Eblen Intermediate School was one of two identical schools built simultaneously in Asheville, N.C., for the Buncombe County School District. The two schools needed to solve distinct issues, but this particular design, from Architectural Design Studio (ADS), Asheville, provided enough flexibility that it could work on varied sites and still deliver certified LEED Silver buildings.
Mike Cox, principal of ADS and chief architect of the school, has been specializing in educational buildings for decades, and he counts this school as one of his finest achievements. He’s taken the lessons he’s learned over the years and applied them to these projects.
Metal panels play an important role in the aesthetics. Petersen Aluminum Corp., Elk Grove, Ill., provided a variety of colorful PAC-CLAD profiles in Bone White, Champagne, Colonial Red, Sierra Tan, Terra Cotta and Arcadia Green. The panels range from Tite-Loc steel panels to aluminum soffit panels to corrugated panels.
“All the colors were fairly simple,” says Cox. “The masonry is neutral.” The red represents the Eblen school color and the champagne used on the monitors on the roof was selected because it doesn’t collect much heat, but a few of the monitors are green. “The green is a Mike Cox thing,” he says. He fought to get that included because he knew the elevation needed a contrasting backdrop on the roof to give it more depth. Without the green, the champagne monitors would have been just a smear without definition. “Green was a salute to green building,” says Cox. “It could have been any color.”
Site Problems
Many of the issues that Cox and his team needed to solve were caused by the site location. Eblen Intermediate School sits in close proximity to an elementary and high school in a part of Asheville where roads can get easily clogged during opening and closing. In fact, a nearby fire station was severally hampered when the roads were clogged with school buses and parents dropping off children.
So the entrance for the school was moved to a different road to ease congestion, and taking advantage of the sloping site, Cox set up the bus loading zones on the first floor and parent drop off at a separate entrance on the second floor, further easing congestion.
But, the sloping site caused another issue, and that was the availability of sunlight. The site slopes to the west, so Cox oriented the roof monitors to the south so they could scoop up daylight and deliver it to each of the classrooms on the second floor. Every classroom has its own monitor, reducing the need for artificial light and reducing the energy needs. “This is the only project we’ve ever done that didn’t require construction lighting on the second floor,” he says.
Baffles on the interior of the monitors prevent direct sunlight so students aren’t caught in the eye by the direct rays.
Green Aspects
Taking advantage of daylighting opportunities was not the only sustainable building practice used at the school. In addition, Eblen Intermediate School includes all low-VOC coatings, a high-efficient mechanical system, significant use of recyclable materials and a careful management of construction waste. “We were surprised to see how much packing materials there was,” Cox says. “All the waste was recycled along with the scrap and very little was taken to the landfill.”
Continuing the green elements, hot water in the kitchen is supplied by a solar collector and there was a concerted effort to use only low-maintenance materials, of which metal panels are an essential part.
Two Projects at Once
The sister school, Koontz Intermediate, faced many of the exact same issues, including congestion and site slope, that Cox solved with the separate entrances and daylighting monitors. For Buncombe County Schools, these two projects represent a culmination of a years-long process to bring the school infrastructure up to speed. Using a triage approach that focused first on safety, the school system developed a strategic plan that brought the whole district up to a certain level. Once attained, the district addressed overcrowding needs and started building new schools. “It was tedious and backbreaking during the time holding back,” says Cox. “But they would do it until they had everybody up to speed. They stuck with it and got it right.”
With Koontz and Eblen schools, the school district now had two crown jewels that could demonstrate what the future of schooling meant for the community.
That demonstration extends beyond just the energy efficiency of the LEED Silver certification. It also includes creating a dynamic learning environment that meets the needs of the students.
Recognizing that fifth and sixth grade students are at an age when they begin to note their place in the larger world around them, Cox included a series of “You Are Here” tags within the design. At the entrance curb, granite inserts define the solar system with a tag. At the door, a map of the Northern Hemisphere includes the tag. And on the entrance floor, a state map features another “You Are Here” tag. And in every classroom is a “You Are Here” sign.
In addition, he created a couple of puzzles. One is a huge model of the Pythagorean Theorem (a2 +b2=c2) that is engraved in the floor using dots and runs through walls. “You can’t see the triangle,” Cox says, “but you can find dots in the corridor, and the puzzle is the figure out what the distance is.”
Also, a small opening in a stairwell is placed so that during the vernal and autumnal equinox, a shaft of light will strike a specific spot on the floor. Another kind of “You Are Here” tag.
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Vital Stats
Eblen Intermediate School, Asheville, N.C.
Building owner: Buncombe County Schools, Asheville
Project size: 106,000 square feet
Completion date: January 2012
Architect: Architectural Design Studio, Asheville
General contractor: Shelco Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
Metal installer: Peach State Roofing, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Metal wall and roof panels: Petersen Aluminum Corp., Elk Grove Village, Ill., www.pac-clad.com