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
| Oct 26, 2014
Study asks: Do green schools improve student performance?
A study by DLR Group and Colorado State University attempts to quantify the student performance benefits of green schools.
| Oct 21, 2014
Check out BD+C's GreenZone Environment Education Classroom debuting this week at Greenbuild
At the conclusion of the show, the modular classroom structure will be moved to a permanent location in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, where it will serve as a community center and K-12 classroom.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
Sponsored | | Oct 16, 2014
Mill Brook Elementary School colors outside the lines with creative fire-rated framing solution
Among the building elements contributing to the success of the elementary school’s public learning areas is a fire-rated stairwell that supports the school’s vision for collaboration. HMFH Architects designed the stairwell to be bright and open, reflecting the playful energy of students. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 9, 2014
Regulations, demand will accelerate revenue from zero energy buildings, according to study
A new study by Navigant Research projects that public- and private-sector efforts to lower the carbon footprint of new and renovated commercial and residential structures will boost the annual revenue generated by commercial and residential zero energy buildings over the next 20 years by 122.5%, to $1.4 trillion.
| Sep 29, 2014
Living Building vs. LEED Platinum: Comparing the first costs and savings
Skanska USA's Steve Clem breaks down the costs and benefits of various ultra-green building standards and practices.
| Sep 24, 2014
Architecture billings see continued strength, led by institutional sector
On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index.
| Sep 22, 2014
4 keys to effective post-occupancy evaluations
Perkins+Will's Janice Barnes covers the four steps that designers should take to create POEs that provide design direction and measure design effectiveness.
