Nueva School Hillside Learning Complex in Hillsborough, California by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects

Article source: Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects

The 24,000 sq. ft. project carefully weaves a new library, student center and classroom building into the school’s beautiful campus, providing a variety of innovative educational environments that promote environmental stewardship and lifelong learning on a daily basis.

Image Courtesy Tim Griffith

• Architects: Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
• Project: Nueva School Hillside Learning Complex
• Location: Hillsborough, California
• Size: 27,000 GSF
• Completion Date: September 2007
• Client: Nueva School
• Mechanical: Rumsey Engineer
• Electrical: IDeAs Inc.

Image Courtesy Tim Griffith

• Lighting: Architectural Lighting Design
• PROJECT MANAGER: Lake Street Ventures
• GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Herrero Construction, Inc.
• STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Forrell Elsesser Engineers
• MECHANICAL / PLUMBING ENGINEER: Rumsey Engineers
• ACOUSTICAL ENGINEER: Charles M Salter Associates, Inc.

Image Courtesy Tim Griffith

• LIGHTING DESIGN: Architectural Lighting Design
• CIVIL ENGINEER: BKF
• LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Andrea Cochran Landscape Design
• ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Integrated Design Associates, Inc. (IDEAS)
• LIVING ROOF: Rana Creek
• FOOD SERVICE CONSULTANT: Patrich Stein
• PHOTOGRAPHY: Tim Griffith

Image Courtesy Tim Griffith

Designed as model of the environmentally responsible school facility, project features include:

• 65% reduction in energy use from a typical school building in the U.S.
• 21% of all power provided by the sun
• 50% reduction in water use
• 30% of all building materials are recycled
• 80% of construction waste was recycled
• Living roofs provide new habitat for an endangered native butterfly species
• Existing Cypress trees from the site were milled and reused on the buildings
• LEED™ Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council

Image Courtesy Tim Griffith

Our approach to the design of the Nueva School emphasizes the following general principles in the design of integrated educational environments:

• Buildings as teachers: A good building is a good teacher, connecting us to the world around us at many levels. By clearly expressing their functions – how they resist gravity, admit air and light, consume and recycle energy – educational environments can provide daily support to pedagogy. The new spaces at the Nueva School will help to support the school’s pedagogical mission by communicating the broader synergies between science, art, nature and community in our daily lives.

• Sustainable design as an ecological and moral imperative: We believe making environments that respect natural systems is both the intelligent and the moral way to inhabit the earth.  In designing the new buildings at the Nueva School, we have employed practical design strategies that promote healthy environments, reduce energy consumption, and offer long-term cost benefits.
• Architecture for the mind, body and spirit: We believe architecture, like education, should engage the whole person at many levels through time.  At the Nueva School, we have strived to design educational spaces that offer a combination of practicality, flexibility and daily wonder, supporting the Nueva School’s culture of creativity, collaboration and community.

The Nueva School Design

Our design for the Nueva School buildings emphasizes a careful integration of design responses to the defining characteristics of your school:

The campus: The new buildings are designed to stitch together the various existing buildings and spaces on campus, helping to create a stronger “front door” and a more cohesive campus experience.  The new structures physically connect with, but do not compete with, the original mansion, respecting the importance of that structure in the history of the school and the site.  We have designed the new buildings to be simple and elegant, blending harmoniously with the land and the diverse architectural styles of the campus.

Image Courtesy Tim Griffith

The land: The structures are designed to respect your beautiful site, integrating with the land rather than simply sitting upon it.  The removal of healthy trees on the heavily wooded site has been minimized to the greatest extent possible. The trees that must be removed trees will be harvested for reuse as trellises, decks and benches in the new construction, creating a lasting connection the natural history of the site.  The “living roofs” of the Library and Student Center blend with the landscape, using native plants to provide new habitats for birds and butterflies while retaining a low profile that minimizes the visual impact of the new structures on the land and maximizes solar access to the Plaza and Classroom Building.  The buildings step with the hillside, creating a dynamic spatial sequence linked to that special place.  Warm, natural materials that weather gracefully will create an even stronger connection to the forest environment.

Wakely Library (Image Courtesy David Wakely)

The academic community:  The Nueva School’s central values of strong community, mentoring and innovative, cross-disciplinary interaction are supported and celebrated by the organization of the new buildings.  The new Plaza offers a flexible outdoor space that serves equally as a major new entry to the school, a fair-weather classroom and a “town square”. The Library / Media Center, located at the center of the re-envisioned campus, offers many paths leading to and through it to encourage casual use and discovery.  Its open, day-lit space provides a variety of seating areas: tall spaces for group study and low, intimate window seats and fireplace inglenooks for quiet study and small children.  A storytelling space opens onto a sheltered outdoor reading porch with dramatic forest views.  The Classroom Building is envisioned as a simple, extremely flexible structure that can easily adapt to changing technologies and curricula. Interior partitions can be relocated easily; the ground floor can expand onto the Plaza for outdoor projects. The Student Center doubles as a new indoor/outdoor performance space. Situated on one of the loveliest parts of the campus, the Student Center will serve as a flexible gathering space with striking views to the Mansion and the Bay beyond.

Aerial View (Image Courtesy Steve Proehl)

Sustainable Design Principals

We believe that environmentally responsible buildings are those that make the most with the least, using simple design strategies to derive the greatest benefit with the least environmental impact.  This integrated design approach creates cost-effective, high-performance learning environments that teach students about the virtues of environmental stewardship on a daily basis.  The following are but a few of the strategies incorporated within the design of the Nueva School:

• Building orientation: Buildings take maximum advantage of solar access and prevailing winds.
• Tree harvesting:  Trees that must be removed for construction will be harvested, milled and reused as trellises, wood screens, decks and benches.
• Natural ventilation: Harnessing the natural breezes will create a healthy indoor environment, virtually eliminate the need for air conditioning, and conserve energy.
• Heating: In-floor radiant heating with energy-efficient boilers will provide enhanced thermal comfort while conserving energy..
• Lighting / Daylighting: Filtered natural light in all spaces, coupled with energy-efficient lighting controlled by occupancy sensors will conserve energy.
• Living roofs: Native planting on the roofs of the Library and Student Center provide excellent insulation, reduce storm water runoff and provide new habitats for birds and butterflies.

• Water use reduction: Low-flow plumbing fixtures, waterless urinals, draught tolerant landscaping and drip irrigation will conserve water.
• Building skin: Walls, glazing and floors are designed for high thermal performance. Construction assemblies will be revealed to students through strategically located “X-ray ports”.
• Renewable energy: A photovoltaic array on the Classroom Building roof will provide 30 KW of electrical to meet the needs .  The daily renewable energy contribution will be displayed to students.
• Recycled building materials: Building materials with a high recycled / renewable content, such as formaldehyde-free insulation, linoleum, carpet and aluminum will be highlighted.
• Indoor air quality:  Non-toxic materials will be used to create excellent indoor air quality.  These include formaldehyde-free wood products, vinyl-free carpets and non-toxic paints and adhesives.
• Recycling / composting center: A centralized school recycling / composting center is proposed.

AXO Diagram

Elevation

Tags: California, Hillsborough

Categories: Educational Center, School

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