Traditionally, schools have served as places for information finding, project creating, publishing and presenting student work. They have evolved into places to support technological tools and the performance and display of student work. They also serve as real-world spaces for interpersonal interaction, from purely social interactions to structured collaborative learning. But with the emergence of more mobile, more affordable technology, the distinction between the virtual and real-world places where we learn has blurred. What does this mean for the design of physical learning spaces themselves?

Ewan McIntosh, in his article “CLICKS AND BRICKS: How School Buildings Influence Future Practice and Technology Adoption,” presents a framework he has used in the construction of digital spaces, demonstrating how the Seven Spaces of technology are critical, not only for powerful learning but also for those constructing tomorrow’s places of learning. These spaces include Secret Spaces, Group Spaces, Publishing Spaces, Performing Spaces, Participation Spaces, and Watching Spaces. As architects, designers and planners we often take “spaces” to mean literal physical place, but as one explores these ideas it becomes apparent that one place can provide a variety of spaces based on the occupant’s goal, posture, others utilizing the space, furniture, time of day and desire. This adaptability of place is an exciting aspect in facilities today, particularly as communities grapple with maintenance and operation costs and
declining resources. How do we do more with less?

Understanding Ewan’s approach to space, while reflecting on some recent award winning projects, allows us to ask some probing questions for the future. He explained that Secret Spaces reflects how our body language indicates which type of mental “space” we are in and whether we are to be disturbed or not, in lieu of the traditional signal of a closed door. What can we integrate into facilities to allow for the individual interactions with devices and the mental exploration that can occur through that personal interaction?

Group Spaces can be virtual interactions as in Facebook or Twitter, but in creating a sense of place they provide environments for interaction that allows students the opportunity to “flex” their needs based on occurrences and interact with students around a table, through informal seating areas that provide that gathering around the “hearth” feeling.

Publishing Spaces go beyond the virtual twitter connections, and encourage facilities to provide spaces that allow what is being learned in one area of a facility to be shared throughout the building space. The surge of technology use in the 21st Century is providing an opportunity for school facilities to reevaluate the value and definition of educational place. As we reflect on our past work, we ask these important questions – what are the defining characteristics of schools of the future…what do we need them to do?

Performing Spaces allow people to be something or someone they are not, thus the allure of on-line gaming and virtual avatars’ of oneself. Educational environments can provide that opportunity to test one’s desire to discover “what if” they lived a certain life or lived in another time. This immersion into a subject matter for 6 weeks or so, then switching to another to further enhance one’s learning of a subject matter can be highly successful for many learning styles. How would the facility need to respond to allow for this conversion and immersion?

Participation Spaces are often thought of as “staged environments”
with planned interactions for a day i.e. setting up an experiment in a science lab. Ewan McIntosh challenges designers and planners to think differently and fully integrate the idea of “life long learning”, considering every aspect of a school as a learning opportunity. These items might include how a building is maintained, how food is served, or present the opportunity to create “mini-environments” to fully immerse oneself in a topic. For those trekkies out there…it’s easy to imagine a future in which a “hollodeck” creates a computer-generated environment that is so life-like that users can fully explore ideas and experiences right at home.

Watching Spaces are spaces that we often see in today’s schools. Ewan’s review of this type of space offers a challenge to strip away the traditional front of an educational space and allow the speaker to be the focus, both to limit distraction and to allow the opportunity for a variety of presentation styles. He cites the simplicity of the TED talks as one in which the lecturer is allowed to shine due to the simplicity of the backdrop. As the role of the teacher shifts from that of the presenter to one that is a link and guide to information, how do we provide spaces that allow this evolution, or are they already there?

As we reflect on ten MacConnell Award projects from the Pacific Northwest through the lens of the Seven Spaces, it’s interesting to see how, over the past 14 years, design teams created places that allowed for many of the spaces Ewan discusses. This testing of how facilities evolve and adapt is now possible as we experience the infiltration of technology into all aspects of our lives. The question remains – what is the next step? How do we truly provide those shelters that engage communities and foster all aspects of life? As we see this shift from the traditional instructional pattern, one also begins to ponder if learning does occur everywhere with the definition of so many
different learning styles. What is the role of the school facility? What can a school provide that a public library, bookstore, coffee shop or living room cannot? As we reflect on our past work, we ask these important questions – what are the defining characteristics of schools of the future…what do we need them to do?

By Rebecca Baibak, Karina Ruiz, Ross Parker and Edward J. Peters
_________________________________________________________ Edward J. Peters, capital projects director, has overseen the Edmonds School District’s capital construction program since 1999, including the new Meadowdale Middle School and Lynnwood High School projects.
The latter project received the James D. MacConnell Award for school facilities planning from the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International. He chairs the Oversight Committee for Seattle Public
Schools Building Excellence construction program. He is Governor,a past-president and an Al Beck Award winner for the Washington State Chapter of CEFPI and has served on a number of State-wide committees involved in creating and implementing sustainable development standards for public school construction projects in Washington State.
_________________________________________________________
Rebecca Baibak P., AIA, LEED AP, REFP is a principal at Integrus Architecture and is a leader in the firm’s Education Sector. With nearly 20 years of experience, she has led complex projects and multidisciplinary teams on a variety of projects from new construction through highly complex phased construction projects. Rebecca’s role extends beyond projects to include active participation in professional
organizations such as the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) and Committee on the Environment (COTE). In addition, she’s utilized her leadership skills on the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI), where she has chaired several committees. Rebecca holds a Master’s of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit Mercy, and a degree in Business Administration from Aquinas College in Michigan.
_________________________________________________________
R. Ross Parker, AIA, an associate at Basetti Architects has been practicing architecture for 25 years in Canada, the UK, Texas and
Washington State. His emphasis has been on public-sector work, including schools, universities, a legislature, and Native tribal facilities, with projects located in settings ranging from small rural communities to dense urban environments. With a dozen school projects in his portfolio, two have been recognized by CEFPI’s James D. MacDonnell Award: The Academy of Irving ISD, a 2004 finalist (Powell/PSP Architects); and Lynnwood High School, the 2010 winner (Bassetti Architects). His most recent major project has been Washington State’s largest school project, the $80 million Chief Sealth International High School / Denny International Middle School span
school facility. He has participated in CEFPI conferences as a seminar presenter at both the regional and national levels.
_________________________________________________________
Karina Ruiz, AIA, LEED BD+C is an associate principal at Dull Olson Weekes Architects. With over 16 years of experience in the design and construction of educational facilities, Karina believes passionately in the importance of this work to shape the future of this world. This passion drives Karina to work diligently to ensure that her client’s goals and guiding principles are at the forefront of all decision making and to ensure that projects are delivered on time and within budget. As a senior project manager, Karina has directed design and construction activities for projects totaling over $400 million, including the 2009 James D. MacConnell Award winner Rosa Parks Elementary School. She is also responsible for leading DOWA’s Healthcare and Higher Education pursuits.

- Educational Facility Planner | Volume 45: Issue 4 www.cefpi.org

On October 7th, 2011 Integrus Architecture Seattle collaborated with The Seattle Architecture Foundation to host an event for children ages 8-15 called inbeTWEEN. These events are designed for students (ages 11 - 16) who are interested in exploring architecture with the goal of solving social issues through design. In teams, students work with design professionals to investigate, plan and build a model that represents their solution. This particular event was focused on the idea of architectural adaptive reuse in the SODO neighborhood in South Seattle. Students were charged with imagining an better neighborhood by reinventing an old brick-warehouse adjacent to Safeco Field. They could choose any program to fill the building with, but had to be careful in preserving the integrity of the historically significant building. The students imagined health-clubs, housing, bakeries and cafes , indoor/outdoor parks and gardens, restaurants, artist studios and galleries, produce markets and a whole range of building functions that would liven up the neighborhood and create a symbiosis with the sports, industry, and lifestyle of the neighborhood.

One particular highlight of the inbeTWEEN series is the opportunity for students to think in 3D by communicating ideas through multiple media such as drawing in plan, section, and perspective, building physical models, and presenting ideas to a large group by using graphics, models and words. The following images are photos of the event held at Intergus Architecture in Seattle, Washington. Please visit the Seattle Architecture Foundation’s website for more information on upcoming events.

President Leonel Fernandez broke ground yesterday at the site of the new United States Embassy in Santo Domingo. US Ambassador Raul Yzaguirre announced that the construction is an important symbol of the enduring friendship of the US with the Dominican Republic and a powerful reminder of the close bilateral ties that bind the two nations. The embassy compound is going up on Avenida Colombia, in the northwestern sector of Arroyo Hondo in the Province of Santo Domingo.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Morales Troncoso and Minister of the Presidency Luis Manuel Bonetti were also present at the ceremony. Leo Hession, managing director for operations of the State Department's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) came to participate in the ground-breaking ceremony.

The multi-building complex is situated on a 16-acre site and includes a chancery, compound access controls, support annex and Marine security guard quarters. When completed, 700 embassy employees will be relocated to what is described as a state of the art workspace. The building design incorporates several sustainable features and will register for Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED ®) certification, reports the US Embassy. The US$194 million project was designed by Integrus Architecture of Spokane, Washington and will be constructed by Caddell Construction Company of Montgomery, Alabama. The NEC is scheduled to be completed in July 2013.

It seems everywhere we turn these days, we hear about “STEM” school models developing in our public school districts around Puget Sound and across Washington state. STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math, represents a growing movement to refocus the nation’s attention in curriculum areas that have seen steep declines in test scores and success rates.

The STEM movement is, at least in part, a reaction to the private sector’s unfilled demand for scientists and engineers, and the need to attract more women and minorities into STEM-related fields.

A 2010 report from the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology envisions a two-pronged strategy for transforming K-12 education around STEM: Prepare students so they have a strong foundation in STEM subjects and are able to use the knowledge in their lives, and inspire students so that all are motivated to study STEM subjects.

The report recommends that the federal government help fund and create 1,000 new STEM-focused schools across the nation over the next decade.

Flexible spaces

Many school districts in Washington are adopting a STEM approach into their portfolio of education programs, both for existing science or career/technical programs, or as alternative, or “choice,” programs. Because the idea is relatively new, most STEM programs are making do with existing school facilities or developing partnerships to occupy existing space at their local community college.

There are several districts, however, that are designing new facilities specifically for their STEM programs, offering exciting opportunities for school planning and exploration. Lake Washington School District plans to open a STEM Choice program in the fall of 2012 in a new facility designed to be highly flexible. Bellevue School District’s Sammamish High School has received a grant for more than $4 million from the U.S. Department of Education to apply a STEM curriculum and methodology across its entire course platform.

While STEM is a relatively new idea as a curriculum model, much of its underlying themes are supported by education delivery that has been explored for several years.

STEM programs emphasize the use of technology, critical thinking over rote memorization of facts, and problem-solving assignments that discourage the traditional department-centric comprehensive high school model. The spaces needed to support these themes are very different from a traditional high school classroom.

Teachers in a STEM program act less as givers of knowledge and more as learning coaches. Since much of human knowledge is readily available to each student online, resources in STEM facilities are distributed to ensure that each student can access that knowledge and be provided an environment in which to use it. Space traditionally allocated to computer labs can be redistributed to create smaller, more flexible team collaboration areas.

Traditional library spaces also are being transformed, as their primary use is evolving away from simply warehousing knowledge (books), and towards being important public spaces that can accommodate learning through “information surfing.” Less storage is needed, and more space can be directed towards areas appropriate for team and individual study.

Fabrication spaces in STEM schools are transforming the nature of traditional vocational education programs. Rather than emphasize development of a craft or trade such as carpentry in a wood shop class, STEM students develop critical thinking skills in a problem-based assignment by identifying the problem, then designing, engineering and fabricating an appropriate solution.

Spaces to accommodate STEM fabrication assignments include a need for “clean” space, with computer access for engineering and drawing, as well as “dirty” space for active product fabrication. Although applications for new STEM fabrication spaces are almost limitless, many programs favor energy-themed assignments, such as development and fabrication of an electric vehicle.

Problem-based assignments, which require teaming, collaboration and cross-disciplinary work, demand a broader vision for spaces than previously accommodated in the public realm. With more and more of the students’ workday activities being performed outside the traditional classroom, public spaces must provide opportunities beyond circulation and storage. The new public realm in a STEM environment promotes performance and display of work, two important components to a student’s learning cycle.

Decentralized learning

Traditional classroom settings also are transforming to accommodate a decentralized delivery model.

Individual and small-group learning can occur throughout the classroom, with students oriented towards others in their group, or towards simulated lab interfaces, with the teacher roaming the space and acting as an advisor. This layout has profound implications for how we have traditionally thought about teaching walls, storage walls, and power and data access.

With its emphasis on problem solving, critical thinking and team collaboration, the STEM curriculum is ideally suited to encourage professionalism and to introduce professional mentoring to students.

This shift has strategic implications for design of new facilities. Many STEM schools are expecting significant numbers of mentors, each arriving daily to participate in school team activities.

Mentoring from outside professionals affects school entry, parking and wayfinding for existing school buildings that were largely designed to accommodate the majority of auto and pedestrian circulation at two “rush hours” during the day.

Professional mentors also need to be able to contribute to the school session without losing touch with their day jobs. To accommodate them, several STEM facilities are designing mentor offices. These semi-private spaces provide mentors with a place to take a private call or work one-on-one with a student while remaining visually connected to public spaces, promoting a safe and secure environment.

Furniture in a STEM facility is highly flexible. In several schools students are given their own workstations, like in a professional work environment, to serve as their home base as they work on assignments.

As the STEM movement does its part to transform education for our future generations of learners, school planners and designers have a fantastic opportunity to further explore how the spaces they create support innovative learning and create new and exciting opportunities for the people they serve. (August 25, 2011 - DJC, School Construction Special Section article by Brian Carter, AIA)

When it comes to school architecture, there is no “one size fits all” approach. A variety of design elements are at play — no matter if the facility is an elementary or middle school, high school or college — largely due to the various socioeconomic backgrounds, physical characteristics, learning styles and emotional intelligences that exist within the educational sphere. 

“School architecture is about a holistic approach to designing educational environments,” said Caroline Lobo, Assoc. AIA, an architect with Orcutt Winslow, based in the firm’s Los Angeles office. “Schools are not just spaces that house students and staff; they are environments that inspire, invigorate, create memories and shape personalities. Design has to cater to these variables that create rich and diverse experiences for all kinds of students and staff.”

Tom Hille, AIA, concurs and says design elements that work best for school architecture are those that directly support the broadest possible range of learning opportunities.  The author of Modern Schools: A Century of Design for Education, published this year by John Wiley & Sons. Hille’s current research focuses on a broader continuum of themes in school design that shows continuity between great schools of the past and what is occurring today.

“For the modern educational program, these include design themes that encourage community use, school identity, a variety of learning activities, socialization, flexibility and multiuse, the integration of technology, sustainability and learning environments that are comfortable, inviting, healthy and safe,” he says. “These themes are not new to the world of school design. In fact, they are deeply rooted in educational reform that began well over a century ago, parallel and complementary to the development of modern architecture.”

These themes were especially well represented by two schools he designed as former principal-in-charge of design at Integrus Architecture in Seattle.  Terrace Park K-8 School in Mountlake Terrace, Wash. was completed in 2002 and White River High School in Buckley, Wash. was completed in 2004. Both, Hille says, are modified pavilion schools with classroom clusters organized around shared, multi-use flex spaces that support a variety of learning activities.

“North-south orientation provides controlled natural daylighting throughout, as well as protected views and access to the outdoors. Public spaces are zoned to encourage community use, while maintaining privacy and controlled access to academic areas. Natural materials like wood, brick and integral-colored concrete provide durable finishes that are non-institutional in character.”  Terrace Park School features a series of unique “butterfly” roofs that collect and channel rainwater runoff to student gardens. Surface drainage on the site is a learning feature that highlights how the water is collected, treated and subsequently channelized into a nearby salmon-bearing stream.

White River High School takes advantage of a dramatic natural site to establish close relationships between learning activities of the school and outside.  “The feature design element is an open-student commons and community hall at the heart of school — a multi-use activity space that opens dramatically outward toward an adjoining student courtyard and views of Mt. Rainier to the south,” he said.

Bellevue School District awarded Integrus Architecture a contract to design the modernization of Sammamish High School. The maximum allowable construction cost is $55 million dollars.

Construction is expected to start in May of 2013. No contractor has been selected.

The school is at 100 140th Ave. S.E., Bellevue.

Construction is expected to be complete by fall of 2016. Students will remain on site during the work, which includes seismic, fire life safety and ADA improvements; and HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems upgrades and replacement. Classrooms and core areas will be upgraded. - DJC, July 27, 2011

Shoreline School District will bid a multi-phase project next month that will mostly replace the 68-year-old Shorecrest High School at 15343 25th Ave. N.E. in Shoreline. Construction costs are estimated at $57.5 million.

The new 230,500-square-foot school will have a three-story classroom and commons building, an athletics building, and a renovated and expanded theater building. It will be built farther back from the street where the existing school is.

Construction will take place in phases while school is in session, with initial occupancy in August 2012 and the entire project finished in August 2014.

A pre-bid walk-through will be held at 2 p.m. on Aug. 4 at the school. Bids are due Aug. 23 and construction is expected to start in October.

A-1 Landscaping & Construction of Snohomish earlier this year was awarded a contract for site preparation work. It had the low bid of $1.69 million without sales tax, besting five other contractors.

Integrus Architecture is the architect and structural engineer. Other project team members are: AHBL, civil engineer; Wood Harbinger, electrical and mechanical engineer; Weisman Design Group, landscape architect; Associated Earth Sciences, geotechnical engineer; PLA Designs, theater consultant; Stafford Design Group, food service consultant; EHS-International, hazardous materials; and Greene Gasaway, owner's representative. - DJC, July 20, 2011

While students are celebrating the coming of summer, and a reprieve from tests, projects, and homework, work is only beginning on the campus of Shorecrest High School, as part of the $150 million modernization of the Shoreline School District's two secondary schools.

After 18 portable classrooms were erected next to the southeast parking area off 25th Avenue in April, teachers located in the school's old portables and H hall, along with a few select classrooms in the C and F halls are now completing their moves. While most of the displaced classes will remain on the Shorecrest campus, the school's art classes are on their way to Kellogg Middle School, with the portables unable to accommodate them. Those classes are expected to return to Shorecrest in either November or December of 2012, with the completion of the school's art complex.

The next steps for the project, headed by Integrus Architecture or Spokane, involves the removal and demolition of the old portables and H hall, along with site preparation for the school's new gymnasium. After students return in the fall, construction of the gym will begin, with the removal of portions of the C, F, and B halls coming in January to accommodate the construction of the arts complex, which will incorporate the existing theater.

"This fall, if you are sitting in the J hall looking south, or the south part of the A hall looking east, you will be looking at a fence that separates the active campus from the construction zone," Shorecrest principal Pat Hegarty said.

The current timeline calls for a mid-year move-in to the new academic building during the 2013-2014 school year, with the grand opening of the completed school coming the fall of 2014. According to Hegarty, the project is currently on schedule.  

The School Board is slated to authorize the district to solicit bids for the construction at tonight's June 20th meeting. The district intends to go out to bid in July and recommend a construction contract at the Aug. 29 Board meeting.

More information on the Shorecrest High School modernization can be found by going to www.shorelineschools.org/modernization - Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Patch, June 25, 2011

Clover Park School District is planning to replace Hudtloff Middle School with a new two-story building between the existing school, west field and north property line. The school is at 8102 Phillips Road S.W. in Lakewood.

The new 100,000-square-foot school will serve nearly 800 students in grades 6-8. In addition to the new building, the project will include sports fields, tennis courts and demolition of the old school. It will be developed in multiple phases while the current school is occupied.

Bids for a general contractor will be opened on July 12. Estimated construction cost is $26 million-$28 million.

The district wants construction to start in August so that students can occupy the new building in spring 2013. Related site and field work would be finished in December of that year.

Integrus Architecture is the architect. Other team members include: Aeda Construction Management, owner's representative; AHBL, civil engineer; Weisman Design Group, landscape architect; Hultz BHU Engineers, mechanical engineer; Cross Engineers, electrical engineer; and Hargis Engineers, low-voltage design.

The Washington State Department of General Administration is seeking a contractor to build a music and fine arts building at Wenatchee Valley College. Bids are due May 17.

A pre-bid walk through will be held at 11 a.m. May 4.

Integrus Architecture is designing the building, which will be 29,000 square feet. Opening is set for the fall of 2012, according to the school's website.

The school said the total cost including design, permits, project management, equipment, taxes and contingency is estimated at $9.2 million. The Icicle Fund of Leavenworth offered a lead gift to begin fundraising.

The college now uses the former Eagles Lodge on Ninth Street for music education and art classes, but the HVAC system, lighting and acoustics are inadequate. The Wenatchee School District plans to purchase and remodel the Eagles Lodge for a new WestSide High School. Wenatchee Valley College would get the WestSide High School property.

Award: Silver ADDY® Award

Category: Collateral Material, Stationery Package

Advertiser: Integrus Architecture

Title: Integrus Architecture Stationery

Credits: CK Anderson, Creative Director

John Mraz, Designer

Shirlee Roberts, Production Designer

Johnston Printing, Printer

Marcine Herron, Client

Since the 1950's, the creative industry has gathered for the AAF Spokane (Spokane Advertising Federation) Advertising Awards. Formerly the "MAX" Awards and now known as the "Inland Northwest ADDY® Awards," these awards salute the year's best creative work in a variety of categories.

The goal of the annual ADDY® Awards is to recognize and reward creative excellence in the art of advertising. Our ADDY® Awards Competition is the local or first level of a three-tiered national competition conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). You'll see the awards proudly displayed on the walls and desks of industry offices throughout Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. The Inland Northwest ADDY® Awards Competition is administered by the Spokane Advertising Federation.

The ADDY® Awards Competition is the industry’s largest and most representative competition for creative excellence. Entry into the ADDY® Awards supports our entire industry, because AAF and its local and district membership use the proceeds to enhance advertising through programs such as internships, advocacy groups and advertising education.

Integrus Architecture is pleased to announce the advancement of Rebecca Baibak P., AIA, LEED AP, REFP, to Principal, increasing the number of firm owners to nine. Rebecca’s dedication to her work, her professional approach, and her commitment to the firm is recognized through this promotion and share of firm ownership.

Rebecca’s passion for environmental and educational facility design has been instrumental in the firm’s success. Recent projects include Rachel Carson Elementary School and Benjamin Rush Elementary Schools with Lake Washington School District; Sherwood Forrest Elementary School and Tyee Middle School with Bellevue School District; Park Place Middle School planning with Monroe School District; Shorecrest High School with Shoreline School District; Sacred Heart Parish and School and Assumption St. Bridget School with the Archdiocese of Seattle. She also integrated her passion for environmental and educational design in coordinating the Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol for Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Spokane as one of the state pilot projects of the protocol.

Rebecca’s role extends beyond projects to include active participation in professional organizations such as the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) and Committee on the Environment (COTE). In addition, she’s utilized her leadership skills on the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) , where she is currently the co-chair of the CEFPI conference program committee and has held many roles within the organization over the years. Her professional involvement has positioned her to be a recognized leader in Washington educational and sustainable design communities.

Rebecca holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Detroit Mercy, and a degree in Business Administration from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She enjoys being a part of great teams that create inspiring architecture, specifically learning environments, to last for future generations.

Alice A. Payne Health Care Center at the Washington Corrections Center for Women has achieved Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED®) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED® is an internationally recognized green building certification system aimed at identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance solutions.

Obtaining certification is a rigorous process and required the efforts of the entire project team including Integrus Architecture, Dept. of Corrections, WPC, and our subcontractor team members. The LEED® certification demonstrates our team's leadership, innovation, and environmental stewardship.

The Vashon Island School District is preparing for a $27 million addition and renovation to Vashon High School.

Work will involve constructing a 36,000-square-foot classroom and lab building, razing two buildings and modifying several other school buildings.

Integrus Architects is the architect and Heery International is the management consultant.

The largest renovation will be a remodel of Building A, a 42,000-square-foot multipurpose building that will have new space for drama, performing arts, vocational technology, and administration and student services. There will also be new spaces for the library, cafeteria and commons.

Electrical, mechanical, technology and seismic improvements are another piece of the project.

Minor changes are planned for buildings D, K and F, which hold, respectively, a gym, classrooms, and visual and performing arts space.

Campus improvements will include new concrete plazas, a rain garden, an expansion of the septic system and drain field, and new lighting and pavement for the parking lot.

Two buildings, B and C, will remain occupied throughout construction, then demolished once the work is completed.

Work is scheduled to start in June of 2012 and finish by August of 2014.

The American Institute of Architects Washington Council elected its 2011 board of directors which includes Tim White of Integrus Architecture. - DJC, Janiary 5, 2011

Construction will start next summer on a 100,000-square-foot replacement for Hudtloff Middle School in Lakewood.  The new school and updated athletic fields are projected to cost about $46 million, according to Kim Prentice, director of community relations for Clover Park School District.  The new school will be behind the existing one at 8102 Phillips Road S.W.  The older school has been in use for 54 years and will be razed when the new complex is done in the winter of 2012.  Integrus Architecture is designing the two-story school, which will house 750 to 800 students in grades six through eight.

Besides classrooms, the school will have a commons, library, cafeteria/performance space, gym and athletic fields. A wing for science, art and technology classes will have lots of daylighting, said Brian Carter, Principal in Charge of the project for Integrus.  Art and career/technology classrooms will have open ceilings so power and data systems can be moved easily.  The project is designed to meet the Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol.  It will include rain gardens to filter stormwater, recycled materials, low-VOC paint and materials, and durable finishes.  Prentice said the district aims to build energy efficient and technologically up-to-date schools.  “We're really trying to match our facilities with the educational program,” she said. - DJC, December 22, 2010 

The Washington state Department of Corrections has selected Integrus Architects to conduct the siting process, prepare an environmental impact statement and provide design services for a new 320,000 sq-ft reception-center facility for male offenders at a location within western Washington.  The project site is to be determined by the consultant. The project goal is LEED certification.  The estimated construction cost is $167 million. - Engineering News Record, December 29, 2010

The new Spiritridge Elementary School is expected to be finished in August.  CHG Building Systems is erecting structural steel for two schools in the Bellevue School District; Spiritridge Elementary School and Tyee Middle School. The two projects involve erecting more than 1,250 tons of steel, joists and metal decking.  Both projects are concrete slab-on-grade with CMU and steel structures, steel bar joists with steel decking, rigid insulation and single-ply roof membrane or metal roofing. The exterior walls are constructed of steel studs and CMU. Exterior finishes on the stud walls are brick veneer, phenolic panels and fiber-reinforced cementitious panels.

The new 117,900-square-foot Tyee Middle School, located at 13630 S.E. Allen Road, is also being built on the site of the original school. The school, except for the 10,000-square-foot gymnasium, was demolished earlier this year. The new school will handle 25 percent more students. Spee West Construction is the general contractor and Integrus Architecture is the architect and engineer. Construction is scheduled for completion in August 2012. - DJC, December 20, 2010

If environmentalism and education go hand in hand, Rachel Carson Elementary School in Sammamish teaches with soft authority. Its bright, welcoming spaces unfold with flowing ease.  The mysterious charm of this school begins with its overall geometry.  Behind its clean lines and modernist features is a plan that radiates along an arcing circulation spine.  Two two-story wings and a single-story one are strung along the curving main corridor. The outside of the curve faces a parent drop-off driveway on busy 244th Avenue Northeast.  On the inside, the main door leads out to a bus drive shared with neighboring Inglewood Junior High School.

Lots of daylight

Until about four years ago, the site had lain in reserve for some time as the Lake Washington School District population grew.  According to Architect Rebecca Baibak of Integrus Architecture, designing a new building for an entirely new school entailed a certain kind of freedom.  “Because we did not (yet) have users, we really wanted to respond to the environment,” she said. “It's better for the environment if the elements of the site dictate the plan.”  You could say that daylight is a teacher at Rachel Carson Elementary School.

The outer wall of the curving second-floor corridor is punched with small windows with colored panes — graduating from warm colors at the south end to greens and blues at the north.  The larger windows at each end complete the theme of changing light and temperature — with a frog at the north and an abstract sun in the  south.  On each floor of three wings, classrooms wrap around a community space, and some of them have two outer walls. The walls between classrooms and the shared instructional area are mostly glass, too, and the combination yields daylight and views throughout.  Each flexible instructional space can be used for many combinations of students engaged in a number of activities from computer work to individual tutoring to guest presentations.  “We take our cue from student profiles,” said Lake Washington School District facilities director Forrest Miller. “Students learn in different modalities.” Individual tutoring or team teaching that works to match those modalities is possible in these kinds of flexible spaces, he said.

Lessons in collaboration

Mary Cronin has been principal since the school opened in the fall of 2008, and she credits the plan with creating new opportunities for teachers and students.  “The learning space is actually doubled from the classrooms in the pod,” she said. And it puts teacher collaboration at a premium.  “They know that this is the value we have here at the school.”  From classrooms to community spaces, there is a lot of flexibility designed into the school. A music room, commons area and gym can open together as one large space for staged performances and community meetings. Long bowstring trusses in these large spaces repeat the geometry of the curving circulation spine.  Even the library can be transformed for community use. Combined laboratory and art rooms allow big projects to be managed in one place, designed to accommodate lots of traffic in and out of doors as well as major cleanup efforts. There is a kiln, and guest artists of all kinds — including ceramic artists — volunteer in the school.  The flexibility extends to future expansion. The one-story kindergarten wing is designed to accept a second story, when timing and funding are right. The building itself is a laboratory for sustainable design and construction. Because of the radial plan, classroom wings capture optimum daylight and views, some with two sides facing the outdoors. Radiant heating is in the concrete floor, and classrooms are naturally ventilated, with operable windows.

Sustainable design

The main walls are built of load-bearing concrete block, part of a strategy to provide durable finishes but one that also increases thermal mass and lowers energy needs, according to Baibak.  At just over seven acres, there was not enough site area to rely on geothermal energy for all the heating, so the heat supply is a combination geothermal system and gas boiler.  Green roofs catch and filter stormwater, and rain garden landscapes in three courtyards beside and between the wings are designed for maximum biofiltration, slowing runoff and cleaning it.  One of the most visible green features of the school is the forested area that remains on the bus driveway side of the building. During good weather, groups are likely to use the area to get a taste of the remaining forest in Seattle's outermost suburb, studying second-growth habitat and nurse logs.

Whether they are sharing in a community celebration, walking down the wide open corridor, sitting on the heated floor or pulling up chairs at classroom tables, students at Rachel Carson Elementary School have a great base to begin growing a more sustainable world.

Jury comments:

“A wonderful, humane, beautifully scaled learning environment. Interior spaces and finishes are proportioned to elicit fun, fantasy and perspective.  “The school combines an attractive modesty with inventive design that has both historic references to mid-century modern design and a clear attention to the experience of its young users. The curving, multi-windowed wall, with windowsills at heights for all ages, is playful without being cartoonish.”

The Project of the Month is sponsored by the Daily Journal of Commerce and the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The project for October was selected with the assistance of urban planner Ray Gastil, architect Sandra Mallory, and architect Michael Wishkoski. - DJC, October 13, 2010

Construction is scheduled to begin soon at Ingraham High School in North Seattle, where a two-story, 22,000-square-foot classroom addition will be built.  A 41-year-old modular classroom building will be demolished.  The original high school was completed 1959.  The 12-classroom addition, designed by Integrus Architects, will be built on the west side of the school.  The project also entails a parking lot expansion, new on-site water treatment and better pedestrian connections between the school and the city-owned Helene Madison Pool, located east of the Ingraham campus.

Community concerns over plans to cut down trees on the northwest corner of the site, at North 135th Street and Ashworth Avenue North, led to design changes.  A planned exterior courtyard has been replaced with a smaller enclosed atrium.  About three-fourths of the trees in the affected part of the site will remain, according to the school district. More than 10 new trees will be planted for each of the 29 trees removed.  The funding  for this project is from a 2007 bond levy. - DJC, August, 2010

The Washington State University College of Nursing Building recently received an Honor Award from the Spokane chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Designed by Integrus Architecture in association with Seattle’s LMN Architects, the 85,655-SF building, located on WSU’s Spokane campus, was completed in 2008 at a cost of $25.2 million.

Local architects submitted 22 projects for consideration in AIA Spokane’s 2010 Design Awards, a competition chaired by Julie Snow, FAIA, with a jury comprising members of the AIA Minneapolis chapter. The Nursing Building is one of three award winners announced.

Integrus Architecture was awarded the Walla Walla police station project to be located at 54 E. Moore Street.  The 29,000-square-foot police station; single-story structure will have a community room, administrative offices, crime scene and evidence storage, locker rooms, meeting and training rooms, workout facility and detective offices have an estimated cost is $7.3 million.

The Walla Walla Police Department has been located in the basement of City Hall for 101-years.  As other operations (i.e. Jail, Dispatch, Municipal Court) have moved out of the building, the Police Department has expanded their operation into the vacated spaces and currently occupies approximately 9,000 square feet. Additional space requirements necessitated portions outside of the current building.  The inadequate space and multiple operational locations have created inefficiencies in police operations.  In March 2006 the City Council authorized a Space Needs Assessment, which was completed in November 2006 by Integrus Architecture.  The assessment found the policy facility to be "significantly under-sized" for their current operational needs.

In April 2007, the City Council authorized the formation of an Ad Hoc Citizens Steering Committee to find suitable building sites for a new facility. Through public outreach the Committee identified potential sites, developed and applied site criteria and provided their recommendation to the Council.  The site selected by the Committee is on Moore Street across from the City Service Center.

Additional input from community members related to project costs were sought. The consensus was that overall project costs should not exceed $12-million dollars and/or 50-cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.  Integrus Architecture applied the Space Needs Assessment information and developed four building options which would suit the selected building site.  Upon further evaluation the City Council selected the most viable option which met both the operational needs of the Police Department and was within the cost guidelines suggested by community members. - DJC, September 13, 2010

The state Department of Corrections is adding a building to the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen to consolidate its furniture making operations.  Inmates make furniture for state agencies, counties, cities, nonprofits and higher education.  Most of the plant's equipment will come from McNeil Island Corrections Center, but equipment for making cubicals will be moved from Monroe to Aberdeen.

The department recently decided to split the project into two packages so the shell for the 47,600-square-foot building can be enclosed before the rainy season hits.  The first package includes the structure, roof and foundation for a pre-engineered metal building.  The second package will construct the interior slab and tenant improvements.  The plant will be built next to a powder-coat and upholstery factory, shown here. They will share a common roof but will be separate buildings.  Access between them will be through two roll-up doors and two pedestrian doors.  Inmates at McNeil Island have been making furniture since 1983.  About 230 inmates are expected to work in the new factory.

The design team includes: Integrus Architecture, architect; Pinnacle Consulting Group, industrial process engineer; Hargis Engineers, electrical, telecommunications and security; Inventrix Engineering, mechanical; and Hultz BHU Engineers, electrical. - DJC, AUgust 23, 2010

SPOKANE, Wash. – The federal government plans to spend about $31.3 million to upgrade the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse in Spokane, making it a “high-performance green building,” the U.S. General Services Administration announced today.

Lydig Construction Inc. of Spokane and McKinstry of Seattle were awarded the design-build contract for the project. The team also includes Integrus Architecture, DEI Electrical Consultants, and Power City Electric, all of Spokane. Construction is expected to begin this summer or fall and wrap up by summer 2012, said Ross Buffington, a GSA spokesman.

The 46-year-old, nine-story building houses about 300 federal employees of the U.S. Courts, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service, Military Entrance Processing Station, U.S. Attorneys, Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Geologic Survey, and Department of Homeland Security.

The modernization project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. GSA has appropriated more than $5.5 billion to convert federal facilities into green buildings and construct energy-efficient federal facilities.

SEATTLE, Wash. – Integrus was recently selected to provide architecture and engineering services for the addition and modernization of Vashon High School. The project includes the removal of three buildings, renovation of Building A to work more effectively for administrative and educational uses, and a new classroom building. Services include pre-design, programming/educational specifications, design, cost estimating, scheduling, permitting, and construction administration.

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Eric Johnston Science Center (EJSC) is an existing science building that will be expanded and remodeled to house physics, biology (partial), math/computer science, and health sciences. The project will be phased so that the building can remain at least partially occupied at all times. The addition will form an aesthetic link between the existing EJSC building and the new science building currently under construction. This renovation and addition will further enhance and develop the “Science Neighborhood” in tandem with the new science building, as well as exterior green space and outdoor classrooms.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Wellpinit School District No. 49 has hired Integrus Architecture to provide architectural services to assist in project planning, programming,  and design, along with assistance in bidding and construction administration. The project is a renovation and modernization of the existing high school/elementary school.

Shoreline School District voters passed a $150 million bond measure that will fund replacements for Shorewood and Shorecrest high schools.  Another $35 million is expected in matching funds from the state, according to Deputy Superintendent Marsha Harris.  Harris said the 50-year-old schools mostly will be replaced, but the theater at Shorecrest will be saved and modified. She said they plan to seek bids for general contractors for both schools in mid-2011. Both are expected to be finished in the fall of 2013.  Integrus Architecture is designing Shorecrest.  - DJC, February 24, 2010