NEWTOWN, Conn. (Reuters) - When the children of Newtown, Connecticut, report to the new Sandy Hook Elementary School next month, they will enter a building carefully designed to protect them from the unthinkable.
The $50 million structure replaces the building that a deranged man entered on Dec. 14, 2012, and perpetrated one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.
While the new school may never erase the pain of that day, officials believe its state-of-the-art safety features will keep the young students of this small Connecticut town safe from any threat.
“We wanted to create a space at the highest levels to honor every victim, every student, every family," said Newtown First Selectwoman Patricia Llodra during a media tour of the school on Friday.
The old school was demolished in 2013, a few months after the killings. Since then, students and faculty have used a vacant school in nearby Monroe while officials planned and built the 86,000-square-foot replacement with state aid.
The new facility, which will house more than 500 students from pre-K through fourth grade when it opens next month, will retain its predecessor's name.
The school's design was the result of dozens of meetings among Sandy Hook educators, families, community members, architects and builders. Among its special features is a memorial garden built on the site of the two classrooms where the most students and teachers died.
Photo: Michelle McLoughlin, Reuters
“Our job was to listen,” said Julia McFadden, Associate Principal of Svigals + Partners, lead architects on the project. “Items like the rain garden created a buffer zone to the school and was a safety feature. Safety features were integrated, but not bluntly obvious.”
School Superintendent Joseph Erardi, who joined the district in 2014, said some of the top school-safety experts in the country reviewed and approved the design.
While school officials declined to point out all of the safety features, some are obvious. Teachers can lock classroom doors and windows from the inside, and key cards are required at entrances and exits throughout the school. Video surveillance is a central part of the overall plan.
The school also integrates many naturalistic features, part of the design team's efforts to mitigate any fear or anxieties that may arise among teachers and students.
About 35 returning students were in kindergarten at the time of the shooting and are now returning as fourth graders.
For example, a wood facade was completed in uneven waves designed to replicate the hills of Newtown, some 70 hills north of New York City. Foot bridges crossing a stone brook and garden give access to each of the school's three entrances.
The main entrance leads to a courtyard where students and visitors can experience nature through tree-shape murals, expansive windows and two outdoor amphitheaters. Two interior tree-houses give students a natural respite.
Paintings created by students are part of the overall decorating scheme, including a mural in the school’s colors of green and white that reads “Be Kind.”
Photo: Michelle McLoughlin, Reuters
Photo: Michelle McLoughlin, Reuters
Photo: Michelle McLoughlin, Reuters.
Photo: Michelle McLoughlin, Reuters
Photo: Michelle McLoughlin, Reuters
(Editing by Frank McGurty and Leslie Adler)
Related Stories
Sponsored | | Sep 4, 2014
Learning by design: Steel curtain wall system blends two school campuses
In this the new facility, middle school and high school classroom wings flank either side of the auditorium and media center. A sleek, glass-and-steel curtain wall joins them together, creating an efficient, shared space. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Sep 3, 2014
New designation launched to streamline LEED review process
The LEED Proven Provider designation is designed to minimize the need for additional work during the project review process.
| Sep 2, 2014
Ranked: Top green building sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Gensler, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 27, 2014
Study looks at lessons from involving children in K-12 school design
A study examining what architects can learn from children, especially during the design process, is being carried out through the University of Sheffield's school of architecture.
| Aug 14, 2014
8 do's and don'ts for completing an HVAC life cycle cost assessment
There are many hurdles to overcome when completing a life cycle cost assessment. RMF Engineering’s Seth Spangler offers some words of advice regarding LCCAs.
| Aug 14, 2014
Life cycle cost analysis using energy modeling
A life cycle cost analysis helps a school district decide which HVAC system to use in $198 million worth of future building projects.
| Aug 5, 2014
K-12 School Sector Giants: Pent-up demand finally produces movement in schools market [2014 Giants 300 Report]
After a long period of anemic performance, with growth mostly driven by renovations and additions, the K-12 sector is showing renewed interest in new construction, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.