flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Best of education design: 11 projects win AIA CAE architecture awards [slideshow]

Best of education design: 11 projects win AIA CAE architecture awards [slideshow]

Projects range from a design school in Maryland to an elementary school in Washington.


By AIA | September 4, 2014

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected 11 educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards.

The CAE Design Excellence Award honors educational facilities that the jury believes should serve as an example of a superb place in which to learn, furthering the client's mission, goals and educational program while demonstrating excellence in architectural design.

These projects exemplify innovation through the client's educational goals through responsive and responsible programming, planning and design. Function and surrounding regional and community context are valued as part of the planning and design process as well as sustainability.    

The 2014 CAE Educational Facility Design Awards jury includes: John R. Dale, FAIA (Chair), Harley Ellis Devereaux; Claire Gallagher, Assoc. AIA, Georgian Court University, School of Education; Fred Dust, IDEO; Dutch MacDonald, AIA, MAYA Design and Marsha Maytum, FAIA, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects.

 
 

 

Baltimore Design School; Baltimore

Ziger/Snead Architects

Photo credit: Karl Connolly & Matthew Rouse
 
 
Photo credit: Karl Connolly & Matthew Rouse
 
 
Photo credit: Karl Connolly & Matthew Rouse
 
 
Photo credit: Karl Connolly & Matthew Rouse
 
 
Photo credit: Karl Connolly & Matthew Rouse
 
 
Photo credit: Karl Connolly & Matthew Rouse
 
 
The site before Ziger/Snead Architects transformed it into the Baltimore Design School. Photo credit: Karl Connolly & Matthew Rouse
 
Baltimore Design School is a new Baltimore City Public combined middle and high school with a focus on fashion, architecture, and graphic design. The new school is created from an abandoned historic factory building. The building’s transformation from blight to a state-of-the-art facility within the confines of a minimal budget demonstrates the power of design through best practices for historic renovation, adaptive reuse, educational design, and sustainable design. A driving force in creating the school was the desire to develop creativity and design-informed critical thinking skills for public school students.
 
 
 

 

Buckingham County Primary & Elementary Schools at the Carter G. Woodson Education Complex; Dillwyn, VA

VMDO Architects, P.C.

Photo credit: Alan Karchmer
 
 
Photo credit: Alan Karchmer
 
 
Photo credit: Alan Karchmer
 
 
Photo credit: Alan Karchmer
 
 
Photo credit: Alan Karchmer
 
 
Photo credit: Alan Karchmer
 
 
Photo credit: Alan Karchmer
 
Two Virginia mid-century schools are transformed into a cutting-edge, holistic learning environment for K-5 students with the aim to promote connectivity, creativity, health, and well-being. Evidence-based healthy design principles – integrated in the campus landscape and co-created by the client, architect, and a team of public health researchers – promote healthy eating, nutrition education, physical activity, and well-being as a response to the national childhood obesity epidemic. The campus works to unlock the health and learning potential of 21st-century students while fostering design-research partnerships that re-define sustainability, human health, and professional collaboration.
 
 
 

 

Drexel University College of Media Arts and Design (CoMAD) URBN Center; Philadelphia

MSR (Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd.)

 
 
Images © Lara Swimmer 2014
 
 
Images © Lara Swimmer 2014
 
 
Images © Lara Swimmer 2014
 
 
Images © Lara Swimmer 2014
 
 
Images © Lara Swimmer 2014
 
 
Images © Lara Swimmer 2014
 
The respectful repurposing of a landmark Venturi, Scott Brown decorated shed provides a new home for Drexel University’s College of Media Arts and Design. Key goals driving the project include bringing together disparate departments in one location and encouraging cross-collaboration between disciplines. To transform the former 130,000 square-foot office building and 13,000 square-foot annex, the designers embraced the realities of the shed—a cost-effective, four-story commercial box. The design concept focuses on respecting the original intent, making more with less, offering adaptable spaces for learning, and providing opportunities for learning through presentation.
 
 
 

 

University of Chicago Child Development Center – Stony Island; Chicago

Wheeler Kearns Architects

Photo credit: Daniel Wicke/W 
 
 
Photo credit: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
 
 
Photo credit: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
 
 
Photo credit: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
 
 
Photo credit: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
 
 
Photo credit: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
 
 
Photo credit: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
 
 
Photo credit: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
 
When faced with the question "How do you design a day care for the children of future Nobel laureates?", one approach seemed promising. Instead of creating another place dominated by primary colors and synthetic play equipment, children could be offered an opportunity to discover natural phenomena in the natural world. Discovering first principles first-hand surrounded by minimally processed natural materials. Consequently, the design emphasizes the natural landscape over the built-one, centered around two playscapes with a footprint larger than the building itself. The playscapes conceptually graft onto the historic Frederick Law Olmstead landscape located across the street in Jackson Park. Materials constructed by nature either from the atmosphere (trees, plants, wood) or from the earth (boulders, rocks, sand) dominate.
 
 
 

 

Wilkes Elementary School; Bainbridge Island, WA

Mahlum

Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
Wilkes Elementary School was designed to support dynamic styles of teaching and learning. Classrooms are located at the heart and linked on each end, providing a circulation pattern that prevents both the feeling and effect of isolation. Clusters of classrooms break down the scale and create four intimate learning communities.  This arrangement also fosters collaboration and connectivity, and creates opportunities for variation in scales of learning - from multi-classroom gatherings, to intimate individual experiences. Wilkes addresses the needs of the whole child, so that powerful learning happens everywhere.
 
 

 

Central Arizona College, Maricopa Campus; Maricopa, AZ

SmithGroupJJR

Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
 
Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
 
Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
 
Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
 
Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
 
Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
 
Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
 
Photo credit: SmithGroup JJR
 
Known for its history as a pre-railroad stagecoach town, the town of Maricopa has balanced its agricultural and Native American identities for the past century. Most recently Maricopa, a community 40 miles south of Phoenix, has been chronicled by the New York Times as a bedroom community boomtown gone bust. Central Arizona College has made an investment in the community and is betting on its future. This campus represents a glimmer of hope in an area struck by the national recession.
 
 
 

 

Coastline Community College, Newport Beach Campus; Newport Beach, CA

LPA, INC

Photo credit: Costea Photography, Inc., courtesy of LPA, Inc.
 
 
Photo credit: Costea Photography, Inc., courtesy of LPA, Inc.
 
 
Photo credit: Costea Photography, Inc., courtesy of LPA, Inc.
 
 
 
Photo credit: Costea Photography, Inc., courtesy of LPA, Inc.
 
 
Photo credit: Costea Photography, Inc., courtesy of LPA, Inc.
 
 
Photo credit: Costea Photography, Inc., courtesy of LPA, Inc.
 
 
Photo credit: Costea Photography, Inc., courtesy of LPA, Inc.
 
The new interdisciplinary Newport Beach Campus provides a total of approximately 66,800 square feet to Coastline Community College, as well as hardscape and landscape. The project also includes construction of a 260-space, on-site, parking lot directly adjacent to the structure. Key sustainable features, such as storm water management, natural ventilation, green roofs, living walls, maximized daylight and views of the ocean, are highlighted to achieve LEED Gold rating. The project exceeds CA Title 24 energy code by 33%.
 
 
 

 

James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC

Architect: Clark Nexsen

Associated Firm: Snohetta

Photo credit: Clark Nexsen, Snohetta
 
 
Photo credit: Clark Nexsen, Snohetta
 
 
Photo credit: Clark Nexsen, Snohetta
 
 
Photo credit: Clark Nexsen, Snohetta
 
 
Photo credit: Clark Nexsen, Snohetta
 
 
Photo credit: Clark Nexsen, Snohetta
 
 
Photo credit: Clark Nexsen, Snohetta
 
Large open spaces connect all floors of the library, and the use of stairs is emphasized to ensure an interactive and social environment in-between more focused study areas. Designed to LEED Silver requirements, the building features abundant natural light and expansive views of the nearby lake. Fritted glass and a fixed external aluminum shading system help diminish heat gain and maximize views and ambient natural light. Ceiling-mounted active chilled beams and radiant panels provide heating and cooling. Rain gardens and green roofs manage storm water.
 
 
 

 

Nathan Hale High School Modernization; Seattle

Mahlum

Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
 
Photo credit: Benjamin Benschneider
 
Nathan Hale is a progressive, public high school known for its collaborative, presentation-based curriculum and strong community connection. This significant facility modernization and addition to the 1960’s structure creates a flexible teaching facility that puts student life at the center of the school and unites the campus community. The design allows the building to breathe fresh air and daylight while respecting the existing structural rhythm. Light-filled halls and classrooms, as well the building transparency, express the school’s values and provide a healthy, inspirational environment.
 
 
 

 

PAVE Academy Charter School; Brooklyn, NY

Mitchell | Giurgola Architects, LLP

Photo credit:  Albert Vecerka/Esto
 
 
Photo credit:  Albert Vecerka/Esto
 
 
Photo credit:  Albert Vecerka/Esto
 
 
Photo credit:  Albert Vecerka/Esto
 
 
Photo credit:  Albert Vecerka/Esto
 
 
Photo credit:  Albert Vecerka/Esto
 
 
Photo credit:  Albert Vecerka/Esto
 
PAVE Academy is a 450-seat K-8 public charter school located on an isolated corner lot in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. The design of the school was informed by the PAVE leadership team whose goals included creating a community friendly school that would support significant parent involvement – essential to student success – and the needs of a particularly high-needs population living in poverty. Children arrive early for a quiet breakfast and stay well into the afternoon with learning and play to fill a void many face at home.
 
 
 

 

Raisbeck Aviation High School; Tukwila, WA

Bassetti Architects

Photo credit: Ben Schneider Photography
 
 
Photo credit: Ben Schneider Photography
 
 
Photo credit: Ben Schneider Photography
 
 
Photo credit: Ben Schneider Photography
 
 
Photo credit: Ben Schneider Photography
 
 
Photo credit: Ben Schneider Photography
 
 
Photo credit: Ben Schneider Photography
 
Raisbeck Aviation High School was conceived as a response to Highline School District's proximity to the aviation industry, a deep desire to give students access to college and engineering professions, and an educational vision that melds hands-on, project-based learning with academic rigor. The new 400-student STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) school enables students to flourish through co-location with the Museum of Flight and immersion in aerospace and aviation. The design supports this program physically, visually, and symbolically with project labs for aircraft and robotics construction, state-of-the-art science labs, classrooms, and a multi-purpose gathering space. Even the image of the school reflects its mission with its streamlined, carefully crafted form, inspired by the leading edge of a wing.

Related Stories

| Feb 11, 2011

A feast of dining options at University of Colorado community center, but hold the buffalo stew

The University of Colorado, Boulder, cooked up something different with its new $84.4 million Center for Community building, whose 900-seat foodservice area consists of 12 micro-restaurants, each with its own food options and décor. Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut collaborated with Denver’s Davis Partnership Architects and foodservice designer Baker Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., on the 323,000-sf facility, which also includes space for a career center, international education, and counseling and psychological services. Exterior walls of rough-hewn, variegated sandstone and a terra cotta roof help the new facility blend with existing campus buildings. Target: LEED Gold.

| Feb 11, 2011

Chicago high-rise mixes condos with classrooms for Art Institute students

The Legacy at Millennium Park is a 72-story, mixed-use complex that rises high above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The glass tower, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is mostly residential, but also includes 41,000 sf of classroom space for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and another 7,400 sf of retail space. The building’s 355 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom condominiums range from 875 sf to 9,300 sf, and there are seven levels of parking. Sky patios on the 15th, 42nd, and 60th floors give owners outdoor access and views of Lake Michigan.

| Feb 11, 2011

Iowa surgery center addresses both inpatient and outpatient care

The 12,000-person community of Carroll, Iowa, has a new $28 million surgery center to provide both inpatient and outpatient care. Minneapolis-based healthcare design firm Horty Elving headed up the four-story, 120,000-sf project for St. Anthony’s Regional Hospital. The center’s layout is based on a circular process flow, and includes four 800-sf operating rooms with poured rubber floors to reduce leg fatigue for surgeons and support staff, two substerile rooms between each pair of operating rooms, and two endoscopy rooms adjacent to the outpatient prep and recovery rooms. Recovery rooms are clustered in groups of four. The large family lounge (left) has expansive windows with views of the countryside, and television monitors that display coded information on patient status so loved ones can follow a patient’s progress.

| Feb 11, 2011

Grocery store anchors shopping center in Miami arts/entertainment district

18Biscayne is a 57,200-sf urban retail center being developed in downtown Miami by commercial real estate firm Stiles. Construction on the three-story center is being fast-tracked for completion in early 2012. The project is anchored by a 49,200-sf Publix market with bakery, pharmacy, and café with outdoor seating. An additional 8,000 sf of retail space will front Biscayne Boulevard. The complex is in close proximity to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, the downtown Miami entertainment district, and the Omni neighborhood, one of the city’s fast-growing residential areas.

| Feb 11, 2011

Chicago architecture firm planning one of China’s tallest towers

Chicago-based Goettsch Partners was commissioned by developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd. to design a new 294,570-sm mixed-use tower in Tianjin, China. The Tianjin R&F Guangdong Tower will be located within the city’s newly planned business district, and at 439 meters it will be one of China’s tallest buildings. The massive complex will feature 134,900 sm of Class A office space, a 400-key, five-star hotel, 55 condominiums, and 8,550 sm of retail space. The architects are designing the tower with multi-story atriums and a high-performance curtain wall to bring daylight deep into the building, thereby creating deeper lease spans. The project is currently finishing design.

| Feb 11, 2011

Two projects seek to reinvigorate Los Angeles County medical center

HMC Architects designed two new buildings for the Los Angeles County Martin Luther King, Jr., Medical Center as part of a $360 million plan to reinvigorate the campus. The buildings include a 120-bed hospital, which involves renovation of an existing tower and several support buildings, and the construction of a new multi-service ambulatory care center. The new facilities will have large expanses of glass at all waiting and public areas for unobstructed views of downtown Los Angeles. A curved glass entrance canopy will unite the two buildings. When both projects are completed—the hospital in 2012 and the ambulatory care center in 2013—the campus will have added more than 460,000 sf of space. The hospital will seek LEED certification, while the ambulatory care center is targeting LEED Silver.

| Feb 11, 2011

Sustainable community center to serve Angelinos in need

Harbor Interfaith Services, a nonprofit serving the homeless and working poor in the Harbor Area and South Bay communities of Los Angeles, engaged Withee Malcolm Architects to design a new 15,000-sf family resource center. The architects, who are working pro bono for the initial phase, created a family-centered design that consolidates all programs into a single building. The new three-story space will house a resource center, food pantry, nursery and pre-school, and administrative offices, plus indoor and outdoor play spaces and underground parking. The building’s scale and setbacks will help it blend with its residential neighbors, while its low-flow fixtures, low-VOC and recycled materials, and energy-efficient mechanical equipment and appliances will help it earn LEED certification.

| Feb 11, 2011

Texas megachurch inspired by yesteryear’s materials, today’s design vocabulary

The third phase of The First Baptist Church of Pasadena, Texas, involves construction of a new 115,000-sf worship center addition. Currently in design by Zeigler Cooper, the project will include a 2,500-seat worship center (with circular layout and space for a 50-person orchestra and 200-person choir), a 500-seat chapel (for weddings, funerals, and special events), and a prayer room. The addition will connect to the existing church and create a Christian Commons for education, administration, music, and fellowship. The church asked for a modern design that uses traditional materials, such as stone, brick, and stained glass. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer.

| Feb 11, 2011

Apartment complex caters to University of Minnesota students

Twin Cities firm Elness Swenson Graham Architects designed the new Stadium Village Flats, in the University of Minnesota’s East Bank Campus, with students in mind. The $30 million, six-story residential/retail complex will include 120 furnished apartments with fitness rooms and lounges on each floor. More than 5,000 sf of first-floor retail space and two levels of below-ground parking will complete the complex. Opus AE Group Inc., based in Minneapolis, will provide structural engineering services.

| Feb 11, 2011

Four-story library at Salem State will hold half a million—get this—books!

Salem State University in Massachusetts broke ground on a new library and learning center in December. The new four-story library will include instructional labs, group study rooms, and a testing center. The modern, 124,000-sf design by Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch includes space for 500,000 books and study space for up to a thousand students. Sustainable features include geothermal heating and cooling, rainwater harvesting, and low-flow plumbing fixtures.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Urban Planning

The magic of L.A.’s Melrose Mile

Great streets are generally not initially curated or willed into being. Rather, they emerge organically from unintentional synergies of commercial, business, cultural and economic drivers. L.A.’s Melrose Avenue is a prime example. 


Curtain Wall

7 steps to investigating curtain wall leaks

It is common for significant curtain wall leakage to involve multiple variables. Therefore, a comprehensive multi-faceted investigation is required to determine the origin of leakage, according to building enclosure consultants Richard Aeck and John A. Rudisill with Rimkus. 


halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021