While designing the addition to the Van Ness Elementary School, Washington, D.C., every solution seemed to generate a new problem. “The whole plan is building an addition, which eliminated a stormwater management system and a playground,” says Rick Harlan Schneider, FAIA, APA, LEED AP. He’s principal at iSTUDIO Architects, Washington, D.C. “So we moved the stormwater management and incorporated a green roof to the addition to help make up for that. The site had a community garden, so we put a curriculum garden up on the roof.” That led to a need for space for outdoor education. Which led to another solution for another problem.
Van Ness Elementary School required creative solutions, which earned it an MA Design Award
Photos: Kris Ilich
At the end of that design path is a renovation of an existing mid-century brick school that included constructing LEED-compliant early childhood education classrooms. The addition harmonizes with the original brick and copper-colored metal panel. A perforated metal-clad exterior stair extends from the classroom ring, creating a canopy for the roof deck classroom. The raised garden beds enable children to learn about food growth and the cycles of nature.
Design award judge Tima Bell, Assoc. AIA, founding principal, Relativity Architects, Los Angeles, said, “The color is spot on. It’s difficult to make color of metal with other materials complimentary but they nailed the color.” Judge Yen Ong, FAIA, principal architect, Dallas-based 5G Studio Collaborative, pointed out, “The way they tie the brick and the metal is remarkable, and the relationship of the transparency of the perforated metal panel and then the solid metal panel and then the solid brick seems like the progression is done very well and it all ties together very well.”
The perforated, ribbed panel shades the outdoor stairway while allowing transparency, and bending the paneling over the roof creates a shaded outdoor classroom where sunlight dapples the spaces. “Perforated panels at the stairwell keep the space visually open but also make it feel enclosed,” says Dan Blair, AIA, NCARB, senior architect at iSTUDIO.
Photo: iSTUDIO Architects
“We basically covered the entire building with metal panels,” says Sara Alkhatib, project architect at iSTUDIO. “And the Copper Penny color gave it an identity.” Petersen Aluminum, Elk Grove Village, Ill., supplied the PAC-Clad metal panels for both the roof and walls. Profiles were both smooth and ribbed as well as ribbed perforated panels.
Not only were design decisions driven in part by necessity, such as replacing the stormwater system and community garden, but the master plan included future expansion as well. So, the entire addition needed to be built in a way that allowed changes. “The building is designed to be expanded,” says Blair, “and pop up another two stories.” The flexibility of the metal panels allows for that. “The stairway can be easily extended upward and if they decide they want to enclose it, they can. We have the foundations ready for that.” The canopy on the second floor can be disassembled, as well as the green roof, and moved up two stories then reassembled. “That’s why we went with metal for that whole exterior piece.”
Photo: iSTUDIO Architects
Because the existing building is LEED Gold certified, the addition needed to match that. The green roof, use of metal, shading, outdoor classrooms, the entire addition is designed to achieve LEED certification. And do so with a consideration for the existing building and the community.
Judge Arnold Swanborn, AIA, LEED AP, design principal, CO Architects, Los Angeles, said, “There’s just sort of a simple elegance about it. It has a scalar relationship to the neighborhood and it doesn’t try to make anything more than what it really is. The existing building is basically a rectangular box with brick. They have this very simple sort of elegant solution to the addition, and it is quite nice architecturally.”
