Built on a relatively small site at the intersection of Union Street and 13th Avenue in Capitol Hill, the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences Middle School is a new six-story vertically-configured facility that relates in volume to the mixed-use commercial core along the arterial street.
The academic spaces occupy the 51,372-sf building’s upper floors while the lower floors provide entry, administration rooms, gathering space, maker space, and music instruction. The lower floors also connect directly to the adjacent Seattle Academy buildings. A gymnasium and an outdoor rooftop playfield provide physical activity space.
The academic floors are broken up by grade with classrooms organized around collaborative learning spaces that are designed as double-height, stepped interior volumes that cascade between floors. Each classroom floor features a different accent color to create a sense of identity for each grade. “Classrooms have been conceptualized as independent units of learning that connect with each other, collaboration spaces, other grades and the rest of the school, providing a flexible educational experience,” said Mark Reddington, Partner-in-Charge, LMN Architects, in a release.
The two building volumes are wrapped in brick and punctuated by expanses or transparency. The façade is a mix of gray and cream bricks that fade vertically from dark to light. Red sunshades contrast against the brick backdrop and help bring the school’s identity outside of the building’s walls. An outdoor space at the entry provides an area for students to gather.
See Also: Teaching on the cutting edge of design
In addition to LMN Architects, the build team also included: Coughlin Porter Lundeen (civil and structural engineer), PAE Consulting Engineers (MEP engineer), Swift Company (landscape architect).
Related Stories
| Oct 31, 2013
74 years later, Frank Lloyd Wright structure built at Florida Southern College
The Lakeland, Fla., college adds to its collection of FLW buildings with the completion of the Usonian house, designed by the famed architect in 1939, but never built—until now.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 28, 2013
Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it
Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.
| Oct 18, 2013
Meet the winners of BD+C's $5,000 Vision U40 Competition
Fifteen teams competed last week in the first annual Vision U40 Competition at BD+C's Under 40 Leadership Summit in San Francisco. Here are the five winning teams, including the $3,000 grand prize honorees.
| Oct 18, 2013
Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal
When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread.
| Oct 15, 2013
15 great ideas from the Under 40 Leadership Summit – Vote for your favorite!
Sixty-five up-and-coming AEC stars presented their big ideas for solving pressing social, economic, technical, and cultural problems related to the built environment. Which one is your favorite?
| Oct 7, 2013
10 award-winning metal building projects
The FDNY Fireboat Firehouse in New York and the Cirrus Logic Building in Austin, Texas, are among nine projects named winners of the 2013 Chairman’s Award by the Metal Construction Association for outstanding design and construction.
| Oct 7, 2013
Geothermal system, energy-efficient elevator are key elements in first net-zero public high school in Rhode Island
The school will employ a geothermal system to heat and cool a portion of the building. Other energy-saving measures will include LED lighting, room occupancy sensors, and an energy-efficient elevator.
| Sep 24, 2013
8 grand green roofs (and walls)
A dramatic interior green wall at Drexel University and a massive, 4.4-acre vegetated roof at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center in Kansas City are among the projects honored in the 2013 Green Roof and Wall Awards of Excellence.
| Sep 19, 2013
What we can learn from the world’s greenest buildings
Renowned green building author, Jerry Yudelson, offers five valuable lessons for designers, contractors, and building owners, based on a study of 55 high-performance projects from around the world.
