Spring, Texas
Completion Date: September 2010
Owner: Spring Independent School District
Program: A two-story, 105,391-square-foot public elementary school with large-volume communal spaces—a cafeteria, a gymnasium, and an auditorium—concentrated in a central core, with classrooms arranged along the perimeter. The school also includes a library, a music room, a computer lab, an indoor "tree house" on the second floor, and a garden/outdoor classroom at the entrance with a river table and pond.
Design Concept and Solution: The district normally uses a two-building prototype for all its schools, but for Gloria Marshall the board wanted to rearrange the program to conserve natural resources and increase daylighting. The new design also provided an opportunity for the school to integrate environmental teaching tools into the building and grounds. SHW Group consolidated the program into one two-story rectangle to reduce the school's footprint and wall area, and to keep the concrete and steel structure simple and economical. The base of the building has a concrete block and brick facade, which transitions to metal panel toward the top to reduce the load on the structural system. Allowing the school to rely on daylight for much of the day, the architects oriented the building to take advantage of northern and southern light. The south-facing classrooms have aluminum sunshades and, inside, light shelves that bounce and diffuse light via angled ceilings, which, in turn, bring light farther into the room. Throughout the building, the architects blended activities with teaching opportunities. A large slide in the commons has a helix shape, the oak-planked tree house doubles as a platform for measuring the velocity of dropped objects, and a series of small rectilinear windows on the second level scatters the floor with blocks of light, whose slow shifts in shape allow students to track the seasonal changes in the sun's position in the sky. To give students a glimpse into the building's operations, the architects made many of the school's sustainable features visible: glass doors on several geothermal-system closets reveal the workings of the heat pumps, a clear pipe through a science lab carries water from a roof drain to a cistern that feeds the river table, and a computer screen in the commons displays energy savings from features including a wind turbine and photovoltaic panels.
Location: 24505 Birnamwood Blvd, Spring, TX 77373
Total construction cost: $15.6 million
Architect:
SHW Group
20 East Greenway Plaza, Suite 200
Houston, TX 77046
Phone 713.548.5700
Fax 713.548.5701
PeopleOwner: Spring Independent School District Architect: Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit: Project Manager: Jody Henry, LEED AP BD+C Design Principal: Tracy Eich, AIA, LEED AP Project Designer: Luis Ayala, Intl. Assoc. AIA, LEED AP Project Architect: Eddie Blanco, AIA Architect of record: Mark Lam, AIA, LEED AP Interior designer: SHW Group, Amanda Erb, IIDA, LEED AP Engineer(s): MEP: CMTA Engineering Structural: SHW Group Sound: BAI Commissioning: Reihl Engineering Consultant(s) Lighting: CMTA Engineering Acoustical: BAI (sound) General contractor: Purcell Construction Photographer(s): Luis Ayala, SHW Group Renderer(s): SHW Group, Ramy Hanna CAD system, project management, or other software used: Revit, Autodesk, Inc. |
ProductsExterior cladding Metal/glass curtainwall: United States Aluminum Corporation, Metal wall panels by Berridge Concrete: T.A.S. Commercial Wood: East Teak Find Hardwoods, Inc - Garapa Gold Decking/ Tru Timber Reclaimed Lumber Stone: Alamo Stone Roofing Windows Glazing Doors Wood doors: Door Pro with Ceco Door Products Fire-control doors, security grilles: Overhead Door Company Upswinging doors, other: Operable Partition - Moderco Hardware Exit devices: Von Duprin Security devices: Stanley Systems, Alltronix, Panasonic Interior finishes Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: J’s Cabinets Paints and stains: Sherwin Williams, Idea Paint for Markerwalls Wallcoverings: Tru Timber reclaimed lumber, Sosquil, 3 Form Plastic laminate: Wilsonart and Formica Special surfacing: Ice Stone, East Teak Hardwoods, 3 Form Floor and wall tile: Daltile used in Main entry and restrooms Resilient flooring: Marmoleum by FORBO – used in classrooms and dining room Carpet: C&A by Tandus, Rubber base by Roppe (carpet used in classrooms, corridors, library and gym) Wood Flooring: BONA (used at stage) Furnishings Reception furniture: Global Chairs: Verco and Indeco Sales Tables: Verco and Indeco Sales Upholstery: Lighting Exterior: Invue and Esco Controls: Building Controls – Automated Logic by UES – Lighting Controls – Wattstopper Solar energy Systems: Inverters- Sunny boy; Uni-Solar-panel manufacturer Conveyance Plumbing Add any additional building components or special equipment that made a significant contribution to this project: Wind Turbine by Skystream, Slide by Summit USA, Rainwater Recovery Tank by DARCO, Toilet Partitions by Yemm & Hart, Exterior Sun Shades by United States Aluminum Corp, Acoustical Treatments by AVL Systems, Inc., Elevator Interior – Plyboo |
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