As we announced back in May, High Tech High K-8 Chula Vista – the 2012 winner of the EDC Excellence in Design Award for Education – is the subject of an in-depth article in this month’s issue of Environmental Design & Construction, and has also been featured on the cover!
The 7-page article begins on page 12. The award is granted annually to green buildings in six categories for projects that demonstrate outstanding sustainable design techniques. To further underscore the project’s green credentials, High Tech High K-8 Chula Vista has also recently completed the LEED certification process – emerging with a LEED Platinum rating from the USGBC!
High Tech High K-8, Chula Vista is the second phase of a master plan build-out on a planned “Academic Village”. The 61,000 square-foot combined elementary and middle school serves 400 students. The new facility takes several cues from its award-winning neighbor – borrowing colors and sweeping roofs while adding a “crazy-quilt” pattern of corrugated metal cladding to the masonry used next door. A forest of wing-shaped shade cloth awnings announce the entrance and provide protection for the outdoor lunch areas. The north elementary school wing is enlivened by super-scale bay windows that form reading nooks within the classrooms.
The design of this school provides opportunities for students to interact with the everyday functions of the facility in ways that raise their awareness of energy conservation, resource consumption, waste generation and the influence of the microclimate on building systems and human comfort. Sustainable aspects of the design are demonstrated through configuring buildings to foster passive cooling, protecting generous south and southwest facing openings with deep overhangs, maximizing day-lighting in all occupied rooms, and the inclusion of roof-mounted photovoltaic panels. High Tech High K-8 Chula Vista is only the second school in the state to be CHPs verified.
Congratulations and thanks to everyone involved for another great project! For more images of High Tech High K-8 Chula Vista, click here. For information on other projects, charter schools, and sustainable efforts, please visit our website at www.studioearchitects.com, and stay tuned to this space for future updates!