2015
Nevada School Construction Bill Signed into Law
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Gov. Brian Sandoval signed an emergency bill just hours after it passed through the state Assembly last Wednesday permitting the construction of more Nevada schools.
Flexible Learning Spaces Foster Project-based Learning
Peoria, Ariz. — When the vision for Sunset Heights Elementary in the Peoria Unified School District began to take shape, it was clear the school would be different.
Performing Arts Education Goes Digital
NEW YORK — Henry Mancini Arts Education (HMAE) has announced plans to bring performing arts curriculum and instruction to middle and high school students digitally. HMAE, a web-based organization founded by Midland, Pa.-based Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center (LPPAC) and partners, will offer an estimated 3,000 online lessons in dance, music, theater, visual arts and cross-disciplinary studies to students via tablets, smart phones, laptops and computers. The lessons will be available to students in traditional schools, as well as home school and virtual school learners.
Budget, Technology & Enrollment Drive Higher-Education Design
Today, higher-education design is changing, as schools juggle budget cuts with the ever-growing needs of 21st century learners. Learning occurs everywhere now, which is why architects have started designing both formal and informal learning spaces to include the collaborative, high-tech learning spaces that students require — both inside and outside of the classroom. Architects have started designing learning environments that allow millennials to blend their work life with their private life, preparing them for a future in today’s workforce.
Pamela Anderson-Brulé
Pamela Anderson-Brulé, FAIA, principal at Anderson Brulé Architects in San Jose, Calif., recently became the first woman in Santa Clara County to be elevated to the College of Fellows in the American Institute of Architects, the highest rank in the institute’s membership. Anderson-Brulé has been nationally recognized for the new service and operational models developed for San José’s Martin Luther King, Jr.
Curtainwall System
Kalwall window designs, first introduced globally at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair, provide a more predictable, better quality of usable natural light with superior thermal properties and best-in-industry solar heat gain control. Lightweight, shatterproof and rapidly installed, Kalwall has unrivaled structural integrity. It is not a plastic, polycarbonate or glass.
Alarm System
The Fire-Watch 411 series from Fire-Lite Alarms by Honeywell are compact slave Digital Alarm Communicator Transmitters (DACTs) that are designed for a variety of fire, and non-fire applications. They provide either three or four monitoring channels (inputs) respectively. These slave DACTs are a cost-effective solution for applications that require a Fire Alarm control panel to transmit system status to an off-site monitoring facility for central or Remote Station compliance.
Concrete Pier
Perma-Column pre-cast concrete piers by Heartland Perma-Column are ideal for inclusion in economical, efficient and eco-friendly school and university buildings, and eliminate the need to put treated wood into the ground where it is more likely to decay. Perma-Column piers come in six sizes to fit a variety of post-frame building posts. Installation includes bracketing a wood post or laminated column on top and placing it in the ground 4 feet deep. This puts the wood post at least 12 inches above grade, so it may be treated or untreated.