It may not rise to the heights of the 30-story school building made famous in the Wayside School children’s books, but the new Cardinal Union building will be Seattle’s first vertically-oriented middle school once it completes in 2018.
Cardinal Union, designed by LMN Architects, will be the new home for the middle school at the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences (SAAS). The structure is being built in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and will provide spatial flexibility, contemporary classrooms, and purpose-built science labs across its 74,289 sf floor plan.
A five-story classroom bar will relate in scale to the mixed-use commercial and residential core along the Union and Madison Street arterials, while a gymnasium building will mirror the smaller neighborhood context located along 13th Avenue. A rooftop playfield will cap the gym and another outdoor area will be located at the building’s main entry to provide a space for students to gather and collaborate.
Rendering courtesy LMN Architects.
Reminiscent of its fictitious Wayside counterpart, each floor of the new Cardinal Union building will accommodate one grade. The classrooms will be organized around flexible community learning spaces. Theses learning spaces will be a series of double-height, stepped interior volumes that encourage physical and visual connectivity.
The exterior of the building will feature a combination of gray and cream bricks that will fade from dark to light vertically along the façade. Red metal sunshades will add color to the design and expanses of glass will reveal the student activity occurring within.
Rendering courtesy LMN Architects.
Sustainability is also paramount to the building’s design. Building analysis modeling was used to optimize daylight, solar exposure, and natural ventilation. Natural ventilation strategies, a highly efficient mechanical system, and a high performance envelope result in a projected 45% reduction in annual carbon emissions when compared to similar buildings. A solar panel array will be incorporated on the main building roof and a future-compatible rainwater collection system is also included into the building design. Web-based dashboards will provide instantaneous feedback to students and faculty on solar production, building performance, and water conservation.
Build Team: GLY Construction (general contractor), Swift Company (landscape architect), PAE Engineers (MEP).
Rendering courtesy LMN Architects.
Related Stories
K-12 Schools | Aug 4, 2016
First Look: New Sandy Hook Elementary School blends safety and nature
The new Sandy Hook Elementary School has been carefully designed with state-of-the-art safety measures to keep students safe.
| Aug 1, 2016
K-12 SCHOOL GIANTS: In a new era of K-12 education, flexibility is crucial to design
Space flexibility is critical to classroom design. Spaces have to be adaptable, even allowing for drastic changes such as a doubling of classroom size.
| Aug 1, 2016
Top 80 K-12 School Construction Firms
Gilbane, Balfour Beatty, and Core Construction head Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest K-12 school sector construction and construction management firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 1, 2016
Top 60 K-12 School Engineering Firms
AECOM, Jacobs, and STV top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest K-12 school sector engineering and E/A firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 1, 2016
Top 100 K-12 School Architecture Firms
DLR Group, Stantec, and Huckabee top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest K-12 school sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
K-12 Schools | Jun 2, 2016
Chicago charter school designed by Studio Gang emphasizes sustainability and wellness
The Academy for Global Citizenship’s new purpose-built structure, located in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood of Chicago, is meant to reflect its operating philosophy that the path to a more sustainable future begins in the classroom.
Industry Research | Feb 22, 2016
8 of the most interesting trends from Gensler’s Design Forecast 2016
Technology is running wild in Gensler’s 2016 forecast, as things like virtual reality, "smart" buildings and products, and fully connected online and offline worlds are making their presence felt throughout many of the future's top trends.
K-12 Schools | Feb 4, 2016
Grimshaw and BVN design 14-story public school in Australia
The design of the high-rise is based on the template of Schools-within-Schools (SWIS), a system that de-emphasizes age groups.
| Jan 14, 2016
How to succeed with EIFS: exterior insulation and finish systems
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the six elements of an EIFS wall assembly; common EIFS failures and how to prevent them; and EIFS and sustainability.
