L.A. School District ‘s First K-12 Campus Features Green Design
LOS ANGELES — Construction is set to begin on a new eco-friendly campus that will bring kindergartners and high school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District together for the first time.
The new Heritage K-12 Campus, designed by architectural firm Gonzalez Goodale, of Pasadena, will provide educational space for 4,400 elementary, middle and high school students in three separate buildings that will feature sustainable design elements.
The facility is intended to meet the green building criteria set forth by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools, a California-based organization that offers guidelines for sustainable building and design, and focuses in particular on indoor air quality.
The school’s HVAC system will use thermal displacement ventilation technology, which delivers air from the lower portion of the walls. The upward moving ventilation improves air quality by quickly removing germs up and out of the classroom or office environment. Thermal displacement systems help prevent the spread of colds and other illnesses, reducing both student and staff absenteeism, according to reports.
Other indoor air quality measures will include silencers built in to the ventilation system’s ducts and wall assemblies, which will improve classroom acoustics. Window frames will be designed to accommodate a third pane of glass, if necessary, to reduce street noise.
To improve academic performance and energy efficiency, the design team also incorporated plenty of daylighting. Classroom windows will include overhangs to prevent glare and provide shade. Lighting controls will be coordinated with daylighting photocells and occupancy sensors to monitor the use of electric lights.
Low-flow plumbing fixtures will be used in sinks and showers, and water closets and urinals will feature low-flow flushing and automatic sensors.
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No student will live more than nine blocks from the campus, creating a strong neighborhood feel and reducing traffic around the site. |
“This is the first new K-12 campus that LAUSD will build, and we have carefully developed a partnership with the community and the local superintendent’s office to ensure that this campus provides a safe, inclusive environment with great opportunities for mentoring and collaboration,” says Eugene Aguirre, senior design manager for the district. “The architects were able to design the campus to offer the flexibility to mix the students when appropriate.”
Located on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, the campus will be close enough for most students to walk to school, creating a neighborhood feel and reducing traffic around the site.
“Most of these students are now being bused to distant, overcrowded schools, which was especially challenging for the K-3 age group,” says Harry R. Drake, AIA, principal at Gonzalez|Goodale and project manager for the campus. “Soon, they will be able to attend school in their own neighborhood. No student will live more than nine blocks from the school.”
Construction of the campus will be divided into several phases, with work starting first on the K-3 building. The two-story, 60,000-square-foot structure will include 46 classrooms and an interior private courtyard with a labyrinthine play area for recreation and relaxation. The K-3 structure is slated for completion in fall 2009, at which point approximately 1,150 elementary school students will begin classes.
Architects worked with the existing landscape to design a campus that would have an inclusive feel, while creating distinct learning spaces for different grade levels. Since the site features differences in elevation of up to 30 feet, providing a natural barrier between structures, different age groups will be located on different levels of the campus.
The spaces between buildings will be connected via a natural amphitheater that will host schoolwide events. Steps leading from the high school will form seating for students, while the base of the amphitheater will abut the multipurpose area of the K-3 building.
Construction of the middle and high school buildings is scheduled for completion about a year after the elementary school facility opens in 2009. Hensel Phelps Construction Co., of Irvine, is serving as general contractor for the project.
Los Angeles Unified School District