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5 Phoenix-Area School Construction Projects Greet Returning Students

School News — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 18:27:02 +0000

PHOENIX — With the start of the 2016-17 school year, students at several Phoenix-area schools are heading back to newly constructed buildings, according to The Arizona Republic. Here’s a roundup of five major school construction projects helping to change the face of local education for the 2016-2017 school year:

• Laird Elementary School: The school added two grade levels in 2009, prompting the construction of a new building to accommodate a larger student body. It was rebuilt thanks to area voters who authorized a 2009 bond to pay for construction, and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on July 28 following the building’s completion. The new Laird Elementary Schools features 28 classrooms as well as two labs for art and science. DLR Group, with offices in Phoenix, served as the architect on the project, while Mesa, Ariz.-based Concord General Contracting served as the construction manager at-risk, according to the project website.

• Westwood High School: Construction on a new $9.6 million classroom building for Westwood High began last fall. The 86,000-square-foot building, which was completed July 1, features 25 classrooms, a media center and a culinary classroom. The design incorporates four massive W shapes that blend into the project and provide structural support, according to East Valley Tribune.

• Empower Collegiate Academy: The charter high school welcomed students back to a new facility earlier this month after construction was completed earlier this summer. Beginning with a 130-student freshman class, the school will add a grade level each year until reaching its 500-student capacity. Empower Collegiate Academy was established in 2012 for third through eighth grades, so the construction of the high school was a logical next step in seeing students through to graduation.

• Arizona Autism Charter Schools: The school system renovated an existing building, which opened Aug. 8, to serve as a school for older students with autism. In its first year, 55 students in fifth through seventh grades will occupy the new building, adding one grade level each academic year until reaching grade 12.

• Esperanza Elementary School: Currently two-thirds completed, a massive revamp of the elementary school will address safety and security issues as well as energy conservation when it is finished this winter. It will also feature additional square footage for classroom expansions.

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Construction Begins on ASU’s New Law School

PHOENIX — Construction started in early July on Arizona State University’s new law school in downtown Phoenix. When completed, the $129 million Arizona Center for Law and Society will house the university’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. It will stand six stories tall and be housed at Second and Taylor streets.
The university funded most of the project; however, the city of Phoenix, which is providing land and $12 million, as well as private donations will make up additional funding.
The law school is currently situated on the Tempe campus in a building that was originally built in the 1960s. The building’s less than 150,000 square feet of space require employees to be spread out across six other buildings on campus. The new building, however, will be almost 275,000 square feet, allowing for staff and faculty to all work in the same place. Plus, its close proximity to courts and the legal community will benefit students.
The law school will join other schools at ASU’s already expanding Phoenix campus. More than 11,000 students currently take classes at ASU’s downtown Phoenix campus, which includes the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the College of Health Solutions, the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, the College of Public Programs and the School of Letters and Sciences. The campus also has a residence hall, Taylor Place.
The building’s exterior will be made out of Arizona sandstone and glass. The school will occupy about two-thirds of the space, while a restaurant, university bookstore and two levels of underground parking will also be housed in the facility, reported The Arizona Republic. The Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, the McCain Institute for International Leadership and the ASU Alumni Law Group — believed to be the first teaching law firm associated with a law school — will also occupy the space.
The building will be designed using several energy-efficient features. Plus, it will be available to the public. The great hall, with seating for 150 to 800, for instance, will be available for public events.
New York-based Ennead Architects unveiled the design plans for the project last year. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2016.

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Green Schoolhouse Series Breaks Ground on First Project

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Green Schoolhouse Series, a an effort to construct green schoolhouses across the country, kicked off with the groundbreaking of the Roadrunner Elementary School in the Washington Elementary School District — the first LEED Platinum schoolhouse built by volunteers.

In partnership with Cause and Effect Evolutions, the first Greenhouse School Series project is a 6,000-square-foot school in Phoenix, Ariz. It serves as the launching pad for state-of-the-art green schoolhouses across the country on Title 1, low-income, public school campuses.

The Roadrunner schoolhouse, named Safari, is designed as a teaching tool to educate the students and community members about sustainable living and building practices. Sustainable features include a solar rooftop system, rainwater harvesting capabilities, interactive white boards, an outdoor classroom, native gardens and a classroom devoted to science, technology, engineering and math.

“We are thrilled to see everyone’s efforts come together to begin construction on our first schoolhouse,” said Marshall Zotara, co-founder and senior managing partner of Cause and Effect Evolutions. “Not only will the students benefit from learning in a healthier classroom setting, Safari will also serve as an integral part of the surrounding community.”

The site was selected by Brighten a Life, the non-profit organization that is leading the effort. The organization focuses on positively impacting the learning environment, living conditions and communities of disadvantaged children and families. The group works closely with school districts nationwide to identify schools in which a majority of the student body meets Title 1 specifications in low-income areas. Schools that this particular qualification are eligible to apply.

Brighten A Life selects the finalists — and ultimately the future Green Schoolhouse site — based on factors including a track record of or heightened interest in “green” or sustainable curriculum, extent of community involvement on campus, and the ability to maintain a LEED-certified structure.

Phoenix-based architecture firm Stantec designed the Safari schoolhouse, with Greeley, Colo.-based Hensel Phelps as the general contractor and engineering services provided by Phoenix-based Heideman Associates, a member of Zak Companies Inc.

Supplies and Services provided by:
Rainwater harvesting system: Brae
Solar roof system: Empire Renewable Energy
Native green garden: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Eco-friendly windows: Pella Corp.
STEM classroom: DeVry University
Schoolhouse kitchen: Kraft Foods and IGA
Energy efficient fans: Rite-Hite Fans
Water bottle refilling stations: Elkay
No VOC paint: Glidden

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Health Building Uses Nature’s Blueprint

PHOENIX — Construction continues on the city-owned sustainable Health Sciences Education Building in downtown Phoenix, designed to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to health sciences education and research.

The 268,000-foot educational facility, located on the 28-acre Phoenix Biomedical Campus, broke ground in May last year and is slated for completion in August 2012.

The $129 million facility will be used by the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, the UA College of Pharmacy and the UA Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, along with Northern Arizona University’s College of Health and Human Services programs, according to a statement from the architecture firm.

As part of the latest trend in medical education, the building’s layout allows for interdisciplinary curriculum taught to small groups of students by co-locating several different departments into the same building, according to L. Paul Zafjen, principal on the project from Los Angeles-based design firm CO Architects.

The building is laid out with common areas along a north-to-south bar that connects its two wings, with simulation labs, specialized pharmacy labs, a learning resource center and other common areas grouped to encourage interaction, he said.

“The collaboration stretches taxpayer dollars and merges elements of health programs formerly taught separately,” Zafjen said.

The firm says the building’s architecture is a response to its function, as well as the local climate, with desert earth forms and regional materials.

“The idea for the building was, in Phoenix, it’s surrounded by these mountains – a fairly flat plateau with these mountains. We kind wanted to bring nature downtown,” he said. “We thought one of the ideas would be this would be this kind of building, redolent of masonry. Things would be carved out of it.”

The facility will face east-to-west, with big windows facing north-to-south to allow in sunlight.

To reflect the city’s natural environment, the dual wings of the building are inflected so they shade the walls and create east to west canyons, the statement said.

A tall, narrow space between the two wings serves as a path to an interior courtyard, which will be clad in light colors, with burnished concrete blocks to provide cool thermal mass and reflectivity.

“What we did was, we carved away a big, kind of, canyon to let light into the center of the building,” he said. “Because of the climate, it’s a fairly tight canyon — six stories high — it varies in width but it’ll feel like you’re in a canyon.”

To shelter the space from the sun, the building will feature a scrim roof that prevents any high, direct sun going into the canyon. Its long, narrow design will keep out sun as well, he said.

Zafjen said that in addition to fostering a naturally interdisciplinary space, a key factor in designing the building was making sure it performs well in the city’s harsh climate.

“(The climate) also informs the choice of materials — the skin on the building is copper but it’s a skin that makes a stack effect so it heats up behind it and keeps the heat out from inside,” he said. “Masonry in the canyon … helps absorb whatever heat is in that canyon.”

Aesthetic features of the building reflect the local surroundings as well, the university reports.

“To connect the built environment to the surrounding landscape and bring nature into the heart of downtown Phoenix, the color and patina of the building skin draw from the peaks and mountains prevalent in Arizona,” the statement said. “Photographs of the mountains have been transformed into an abstract pattern embossed onto the copper cladding on both the skin and louvers.

Zafjen said the building design aims for LEED Silver or Gold, and that the certification is in the process.

Other sustainable features include south-facing façades that combine overhangs with perforated screens to function as sunshades, and vertical fins that control sun penetration on the north.

The biggest challenge in the design process was the changing economy, as well as political shifts, according to Zafjen.

In addition to a new governor, the economy “went south” during the project, with resulting budget constraints causing university partnerships in the project to change.

In light of those changes, the firm had to readjust the design and downsize it to half the original plan. The current facility is designed to allow for expansion of a research wing in the future, he said.

Despite the changes, the project has progress quickly from the beginning, he said.

The project was recently awarded a 2010 NEXT LA Citation award given to projects in the works by the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

“This one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary facility will provide greater access to medical education in Arizona and will have a tremendous economic impact on the state by creating new jobs and pumping revenue into the economy,” said Ernest Calderón, a member of the Arizona Board of Regents.

The project team included CO Architects as the Design and Executive Architect firm, Ayers Saint Gross as the Associate Architect and Master Planner and DPR &bull Sundt, a Joint Venture of DPR Construction and Sundt Construction, Inc., as the preconstruction and construction manager at risk contractor.

“As a project team member, the DPR &bull Sundt Joint Venture is extremely proud to be constructing the landmark HSEB for the downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus and to be part of an institution that will serve the State of Arizona for many generations to come,” said DPR Construction project director Peter Berg.

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