DALLAS—Architectural design firm KAI Enterprises has worked with general contractor Ratcliff Constructors on a replacement elementary school at the site of the former H.S. Thompson Learning Center. The new school, dubbed H.S. Thompson Elementary School, adds a contemporary environment to the Dallas Independent School District.

The $30 million school’s focus will be on the so-called STEAM subjects and will employ challenged-based educational techniques aimed at preparing students for practical experiences both in and beyond the classroom. The new H.S. Thompson facility encompasses 73,000 square feet of educational space for grades K-5. Seven science classrooms are included, as are various special educational rooms, outside play areas, arts classrooms and a new library and media center.

A multipurpose room and storage areas were also part of the architectural plan laid out by KAI. H.S. Thompson’s “active” spaces were designed such that they can be utilized during the day for educational purposes and are accessible for community use in the afterschool hours. A key part of this design aesthetic was the “cafetorium,” a combination dining commons and performance space.

KAI’s initial site work entailed master planning of the site as well as envisioning where a future middle school expansion can later be added. Then came the design of H.S. Thompson itself, which called for situating the library directly above the secured primary entry of the school. The double-height entryway allows for stunning views of Dallas’s downtown and the nearby Fair Park—and from the outside, the community can look back at H.S. Thompson as a paragon of a modern educational setting.

H.S. Thompson Elementary School is located at 5700 Bexar St., the exact same site as the demolished earlier school. The primary facade faces out onto Bexar Street, and the main ingress along that thoroughfare is a secured entryway situated prior to the administrative reception area.

“Our team sought to develop an environment for academic excellence by providing the students, staff and community with a 21st Century learning environment with innovative learning spaces that inspire the students and surrounding community,” Darren L. James, president of KAI Enterprises, said in a recent statement about the project. “We designed collaborative learning spaces distributed throughout the building, allowing the entire facility to become an active learning laboratory.”

KAI Enterprises, which was founded in 1980, works around the country in the design-build sector and is a certified minority-owned business. Under its corporate umbrella, the company entails subdivisions including KAI Design, KAI Engineering, KAI Build and KAI 360 Construction Services. Among the firm’s other school-related construction projects in the Dallas area are the Billy Earl Dade Middle School, also for the Dallas Independent School District.

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NEW YORK CITY — The doors to the Brooklyn STEAM Center have officially opened; a new hub to provide career technical training to students from eight local NYC public high schools in a rigorous professional setting.

Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) joined Deputy Mayor Glen, NYC Schools Chancellor Carranza and Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams on Feb. 11, 2019 for the celebratory ribbon-cutting.  

The innovative model, a partnership between BNYDC and NYC DOE, with support from Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, is the first-of-its-kind in New York City and takes the Career Technical Education model a step further, bringing students interested in cutting-edge manufacturing and design fields closer to companies in need of highly-skilled workers.

The $17 million Brooklyn STEAM Center, supported with $12 million from NYC DOE and $5 million from Borough President Adams, will serve as a learning center for up to 300 high school juniors and seniors interested multiple industries, including computer science, design and engineering, culinary arts, construction technology, and film and media.

The program seeks to help students develop skills and create pathways to careers in growing industries.

The 30,000-square-foot Brooklyn STEAM Center sits on the third floor of Brooklyn Navy Yard’s newly-renovated Building 77, featuring professional work spaces and equipment for each of the career pathways, including a professional kitchen, a sound stage, multiple computer labs, and construction and fabrication shops.  

The STEAM Center will advance a model for career and technical education that more closely ties industry professionals and employers to students and educators.

Students from eight Brooklyn public high schools will attend the STEAM Center for two-year programs during their junior and senior year, spending half of their time at their home high schools and spending the other half of their time at STEAM developing skills within one of five industry pathways. They will apply these skills directly by completing projects in a real-world environment, taught by teachers with experience in their respective fields.

Students will earn industry-specific certifications and develop relationships with leading industry professionals within the Yard through tours, interviews, job shadowing, and internships.

Upon graduation, these students will be equipped with the skills, networks, and portfolios needed to pursue their field of interest, whether through immediate entry into the workforce, furthering their education setting, or both.

The STEAM Center will work hand-in-hand with BNYDC’s Employment Center, which prepares local residents to apply for and secure jobs with Navy Yard tenants as well as provides internships to young people in several industries including manufacturing, media, design and more.

New York-based multidisciplinary design firm WXY was selected as the architect for the new learning center and began work on the new center in Fall 2018.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Lincoln School in Providence, an independent college preparatory school offering an all-girls educational program for grades 1st through 12^th, announced the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art STEAM building.

The new facility features a brand new two-story facade, 4,000-square-feet of interdisciplinary learning space, flexible breakout areas and a rotating art gallery.

The main goal of the project was to expand Lincoln School’s offerings as the nation’s only independent school for girls rooted in Quaker values with Rhode Island’s first-ever dedicated STEAM facility for girls.

Through the expansion, Lincoln is positioned to shift the gender balance of women entering STEAM fields. Not only does Lincoln offer a robust STEAM curriculum—including electives in robotics and computer science — but, they also go beyond the classroom to engage in Upper School partnerships with Brown’s School of Engineering, RISD’s School of Architecture, and The Steel Yard.

The STEAM Hub, designed by LLB Architects of Pawtucket, R.I., is quite literally a visual expression of the school’s mantra, “where tradition meets innovation”, according to Vice President of Shawmut Design and Construction, Ron Simoneau.

The addition features a dramatic glass curtainwall facing west with 20 vertical fins, or sun shades, spaced in such a way as to create rolling shade as the sun moves. The modern, curvilinear design allows people outside to see adjacent buildings through the new addition.

The new facility creates new agile classroom space for group collaboration and project-based learning, improve connectivity, all while making the facility more sustainable and resilient.

The chemistry, robotics, and physics rooms are highlighted by enlarged, dynamic group study spaces and a math/engineering collaborative workspace anchors the new addition. All classroom and study spaces are more open, connected and flexible for a myriad of teaching and learning modes. The kitchen was reconfigured to provide a direct flow from the dining room and student lounges to a new student/faculty study space along Butler Avenue that overlooks Blackstone Boulevard and Park.

 “Academic design and construction trends are certainly seeing a shift towards facilities that have stronger collaborative, living-learning, and interdisciplinary amenities, and Lincoln’s new STEAM Hub does exactly that. The facility allows their faculty to guide students in interdisciplinary coursework that gives them the opportunity to learn, explore, and break new ground in their future fields,” said Simoneau.

 The project broke ground on July 1, 2017 and was completed less than a year later with a grand opening on May 3, 2018.

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Because unexpected tragedies happen globally every year, it’s important for schools — from elementary schools to universities — to take steps to prepare their campus infrastructure. For example, Typhoon Haiyan damaged more than 2,500 schools and affected 1.4 million children in the Philippines in 2013, according to the World Bank. Additionally, recent floods in Malawi affected hundreds of schools, disrupting the education of more than 350,000 children. What is clear from these statistics is that schools are vulnerable.

There are several different ways to look at resilience, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). However, a common element among definitions is the idea that recovery in a changing environment requires the capacity to withstand, absorb and adapt to shocks. For schools in various parts of the country, becoming better able to withstand disasters and adapt to shocks means being proactive to prepare infrastructure, now.

With that in mind, here are three ways to make K-12 and university buildings more resilient to natural disasters:

1. Identify Vulnerabilities

The Organization for American States (OAS) suggests that assessing risks and hazards is an important first step in improving school resilience. Less vulnerable structures mean protected investments, longer building lifespans and greater safety for students and teachers. Through the collection of basic structural and physical information of all structures, including details of location, and the analysis of data with regard to the ability to resist the effect of specific natural and manmade hazards, school officials can at least gain an idea of what risks and hazards exist. Consider what types of natural disasters are possible in your geographic area, and how the school’s structures would withstand those disasters if they occurred. The answers to these questions provide a valuable starting point in improving school preparedness.

2. Strengthen and Protect Buildings

Once you’ve assessed the most vulnerable areas of your structures, you have a good idea of what needs to change. Prioritize tasks based on what is most important to your school. Does the building where students spend the most time have glaring structural issues that would make it vulnerable to storm damage? Start there. Use funds to invest in projects that will add security and stability to your school. You may also wish to work with a disaster restoration contractor that can professionally evaluate your structures and offer solutions.

3. Understand Safe Construction

Along with increasing safety and security, the first two steps offer the added benefit of informing future building projects. Once you’ve seen where safety concerns exist in your current structures, it’s clearer how you can avoid those issues in new buildings. “Understanding what factors are driving unsafe construction practices will enable decision-makers to make targeted adjustments to planned investments to ensure the quality of new construction and avoid the creation of new risk, according to the World Bank. Likewise, understanding what vulnerabilities you’re facing may also warrant building emergency shelters of some kind.

As Vice President of Operations for DKI Commercial Solutions, Bill Robinson oversees disaster relief operations for commercial large loss in the U.S. DKI Services is a remediation and restoration company that offers emergency restoration services for residential and commercial buildings.

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