Awards: Grand Prize > Citation Awards > Honorable Mentions

Six architectural firms receive Honorable Mention Awards
In an effort to facilitate student collaboration while satisfying individual learning needs, winners of the Learning By Design 2009 Honorable Mention Awards created flexible, student-oriented schools. Some firms—like VCBO Architecture, Salt Lake City, which designed the Park City High School, Park City, UT—sought input from the community during the planning process, while others—like McCool Carlson Green, Anchorage, AK, who designed the Matanuska-Susitna Career & Technical High School in Wasilla, AK—created adaptable, multi-use learning spaces that can easily expand according to the growing needs of the community.

In addition, sustainable building and design also were commended by Learning By Design judges. The green features—including recycling nearly 90 percent of the project’s waste materials—added by McKissick Associates Architects PC, Harrisburg, PA, in its renovation of St. Stephen’s Episcopal K-8 School, Harrisburg, PA, gave the centuries-old campus a modern edge. As with the other award-winning designs, the school successfully accommodates student needs through a carefully organized environment that reflects its surroundings.

The following six firms won Learning By Design 2009 Honorable Mention Awards in this year’s competition:

GREEN HIGH SCHOOL

Park City High School - Dana Sohm/Sohm Photographx

Judges awarded VCBO Architecture, Salt Lake City, an Honorable Mention Award for Park City High School, Park City, UT. They were impressed by the amount of community participation during the planning process. A committee of 25 teachers, administrators, patrons, and students spent nine months developing the concept plan and design, which incorporates portions of the existing high school into one cohesive structure. The exterior reflects the surrounding landscape, while the interior spaces are divided into student-centric collaborative communities. Through the use of recycled building materials, extensive daylighting, water conservation designs, and other energy-saving elements, the school is designed to meet LEED Silver certification.

GREEN COMBINED-LEVEL SCHOOL

St. Stephen’s Episcopal K-8 Schooll - McKissick Staff

McKissick Associates, Harrisburg, PA, received an Honorable Mention Award for its design of St. Stephen’s Episcopal K-8 School in Harrisburg, PA. Judges called this campus renovation and expansion project “a brave and interesting attempt to go beyond what is normally done.” Designers nearly doubled student capacity and unified five existing buildings, including a 177-year-old cathedral and its adjacent 158-year-old chapter house. The urban site’s four-story concrete garage was converted into classrooms and a multipurpose area, and a new stair tower and entrance lobby connects the building to the chapter house. Additional green features, such as triple-glazed windows and rainwater collection systems, help the facility align with LEED certification standards. “It’s a good solution to the complex challenge of combining spaces,” judges added.

EARLY CHILDHOOD/ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Cooper Elementary School - Janet Warlick

Hight-Jackson Associates, PA in Rogers, AR, earned an Honorable Mention for Cooper Elementary School in Bella Vista, AR. “Far from a prototype school,” this unusual site plan integrates the natural surroundings into the design, earning high marks from judges. The site formerly contained a barn and horse stables and is surrounded by a steep hillside with a stream running along the base. Teachers and staff use the school’s rural setting as a teaching tool, and students enjoy sweeping views of nature from classroom windows. A two-story vestibule gives volume to the second floor while its exposed steel structure is painted “barn red” to reflect its outdoor setting.

HIGH SCHOOL

Matanuska-Susitna Career & Technical High School - Kevin G. Smith Photography

McCool Carlson Green Architects, Anchorage, AK, earned an award for Matanuska-Susitna Career & Technical High School in Wasilla, AK. This 30-acre high school attracted judges’attention for its dramatic lines, which match the spectacular vistas of its Alaska setting. Moreover, the school’s design reflects the district’s desire to develop a flexible educational facility that also serves post-secondary and adult learners. The school is sited so that pathways can be expanded incrementally and instructional spaces can adapt to meet the community’s after-hours needs. “This building elevates the credibility of the school’s programs and entices students to pursue an education there,” judges noted.

COMBINED-LEVEL SCHOOL

Cavelero Mid High School - Harlan Chinn

Judges awarded NAC|Architecture, Seattle, an Honorable
Mention Award for

Cavelero Mid High School, Lake Stevens, WA. Deemed by judges as a “brave and successful attempt to reinvent a high school,” the building’s flexible configuration accommodates a variety of learning models though the creation of four two-story, personalized learning centers. Each center has a multiuse lab, science room, teacher workrooms, conference areas, and other learning spaces, allowing each to function as a school-within-a-school. Moreover, judges called the school’s open “play area” a “wonderful alternative learning space.”

SPECIALIZED EDUCATIONAL FACILITY

Regional Center for the Arts - Robert Benson Photography

JCJ Architecture, Hartford, CT, earned an Honorable Mention Award

for Regional Center for the Arts in Trumbull, CT. Judges praised the designers for developing “an elegant solution” for a topographically complicated site. Designers created distinct classroom pods that break up the overall scale of the building. Because the site is bisected by a 25-foot drop, these pods are suspended along the ridge and project from the building, adding to its unique composition. The magnet school also includes sustainable features such as high-efficiency heating and cooling units, occupancy and daylight sensors, and a building management system to control lighting, heating, and cooling.