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  A 135-student continuing education high school located near the nation's capital and a 1,400-pupil junior high school in Utah have been named grand prize winners in the 2004 Learning By Design competition. 
BeeryRio was honored for the Langston High School Continuation/Langston Brown Community Center in Arlington, Va. A joint project of the Arlington County Public Schools and Arlington County Government, the facility houses Head Start, a continuing education high school, and community recreation, senior citizen, and teen programs. "This is an innovative approach to intergenerational education," one of the judges said. "It is obvious that they were thinking outside of the box to meet a number of different needs, and they had to put a lot of work into this to pull it off. That they did and did it so beautifully is a terrific achievement." The $6.9 million, 135-student school is located on a 2.4-acre site in densely populated Arlington, a suburb of Washington, D.C. And yet, the judges noted, the site is user friendly while meeting a range of different needs. "It's nice that they bring the community into the school by being so intergenerational," another judge said. "Throughout education, we have heard many discussions about changing what the typical 'school' is, and it has been hard to find good examples of change that work effectively. This is one that does."
"There are lots of places for kids to work together in different ways," one judge said. "If the role of the middle school is to help learners become more independent, this is a building that looks like it's designed to foster that. I would feel good going to school there." In designing the school, VCBO used economical materials and a "tastefully restrained" layout that pays attention to security issues and creates a "small school feel," the panelists said. The judges had special praise for the architects' plan for collaboration centers around groups of classrooms, and noted how student resource areas are clustered around a similar space for teachers. "By grouping the classrooms around these centers, you join the teaching and learning spaces outside the classroom, which allows you to mix up students from various classes for learning activities," one judge said. "This is conducive to the professionalism of teaching and teachers because of the students' access to the spaces, to the teachers, and to one another. This is really sort of groundbreaking."  Although the grand prize winners are both new schools, the citation winners were selected from three categories -- new construction, renovation/addition/restoration, and interior design. In the interior design category, the judges awarded a citation to Oak Point Associates of Biddeford, Maine, for Vinalhaven School. The school, which serves grades kindergarten through 12 in one building on an island 15 miles off the coast of Maine, was praised for its organization and use of natural materials in the construction. "They used materials that reflect the region, but not in a gratuitous way," one of the judges said. "There is a nice use of color in the furniture, and natural daylighting, which is especially important. For the stone work, they used materials you actually could find by walking on the beach. It's nicely done." VCBO earned its second award with a citation for the new Nibley Park Elementary School in Salt Lake City. In awarding the citation, the judges cited the school's "playful" architecture and clustered classrooms that use shared activity spaces. "The design reflects being an elementary school without being overwrought, and the public spaces are used for something more than just circulation," one judge said. "It's obvious that they were thinking about ways to get students to explore the school in this design." The Woodward Academy in Duluth, Ga., designed by Perkins & Will of Atlanta, is a multipurpose building that houses a specialized arts center and a classroom for arts and music courses. The judges cited the architects' "attitude toward the site plan," noting that the landscaping helps bring together the academy site and an adjacent amphitheater. "They used a very skilled manipulation of large volumes so the scale doesn't overwhelm you," one judge said. "They worked with proportion and rhythm to break up the large scale, and they did so very successfully."  The remaining citation winners -- Canby Applied Technology Center in Canby, Ore.; Lincoln School in Winchester, Mass.; Nativity Preparatory School in Jamaica Plain, Mass.; and Fontana High School in Fontana, Calif. -- were honored in the renovation/addition/restoration category. The renovation at Canby High School, designed by Dull Olson Weekes Architects of Portland, Ore., involved a career education center that uses a main street to direct students to classes. From the "street," students can look into a manufacturing laboratory and other classes. "For once, you can actually see stuff going on, which makes this a real win for a redo project," a judge noted. "This takes career education and moves it out front and center into an almost glamorous building." With the Lincoln School, HMFH Architects, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., converted a historic high school into an elementary school at a cost of $135 per square foot. The judges called the project "an excellent renovation," noting that it preserves the character of the original building. "It's almost an adaptive reuse," one judge said. "They've changed the building and the teaching that occurs, which makes it even harder. And yet the school is dignified without being austere. It feels modern." A similar reinvention took place in the renovation of the Nativity Preparatory School. In taking on the project, CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, Inc., Boston, looked for ways to make the small Jesuit middle school work in a 100-year-old abandoned mill building. "They've successfully created a nurturing environment for a high-poverty population by using a light touch," a judge noted. "They kept some of the wood structure from the warehouse and didn't try to hide it, but the building also has a contemporary feel inside. They didn't force kids to eat and breathe the history, but they've managed to fit a lot into a small space without sacrificing the building's integrity." An addition to Fontana High School in Fontana, Calif., earned a citation for HMC Architects of Ontario, Calif. The $7.9 million project involved 10 buildings and included major upgrades and improvements to both the interior and exterior of the 1950s era high school. "It's a marvelous job, especially for an addition," one judge said. "They refocused the entire campus by designing a common exterior corridor and gathering spaces at the main entrance. It was all very skillful when it could have been off-putting." This year, the judges also praised five architectural firms that undertook unique or difficult renovation projects. While the five were not citation or grand prize recipients, the judges said each deserved a special honorable mention.
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