, proactive indoor environmental air quality design decisions, acoustical performance, thermal comfort options, a partial green roof, bio-swales, permeable paving, and prairie restoration.
BNIM is trying to get the cost below $30 million and hopes to finish construction in fall 2009.
To see Greensburg School, click here. 3. Sustainability in a K-12 Facility
The design and planning for Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) first Learning Center (Learning Center is a LAUSD term for a K-12 campus) is all about sustainability. Designed by Pasadena, Calif.-based Gonzalez Goodale Architects, the school incorporates thermal displacement ventilation (TDV). In fact, it's the first full campus in California to use TDV. "TDV not only provides an energy-efficient cooling system," explains Harry R. Drake, AIA, a principal with Gonzalez Goodale, "but it also improves the classroom acoustic environment and air quality. Supply air is introduced at a quiet-low velocity through floor level grilles. As the air warms, it rises to standard return air grilles at the ceiling level. Because supply air is at the floor level, it enters the room at 65 degrees rather than 55 degrees, saving significant energy costs for the campus' chilled water central plant system." Other sustainable elements include the fact that all students live within nine blocks of the school, thus reducing pollution from car emissions; and reduced heat island effect through the use of light-colored pavement and shade trees. Also, a north-facing curtain wall façade capitalizes on day lighting, and a reduced school building footprint maximizes the playfield area. All these measures add up: HK-12 complies with the Collaborative for Higher Performance School (CHPS) rating system and the "Savings By Design" program administered by California utility companies, and it has been designed for eligibility with the State Allocation Board's Energy Allowance Grant Program (the mechanical and electrical systems are designed to perform 20 percent above the state's minimum Title 24 Energy performance criteria). In all, the project totals 359,000 sq. ft. of program area for the K-12 campus on 23 acres. The cost is $380 million, and the project is to be completed in phases, ending in September 2010.
4. Working with Site Constraints
When administrators for Virginia Beach Middle School wanted to build a new middle school that was twice the square footage of the existing school, on the same 11 acres that the current school occupied and while keeping the current school in operation, they had their hands full. Fortunately, HBA Architecture & Interior Design, Virginia Beach, lent a helping hand.
The 189,000-sq.-ft., three-story new facility fits the site well. It's being built on the site of the existing football field. Once construction on the school is complete, the old school will be torn down and a football field built in its place.
Moreover, the owner wanted to be sensitive to the context of the design. As such, the design complements the residential character of the neighborhood, which is Arts & Crafts style. It incorporates low roof lines, roof eave brackets, dormers, Craftsman-style window details, shingle siding above brick foundations, tapered columns, and porch elements at the major entrances.
The school also features an arts wing as part of a program collaboration with Contemporary Art Center (CAC) of Virginia. "The art wing is on the first floor," says HBA's C. Michael Ross, AIA, REFP. "It includes four labs, a digital lab, a videography/photographic studio, and a small multipurpose/gallery space. The really unique thing is that CAC is just 1 ½ blocks away, and we've provided a connection between the two facilities via nicely landscaped walking paths."
The $37.6-million project is scheduled for completion in October 2009.
5. Designing for Flexibility
A series of participatory workshops for the Blue Valley School District's fifth high school, conducted by Perkins+Will (Chicago), with HTK Architects and NSP Architects, translated the educational goals and objectives of the district into a flexible teaching and learning environment. As a result, Blue Valley Southwest High School (9-12) in Overland Park, Kansas, will provide flexibility to operate with an academy, grade level, or departmental learning community structure for its 1,600 students.
"The idea is to take a larger student population and break it into smaller units," says Steve Turckes, a principal with Perkins+Will. "The students learn together and form stronger teacher relationships." In this two-story school, each floor has two wings, and each wing is a small learning community, for a total of four. An administrative area near each learning community offers students visibility and easy administrative access.
Each wing contains a variety of types of spaces, including classrooms, labs, small group spaces and dedicated conference areas that can be used for any number of activities like small group work, make-up testing, and tutoring.
There's also a larger space in each community known as an FTLA (Flexible Teaching and Learning Area). "It's open to the corridor at the knuckle where the academic wing attaches to the rest of building," describes Tuckes. "It could be used for presentations or informal study and learning."
Directly adjacent to the FTLA is a flexible classroom, and the two spaces are connected by an operable wall. "We're trying to provide a variety of types of spaces to be used in a variety of types of ways," Turckes explains.
The 300,000-sq.-ft., approximately $65-million school will be completed in time for the 2010-2011 academic year.
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