In Virginia, the City of Alexandria recently celebrated the topping out of a new building for Alexandria City High School. When complete in 2025, the high-performance structure will accommodate 1,600 students.
The project helps realize a local initiative called the Connected High School Network, which rethinks the way that the city delivers public high school education. The new building will help “reimagine the high school experience,” Alicia Hart, chief of facilities and operations of Alexandria City Public Schools, said in a statement.
The high school building will include interdisciplinary communities (or small learning neighborhoods); distributed science, art, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) labs; library/learning commons; and centralized and distributed administration and counseling. New and enhanced CTE opportunities will offer connections with local industry such as renewable energy, aerospace, cybersecurity, robotics, nursing, pharmacy, and surgical tech. Distributed dining areas have been reimagined as multistory “Creative Commons.”
The building also will serve as an intergenerational community facility, with two gymnasiums, an aquatics facility, an early childhood center, a Teen Wellness Center, and Alexandria Community and Human Services offices.
Designed by Perkins Eastman as a healthy and high-performing school, the new structure targets Net Zero Energy and LEED Gold Certification. The high-performance strategies include the following:
- Building enclosure: The design of the building’s walls, windows, and roof will minimize yearly energy loss, saving at least 25% more energy per year than a similar school designed to code-minimum levels.
- Efficient systems: A geothermal well field will provide the building’s highly efficient heating and cooling.
- Photovoltaic (PV) panels: A large PV system, located on the roof and other areas of the school site, will offset the school’s yearly energy use.
- Low-flow water fixtures: These will help reduce water use by 35% to 40% compared to a conventional building.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Alexandria City Public Schools
Design architect and architect of record: Perkins Eastman Architects
Associate architect: Maginniss + Del Ninno Architects
MEP engineer: CMTA
Structural engineer: Ehlert Bryan
Civil engineer and landscape architect: Kimley-Horn
Construction manager: Gilbane
Related Stories
| Jul 22, 2011
Five award-winning modular innovations
The Modular Building Institute's 2011 Awards of Distinction highlight fresh ideas in manufactured construction projects.
| May 18, 2011
Former Bronx railyard redeveloped as shared education campus
Four schools find strength in numbers at the new 2,310-student Mott Haven Campus in New York City. The schools—three high schools and a K-4 elementary school—coexist on the 6.5-acre South Bronx campus, which was once a railyard.
| May 18, 2011
Eco-friendly San Antonio school combines history and sustainability
The 113,000-sf Rolling Meadows Elementary School in San Antonio is the Judson Independent School District’s first sustainable facility, with green features such as vented roofs for rainwater collection and regionally sourced materials.
| May 18, 2011
New Reform Jewish Independent school opens outside Boston
The Rashi School, one of only 17 Reform Jewish independent schools in North American and Israel, opened a new $30 million facility on a 166-acre campus shared with the Hebrew SeniorLife community on the Charles River in Dedham, Mass.
| May 18, 2011
Addition provides new school for pre-K and special-needs kids outside Chicago
Perkins+Will, Chicago, designed the Early Learning Center, a $9 million, 37,000-sf addition to Barrington Middle School in Barrington, Ill., to create an easily accessible and safe learning environment for pre-kindergarten and special-needs students.
| May 18, 2011
One of Delaware’s largest high schools seeks LEED for Schools designation
The $82 million, 280,000-sf Dover (Del.) High School will have capacity for 1,800 students and feature a 900-seat theater, a 2,500-seat gymnasium, and a 5,000-seat football stadium.
| May 17, 2011
Sustainability tops the syllabus at net-zero energy school in Texas
Texas-based firm Corgan designed the 152,200-sf Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving, Texas, with the goal of creating the largest net-zero educational facility in the nation, and the first in the state. The facility is expected to use 50% less energy than a standard school.
| May 16, 2011
USGBC and AIA unveil report for greening K-12 schools
The U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects unveiled "Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Special Report from Sundance," which outlines a five-point national action plan that mayors and local leaders can use as a framework to develop and implement green schools initiatives.
| May 10, 2011
Greenest buildings: K-12 and commercial markets
Can you name the nation’s greenest K-12 school? How about the greenest commercial building? If you drew a blank, don’t worry because our friends at EarthTechling have all the information on those two projects. Check out the Hawai’i Preparatory Academy’s Energy Lab on the Big Island and Cascadia Green Building Council’s new Seattle headquarters.