The Building Team for the new Aquatics Center at Niles North High School in Skokie, Ill., included Chicago-area firms Legat Architects and IHC Construction—but a case could be made for listing a much larger group of official participants. The AEC firms made a concerted effort to involve not only district officials but also the user community. As a result, the project became a unique learning experience for students, staff, and neighbors.
The Niles North Aquatics Center serves 2,200 students—all of whom must take swimming—as well as 275 competitive student athletes in swimming, diving, and water polo. Feeder programs from park districts and local partners are also housed there. By 2012, the pool in the 48-year-old building was considered too small and shallow to meet current requirements.
Stakeholders asked for a new competition “cold pool,” a renovated community-accessible “warm pool,” a new public connecting corridor, locker room renovations, coaches’ offices, and meeting and storage space. Lighting and mechanical systems also needed an energy upgrade.
SILVER AWARD
Project summaryNiles North High School Aquatics Center
Skokie, Ill.BUILDING TEAM
Submitting firm: Legat Architects (architect)
Owner/developer: Niles Township High School District 219
Structural: KJWW Engineering Consultants
Mechanical/plumbing: AMSCO Engineering
Electrical: Hansen Palmer Associates
Civil: Gewalt Hamilton
CM: IHC Construction CompaniesGENERAL INFORMATION
Project size: 39,200 sf (24,600 sf new + 14,600 sf renovated)
Construction cost: $15 million
Construction period: April 2012 to August 2013
Delivery method: Design-bid-build
District 219 teamed with Legat Architects to plan the revitalization. Students and community members were surveyed regarding their priorities, and the Building Team held design workshops that elicited feedback for the floor plan. Daylighting is an important aspect of the final design, including a mix of clerestories, clear windows, translucent windows, and internal glazing to offer glare-free illumination and visual connections.
Eventually, the project was incorporated into the district’s architecture and engineering class curriculum. Biweekly tours were coordinated with faculty to focus on current classroom topics, and students were able to receive insights on various career paths.
“It became quite the living classroom,” says Building Team Awards judge Nathan Snydacker, PE, LEED AP, Vice President at Environmental Systems Design.
“It’s a lot of involvement you’d want in a school project of this type,” adds BTA judge Terry Fielden, LEED AP BD+C, Director of K-12 Education for International Contractors.
The Building Team phased construction over two summers to minimize disruption, keeping the community involved with a blog, video tours, signage with QR codes, and outreach to local news outlets.
In spring 2013, a severe flood created leaks in the lower-level filtration room. The damage stalled excavation and construction of the pool slab and walls, but IHC Construction, Legat, D219 staff, and other contractors managed to keep the job on schedule and within budget.
The result is a more functional, accessible, energy-efficient facility, designed to use 42% less water and 44% less energy than typical natatoriums. The project, whose heat-recovery dehumidification units should also sharply reduce CO2 emissions, is expected to become the first aquatic center in Illinois to achieve LEED for Schools Gold certification.
Related Stories
| Apr 19, 2011
AIA announces top 10 green Projects for 2011
The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment announced its Top 10 Green Projects for 2011. Among the winners: Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., and the Vancouver Convention Centre West in Vancouver, British Columbia.
| Apr 18, 2011
Greening and Upgrading Today’s Vertical Transport Systems
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES HSW/SD learning units by studying this article and passing the online exam.
| Apr 14, 2011
U.S. embassies on a mission to green the world's buildings
The U.S. is putting greater emphasis on greening its worldwide portfolio of embassies. The U.S. State Department-affiliated League of Green Embassies already has 70 U.S. embassies undergoing efforts to reduce their environmental impact, and the organization plans to increase that number to more than 100 by the end of the year.
| Apr 14, 2011
How AEC Professionals Choose Windows and Doors
Window and door systems need to perform. Respondents to our annual window and door survey overwhelmingly reported that performance, weather resistance, durability, and quality were key reasons a particular window or door was specified.
| Apr 14, 2011
USGBC debuts LEED for Healthcare
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) introduces its latest green building rating system, LEED for Healthcare. The rating system guides the design and construction of both new buildings and major renovations of existing buildings, and can be applied to inpatient, outpatient and licensed long-term care facilities, medical offices, assisted living facilities and medical education and research centers.
| Apr 13, 2011
National Roofing Contractors Association revises R-value of polyisocyanurate (ISO) insulation
NRCA has updated their R-value recommendation for polyisocyanurate roof insulation with the publication of the 2011 The NRCA Roofing Manual: Membrane Roof Systems.
| Apr 13, 2011
Professor Edward Glaeser, PhD, on how cities are mankind’s greatest invention
Edward Glaeser, PhD, the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University and director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, as well as the author of Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Healthier, and Happier, on how cities are mankind’s greatest invention.
| Apr 13, 2011
Southern Illinois park pavilion earns LEED Platinum
Erin’s Pavilion, a welcome and visitors center at the 80-acre Edwin Watts Southwind Park in Springfield, Ill., earned LEED Platinum. The new 16,000-sf facility, a joint project between local firm Walton and Associates Architects and the sustainability consulting firm Vertegy, based in St. Louis, serves as a community center and special needs education center, and is named for Erin Elzea, who struggled with disabilities during her life.
| Apr 13, 2011
Virginia hospital’s prescription for green construction: LEED Gold
Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Va., is the commonwealth’s first inpatient healthcare facility to earn LEED Gold. The 630,000-sf facility was designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with commissioning consultant SSRCx, both of Nashville.
| Apr 13, 2011
Office interaction was the critical element to Boston buildout
Margulies Perruzzi Architects, Boston, designed the new 11,460-sf offices for consultant Interaction Associates and its nonprofit sister organization, The Interaction Institute for Social Change, inside an old warehouse near Boston’s Seaport Center.