Washington, DC
Completion Date: August 2010
Owner: District of Columbia Department of General Services
Program: A two-story, 43,000-square-foot addition to a 17,900-square foot public elementary school built in 1932. The project modernizes the existing two-story academic building and adds an additional classroom wing, as well as a gymnasium, a cafeteria, a media center, a multipurpose room, a stage, and an amphitheater. The new eastern end of the building—which includes the gym and the multipurpose room, among other spaces—can be closed off from the rest of the school for after-hours community functions.
Design Concept and Solution: The original 1932 masonry building made up one wing of a U-shaped master plan that was never completed. The architects wanted their addition to honor the original architecture while incorporating sustainable features—such as the school's geothermal heating and cooling system—and bringing in daylight. Following the old master plan would have meant removing a group of large trees, so the architects opted for a T shape instead, leaving the trees and using them to define a new entry plaza on the east side of the 1932 structure. As a complement to the masonry of the existing building, the architects used structural steel with a brick veneer for the new classroom wing and gymnasium, which form the top of the T. To keep the old and new brick facades distinct yet compatible, they separated the two wings with a double-height glazed entrance lobby. The architects imagined the lobby atrium as an indoor version of the plaza outside; each facade—the masonry and veneer—wraps around into the lobby, giving the space an expansive indoor-outdoor atmosphere. Picking up on the format of Washington's plazas and monuments, they conceived the south side of the new classroom wing as a glassed-in colonnade or porch with wide steps leading down to the grass. Inside the existing building, they retained the original corridors but enlarged the classrooms by absorbing storage rooms and other interstitial spaces. Public areas have the original terrazzo floors, matched by new terrazzo in the addition.
Total construction cost: $32 million (total project cost)
Architect:
EE&K a Perkins Eastman company
2121 Ward Court, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Tel: 202 861 1325
Fax: 202 861 1326
PeopleOwner: District of Columbia Department of General Services Architect: Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit: Interior designer: EE&K a Perkins Eastman company Engineer(s): Structural Engineering: KTLH Engineers Civil Engineering: A. Morton Thomas and Associates (AMT) Geotechnical Engineering: ECS Mid-Atlantic LLC Environmental Engineering: Applied Environmental, Inc. Consultant(s): Lighting: Setty & Associates Acoustical: Shen Milsom Wilke, LLC Other: Food Service: Cini·Little Cost Estimating: Project Cost Inc. LEED Consultant: Sustainable Design Consulting, LLC Specifications: Heller & Metzger PC As-Built Laser Survey: Quantapoint Inc. General contractor: Whiting-Turner Photographer(s): July Chan/Perkins Eastman Renderer(s): CAD system, project management, or other software used: |
ProductsExterior cladding Metal/glass curtainwall: Kawneer curtainwall Roofing Tile/shingles: EcoStar Majestic Slate synthetic slate shingles Windows Glazing Insulated-panel or plastic glazing: Alucabond metal panels Doors Metal doors: Michbi Wood doors: Harring Doors Fire-control doors, security grilles: Overhead Door Company Hardware Hinges: Hager Closers: LCM Exit devices: Von Duprin Pulls: Hager Security devices: Von Duprin Interior finishes Suspension grid: CertainTeed Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: Wilsonart & Formica plastic laminate Paints and stains: Sherwin-Williams Plastic laminate: Wilsonart, Formica Special surfacing: Terrazzo floors by David Allen Floor and wall tile: Daltile (toilet room floor & walls), Kitchen (walls only) Resilient flooring: Forbo Carpet: Interface Furnishings Reception furniture: Integra Fixed seating: Hussey Bleachers Chairs: KI, Leland, Smith Systems Tables: KI, Smith Systems Other furniture: Media Center bookshelves (HALE), Music Room furniture & equipment (WENGER), Classroom play equipment (Lakeshore) Lighting: Peerless, Lithonia Lighting, Day-Brite Lighting, Vantage Lighting, Lightolier, Eureka Lighting, Corelite, Cooper, Dual Lite Controls: Lutron Conveyance Plumbing |
