Originally constructed in the 1920s as a Shops Building, SMUHSD’s “Old Brick Studio” was in dire need of restoration and renovation. The historic, but long neglected, structure on the San Mateo High School campus had over the years fallen into disrepair.

Making use of the centrally located building’s vastness, northern clerestory light and industrial materials — including original brick and concrete — QKA re-envisioned the building to provide art studios, general education classrooms and large meeting spaces. The new and improved 20,000-square-foot building been seismically upgraded throughout, historically restored on the exterior, and enhanced with new technology and modern amenities, including the ability to function as a black box theater for student and community performances. The project achieved high Collaborative for High Performance School scores for reuse, conservation, restoration of existing materials, sustainable new materials and natural light and ventilation.

“As architects, it all comes together for us when we have the opportunity to design modernizations and restorations of historic buildings,” said QKA Principal Mark Quattrocchi in a statement. “Having worked on the San Mateo High School campus previously as well as other sites throughout the district, it was a thrill to collaborate with our colleagues and friends to bring this previous vocational shops building —the last remaining original building on campus — to modern use for today’s students and staff. The abundance of natural light and original high ceilings makes the building an ideal space for art studios, large group meetings and performances.”

The purpose of the Leroy F. Greene Design and Planning Awards Program is to enhance the educational programs available to California public school students by recognizing exceptional architectural and program implementation in the design of public school facilities, according to a statement by QKA. Nominated projects are evaluated based on planning process, learning environment of the facility, design, community environment, physical environment, and the role of high performance/sustainability in the planning and design of the project.

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The jury of AIA members included, Paul Hutton of Hutton Architecture Studio; David Ade with SMP Architects; Bukky Akinsanmi of Cooper Carry Architecture; Trung Le with Cannon Design and Robert Moje of VMDO.

The awards were divided into three categories including citation, merit and the highest award, excellence.

The 15 winners ranged from colleges, high schools, elementary schools, research centers and even an early childcare center. The winners are located throughout the country and each proved to the judges why they were deserving of the CAE facility design awards.

The AIA has been awarding standout educational facilities with CAE facility design awards since 2000. The deadline for the 2013 awards has not yet been set, but interested architects may continue to visit the AIA’s website within the upcoming months for more information on deadlines and submission guidelines:
http://network.aia.org/committeeonarchitectureforeducation/home/awards/

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The categories for the awards were divided into levels of Citation, Merit and Excellence.

 Photo Credit: Eduard Hueber

The recipients of the Excellence Category include the Royal Conservatory at the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto, a historic restoration and adaptive reuse of two Victorian masonry buildings and the addition of a new pavilion which houses practice studios, classrooms and a 1,135-seat hall. The architect is Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects.

The GFS Sustainable Urban Science Center in Philadelphia, designed by SMP Architects, is a lab classroom building featuring rainwater harvesting systems, green roofs and raingarden landscapes.

Photo Credit: Halkin Photography

The design firm worked with the Germantown Friends School to support student engagement in the lab — “within, around, and in some cases, on top of the facility,” according to association officials.

The Saguaro Building at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz., was designed by SmithGroup to organize a wide array of program elements, and is located on a preserved desert campus. Its black box theater is designed as an iconic element to “punctuate the campus’ presence amongst surrounding stucco strip malls,” officials said. Its two-story lobby is designed to serve as the student union with a cyber café and terrariums, along with other student support space.

 Photo Credit: Bill Timmerman

The Merit category includes the Learning Spring School in New York, the Springfield Literacy Center in Springfield, Pa., Gary Comer College Prep in Chicago and Marysville Getchell High School in Marysville, Washington
.

Also recognized in the Merit category were Park Shops in Raleigh, N.C., the James I Swenson Civil Engineering Building in Duluth, Minn., and the Center for Graduate Fellows in Charlottesville, Va.

Featured in the Citation category were the Mothers’ Club Family Learning Center in Pasadena, Calif.,
St. Albans School’s Marriott Hall in Washington, D.C., and PACCAR Hall at the Foster School of Business in Seattle.

For more details on the award-winning sites, visit AIA’s website at http://www.aia.org/. 

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