SUBMIT YOUR PROJECTS!
2022Record Eligible projects include those that
Houses incorporate innovation in program,
building technology, materials,
and form. Winning projects will
be selected by an editorial jury and
published in the April 2022 issue of
Architectural Record.
To enter, visit architecturalrecord.com/call4entries
DEADLINE: JANUARY 18, 2022
RECORD HOUSES 2021 WINNER: STONY HILL HOUSE,
AMAGANSETT, NEW YORK, BY BATES MASI + ARCHITECTS.
PHOTO BY PAUL MASI.
SHOP THE
Architectural Record
BOOKSTORE!
Architect's Square Foot Architectural Detailing: Mass Timber / Research
Costbook, 2022 Edition Function, Constructibility, and Design
The square-foot estimating Aesthetics, 3rd Edition Mass Timber / Design and Re-
guide created specifically for The industry-standard guide search presents new research
architects to designing well-performing and design work with Mass
buildings Timber, a new construction
technology, well-known in Eu-
rope, but relatively unfamiliar
in the United States
architecturalrecord.com/books
CULTURE
Welcome to the Block
SO - IL designs the sophisticated Amant Art Center in the midst of a heavily industrial area in Brooklyn.
BY JOSEPHINE MINUTILLO
NEXT DOOR is a slaughterhouse. Down the block are busy ware- and where she decided to create a residency for other rising stars.
houses and a truck depot; a few hundred yards away, a rundown hall Amant Art Center began in 2014 with a site but no real program,
for exotic dancers. It’s not where you’d expect to find an arts center or,
for that matter, its philanthropist founder hanging out. But it is this other than to provide studios to young artists. Both would expand over
gritty part of East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, to which Lonti Ebers the years to encompass multiple lots and diverse functions, such as exhi-
would frequently travel to visit the studios of the artists she collects, bition and performance. Florian Idenburg of SO – IL—whom Ebers had
met when she was on the board of the New Museum and he was oversee-
PHOTOGRAPHY: © NAHO KUBOTA
A GALLERY building, constructed from the ground up
with elaborately arrayed brick topped by aluminum
panels, includes a 23-foot-tall exhibition space.
51
6
1 ENTRANCE 4
2 GALLERY 5
3 CAFÉ/BOOKSTORE
4 COURTYARD 1
5 LIVING SPACE
6 THEATER MAUJER STREET
n PERFORMANCE SPACE 12 PHOTOGRAPHY: © NAHO KUBOTA (TOP AND OPPOSITE, BOTTOM); IWAN BAAN (OPPOSITE, TOP)
n GALLERY 2
n ARTIST’S STUDIO
n OFFICE
n CAFE
n UTILITY
n RECEPTION
Credits CLIENT: Lonti Ebers/Amant Foundation 4
SIZE: 21,000 square feet 3
ARCHITECT: SO - IL — Florian Idenburg, Jing Liu, COST: withheld 2
Ilias Papageorgiou, Kevin Lamyuktseung COMPLETION DATE: September 2021
1
ARCHITECT OF RECORD: ARAPC, Andrew Reyniak Sources
MASONRY: Acme GRAND STREET
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: John O’Hara Company METAL PANELS: 618 Design
SKYLIGHTS: Kawneer SITE PLAN 0 30 FT.
ENGINEERS: Silman (structural); CES DOORS: Skyframe 10 M.
Engineering, Plus Group Consulting Engineering LIGHTING: Cree, Erco (interior); Ecosense
(m/e/p); Bohler Engineering, Plus Group (exterior)
Consulting Engineering (civil); Langan, PMT
Laboratories (geotechnical)
CONSULTANTS: Future Green Studio (landscape);
Buro Happold (lighting); Simpson Gumpertz &
Heger (building envelope); Reg Hough Associates
(concrete); Harvey Marshall Berling Associates (AV,
security); Paratus Group (owner representative)
52 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
THE STUDIO building features corrugated concrete above smooth
(opposite). In the renovated gallery building, the largest exhibition space
features six scooping skylights (above) and aluminum-clad corridors (right).
ing construction of that institution’s new building in Manhattan for
SANAA (2007)—would help shape Amant as it grew to include more
structures, even if at the time SO – IL had little built work to its credit.
The firm, led by Idenburg and Jing Liu, had, however, recently
completed the Kukje Gallery in Seoul (record, July 2012) and won
the competition to design the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the
University of California at Davis (record, December 2016) the year
before. Kukje, with its chainmail veil, and Manetti Shrem, with its
swooping canopy, became early examples of SO – IL’s unique ability to
transform mundane materials or building elements into exciting new
forms, a skill that is also evident—in smaller rather than overarching
moves—at Amant.
But at Amant, more than those others, the urban strategy, particularly
given its colorful, if not necessarily visitor-friendly, location, was just as
important as the architectural one. The eventual campus appears like a
game of Monopoly, with small, blocky structures populating one, then
another, then another nearby lot. But these are not cookie-cutter buildings.
A total of four renovated and newly constructed edifices, scaled to
their neighbors—which also include some grandfathered houses in this
industrial zone—emerged. The first, clad in backward-facing beige
brick and opening onto the noisy Grand Street, is an existing though
much-altered structure. Behind it, a new two-story pile of elaborately
arrayed white brick, topped by shimmering aluminum panels, faces the
quieter Maujer Street, where, directly across, there is a third, poured-
in-place concrete building, also two stories—smooth at the bottom,
corrugated higher up. Finally, separated by a lushly planted courtyard,
the last poured-concrete structure culminates the journey that SO – IL
has defined with subtle formal gestures that unite the entire assembly.
A marquee, for instance, draws visitors into the alley serving the two
53
brick-clad gallery structures, one of which PHOTOGRAPHY: © IWAN BAAN (3); NAHO KUBOTA (OPPOSITE, 2)
contains a café and bookstore as well. (The
cantilevering triangle is also a balcony for the
offices on that building’s second level.) Across
the street, a single amorphously shaped win-
dow—“We didn’t want it to be a circle, we
didn’t want it to be a square,” says Idenburg—
invites curiosity about what goes on in the large
studio building (even if the artists are creating
in the spartan workspaces on the floor above
the opening). Somewhat similarly shaped and
sized metal grilles dot the floors throughout the
interiors; raked concrete sections of pavement
also hint at the connections between structures.
Galvanized Unistrut channels, generally used
for mounting conduit and mechanicals from
ceilings, here are fashioned into impressive
gates: instead of being off-putting, they indicate
to passersby that what’s behind those gates is
worth exploring.
Inside, thresholds and interstitial spaces are
as meticulously detailed as program areas, to
mark transitions from the bustle of the neigh-
borhood into this tranquil enclave for art, or
from first-rate galleries to a homey living space
to a no-nonsense theater. Those main rooms
are in some ways as different from each other as
the exterior treatments of the individual build-
ings but, likewise, have a similar feel of eccen-
tric sophistication that ties them all together.
In the biggest gallery, in the renovated
existing structure, SO-IL removed a central
column and inserted six scooping skylights that
cut through the 3½-foot-thick ceiling. In the
tallest gallery, in the building behind, a clere-
story window brings hazy daylight in past the
upper level’s thin aluminum louvered panels.
Flamboyant furnishings in the living space,
which includes a kitchen and dining area for the
four artists in residence, continue the pops of
color that spring up in the café and courtyards.
But even in that private space for the artists,
visible through a large glass wall in the planted
courtyard, touches of refinement distinguish
the design. A curved, corrugated concrete
reading nook, for instance, is strikingly paired
with perforated acoustic paneling that makes
its way up to the studios on the second floor.
That refinement sets the entire ensemble of
buildings apart—not hard to do in these
surroundings, yes; but it does so without
screaming for attention. That is a credit to the
architects, who have, since starting work in
this scrappy part of Brooklyn, designed more
spaces for art in other parts of the world, and
have been short-listed for even more. The
completion of Amant’s exceptional campus
has put the now firmly established SO – IL
on the cusp of bigger projects to come. n
54 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
A READING NOOK
in the artists’ private
living space pairs
corrugated concrete
and perforated
paneling (above); its
curving exterior form
extends into the
planted courtyard
(right). A clerestory
window illuminates
the tallest gallery
(opposite, top). The
gallery buildings,
which share another
courtyard, feature
different exterior
arrangements of
brick (opposite,
middle and bottom).
55
CULTURE
Musical Composition
Reiser+Umemoto arrange three very different buildings as the Taipei Music Center.
BY FRED A. BERNSTEIN
“PRODUCING A WINNING competition of their careers, by far. “Not many firms our size
entry is one thing, but building it is another,” says get a chance to do something like this,” says
Nanako Umemoto. In 2009, the New York firm Reiser (their office, in a former factory in Harlem,
she founded with her husband, Jesse Reiser, in has fewer than a dozen people).
1986 was invited to enter a competition for what
was then called the Taiwan Pop Music Center. The reason they won the competition, Reiser
Since the turn of the century, Taiwan had been and Umemoto believe, is that they took maximum
losing dominance in pop music to Japan and advantage of the 23-acre site. Their competitors,
Korea, and its government wanted to create a they say, were doing “miniature urbanism” within
place, according to the competition brief, “to a single building. “We decided, with all this space,
gather creative talents, trends, and brands.” why not do real urbanism?” Reiser says.
Perhaps with the youthful audience for pop “All this space” consists of two parcels sepa-
music in mind, Taipei’s department of cultural rated by a highway—the program called for a
affairs bypassed late-career architects for the invit- pedestrian bridge connecting them. Reiser and
ed competition in favor of a younger generation Umemoto placed the center’s largest space, the
that included Jeanne Gang, Julien de Smedt, and 5,000-seat performance hall, on the hexagonal
Reiser+Umemoto (R+U). parcel, where it could be entered at grade or, one
story up, directly from the bridge. The clamshell-
Working with Taiwan’s Fei and Cheng shaped venue has a pleated roof, reminiscent of
Associates, R+U won the competition, but that origami, but with softer folds. “We wanted it to
was only the start of a 10-year saga, during which hover between being organic and being crystal-
the client, program, and even the project name line,” says Reiser. The roof ’s steel decking is cov-
changed: the word “pop” was dropped to broaden ered in Alumite, an anodized aluminum that gives
the center’s appeal before an appearance by Yo-Yo it a golden cast. The hall itself is a crystalline box
Ma. Despite the collaboration with the local archi- covered in gypsum board, which sits inside the
tects, Reiser and Umemoto kept firmly involved in larger steel frame of the building. Pleating the
steering the 755,000-square-foot project toward auditorium walls, for acoustical purposes, extend-
completion, producing many of the working draw- ed the origami theme into the fan-shaped room.
ings in their New York office. “It’s not as if we The expansive lobby is a tour de force. Glass
handed it off at any point,” says Reiser. introduced between steel structural members
creates angled windows, their black frames con-
Because of the pandemic, the architects haven’t trasting sharply with the white walls enclosing the
been to the site in more than two years, but they auditorium. One prominent opening in those
are enjoying having completed the biggest project
walls, for the ticket booth, was
designed by Umemoto in the PHOTOGRAPHY: © YANA ZHEZHELA & ALEK VATAGIN (EXCEPT AS NOTED) THE CLAMSHELL-SHAPED
shape of a baby’s mouth, she performance hall is linked to the
says, “because most ticket music museum and industrial
booths are boring.” Elsewhere in shell via a pedestrian bridge (left
the public spaces, the white and this page).
walls curve or cant at angles.
Across the bridge, on the nar-
row southern parcel, Umemoto,
who studied landscape architec-
ture and urban design in her
native Japan before moving to
the U.S., helped create a plinth
that reads as topography. The
plinth surrounds a grade-level
outdoor performance space. The
firm designed several coverings
for the performance space, in
deference to local noise laws, but
56 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
57
1 4
2 3
A
SITE PLAN 1 PERFORMANCE HALL 0 150 FT.
7 8 2 MUSIC MUSEUM 50 M.
3 INDUSTRIAL SHELL
4 PLAZA 5 PARKING
6 PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE
7 STAGE
8 LOBBY
5
CROSS SECTION A - A 0 50 FT.
15 M.
A
PERFORMANCE HALL - FLOOR PLAN 0 50 FT.
15 M.
58 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
PHOTOGRAPHY: © COURTESY REISER+UMEMOTO AND FEI AND CHENG ASSOCIATES the client, Reiser says, chose not to build them and suffers the conse- A PAVED plaza extends from beneath the plinth of the cubic cultural hall
quences. By day, the performance space serves as a public plaza; it is (opposite). Pleats inside the theater (top) mimic its facade, while canted
ringed by stores and restaurants, in an arrangement the architects walls animate lobbies (above).
compare to Rome’s Piazza Navona.
Rising over the west end of the plinth is a cubic building containing
a music museum, its glass-enclosed internal stairways pushed outside
the east elevation (Reiser and Umemoto designed the stairways but
were not otherwise involved in that building’s interiors). At the east
end of the plaza is another structure, shaped like a meteor, called the
“industry shell,” which contains offices and recording studios. “It’s a
machine for rolling out new musicians and groups,” says R+U associate
Jasmine Lee. A recess beneath the plinth contains a stage and back-
stage areas.
Seen from above, the industry shell—a concrete enclosure topped by
about an acre of perforated stainless-steel panels—resembles a kind of
abstract painting, with darker and lighter patches following no discern-
ible pattern. According to the architects, the surface was meant to have
a uniform appearance, but the contractor oriented some of the hun-
dreds of panels incorrectly. (The direction of the perforations deter-
mines how much light each panel reflects as the sun moves through the
sky.) “I was shocked at first,” says Reiser of the 30,000-square-foot
error, “but then I started to like it.”
Despite the building’s angular metallic facades, the architects reject
comparisons between their work and that of Frank Gehry or Zaha
Hadid. “We do share with them a desire to expand the sensual and
emotive possibilities of architectural expression, but our way couldn’t
59
PUBLIC AREAS are painted white, and contrast
with the black armature at entrances and
windows (left, top and bottom).
be more different,” says Reiser. He sees
Gehry as focused on particular formal out-
comes. And the parametricism of Zaha
Hadid Architects doesn’t appeal to the
couple, who design with physical models.
Hundreds of them, in a huge range of mate-
rials, fill their office. “We’re not so tied to a
computational way of thinking,” says firm
associate Julian Harake.
Of course, many of the firm’s choices are
driven by aesthetics. “We wanted something
that would be distinctive on the horizon and
would resonate with the mountains in the
background,” says Reiser. “And the program
called for an ‘iconic’ building.” At the same
time, the facades have few identifying fea-
tures. “We were trying to eliminate easy
reading of scale,” he adds, “and to achieve
visual continuity over many acres.” In doing
so, they created a tabula rasa on which the
music industry can write its own story.
Almost literally: at night, the entire complex
serves as a screen for colorful projections,
and the somewhat austere architecture
pulses with life. “The years of drawing,
model-making, and even site visits didn’t
prepare us for the vast scale and energy of
the project,” says Umemoto. “We created a
city in the city.” n
Credits
ARCHITECT: Reiser+Umemoto, RUR
Architecture — Jesse Reiser, Nanako Umemoto
ARCHITECT OF RECORD:
Fei and Cheng Associates
ENGINEERS: Arup and Supertech Consultants
International (structural); Meinhardt Facade
Technology (building envelope); IsLin &
Associates Consulting Engineers (mechanical);
Minginer Consultant (electrical and plumbing)
GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
Chun Yuan Construction and Reiju Construction
CONSULTANTS: Arup (theater and acoustics);
Environmental Arts Design (landscape); Focus
Lighting and Rehouse Design Group (lighting)
CLIENT: Taipei City Government
SIZE: 755,000 square feet
COST: $160 million (construction)
COMPLETION DATE: October 2020
Sources
ROOFING: Bemo
GLAZING: Taiwan Glass Industry
CONVEYANCE: Mitsubishi Electric, Kone
THEATER SEATING: Kotobuki
60 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
The DESIGN:ED Podcast by Architectural Record
takes you inside the profession through informal
conversations with the field’s leading architects and
designers.
Hosted by Austin, Texas–based architect Aaron Prinz,
Architectural Record’s DESIGN:ED podcast features
the most renowned architects of our time—such as
Thom Mayne, Kengo Kuma, Vivian Lee, and Glenn
Murcutt, as well as rising professionals in the next
generation, such as Michael Murphy, Jenny Wu and
Pascale Sablan.
TUNE IN TO HEAR INSPIRING STORIES FROM DESIGN LEADERS, POSTED TWICE A MONTH
DECEMBER PODCAST GUESTS:
Amanda Petretti and Rick Joy
Amanda Petretti Rick Joy Kai-Uwe Bergmann
Studio Petretti Studio Rick Joy Bjarke Ingels Group (B.I.G.)
Melodie Yashar Jennifer Luce Frank Barkow
ICON LUCE et Studio Barkow Leibinger
Marion Weiss Reinier de Graaf Kirsten Ring Murray
Weiss/Manfredi OMA Olson Kundig
www.architecturalrecord.com/designed-podcast
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio FOLLOW: Instagram
IMAGE COURTESY OF SMART VENT PRODUCTS, INC.
BUILD
YOUR SKILLS
Earn your credits and expand your expertise on resilient design at:
ce.bnpmedia.com
Find these and many more available Lunch & Learn presentations at
ce.architecturalrecord.com/ee
INTERIOR DOORS ARE KEY TO SCHOOL POROUS PAVING
SECURITY 1 AIA LU/Elective
1 AIA LU/HSW Presented by: Invisible Structures, Inc.
Presented by: Masonite International Corporation
ALUMINUM COIL ANODIZING FOR
ADVANCEMENTS IN CLADDING SUPPORT ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
SYSTEMS, DESIGN + PERFORMANCE 1 AIA LU/HSW
1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 GBCI CE Hour; 1 IIBEC CEH Presented by: Lorin Industries
Presented by: CLADIATOR
INTEGRAL SHEATHING SOLUTIONS FOR
ADVANTAGES OF SPECIFYING PREFINISHED MULTI-FAMILY PROJECTS
SIDING SYSTEMS 1 AIA LU/HSW
1 AIA LU/Elective Presented by: Georgia-Pacific Building Products
Presented by: Diamond Kote® Building Products
LINEAR DRAIN SYSTEMS: DESIGN,
TOUCH-FREE, HYGIENIC AND SUSTAINABLE INSTALLATION, & APPLICATION
HAND-DRYING SOLUTIONS FOR 1 AIA LU/Elective; 1 IDCEC CEU
COMMERCIAL RESTROOMS Presented by: Infinity Drain
1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 GBCI CE Hour; 1 IDCEC CEU/
HSW; 1 LEED AP O+M; 1 LEED AP BD+C; 1
LEED AP ID+C; 1 LEED GA; 1 WELL AP
Presented by: Dyson
CHECK OUT OUR JANUARY WEBINAR SCHEDULE
JANUARY 6, 2022 AT 2:00 PM EST JANUARY 12, 2022 AT 2:00 PM EST
ADA Signage: Mastering Designing Durable Building Enclosures:
the Compliance Basics Emerging design strategies for
high-performance buildings
EARN: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 ADA State Accessibility/Barrier-Free;
CANADIAN ARCHITECTS: 1 LEARNING HOUR EARN: 1 AIA LU/HSW; CANADIAN This webinar
ARCHITECTS: 1 LEARNING HOUR is part of the
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turned 30 years old in 2020.
Durability
Originally passed in 1990, the major revision to the Standards for
Accessible Design (SAD) in 2010 gave the law more teeth – compliance The building enclosure is arguably the most important factor Academy.
is now required and enforceable on the federal level.
in a durable building. It encompasses the most critical function
Since the ADA views visual impairments as a disability covered under
the Act, there are specific guidelines pertaining to signage products. The of a building: to separate the inside of the building from the outside.
two categories covered under interior signage are Wall Mounted, Ceiling
Mounted or Projected. Within the Wall Mounted category, Identification Therefore, it requires careful consideration from architects. This course
of permanent room signs, Directional signs, and Informational signs are
covered. Within the Ceiling or Projected Mounted category, Directional provides needed context to explain how sophisticated building enclosures
and Information signs are covered.
have evolved over time and delves deep into the best material selection
Speaker:
for the functioning of the building. Considerations include rain and vapor
strategies, acoustical performance, and fire and safety design.
Speakers:
Dan Roller Ryan Lobello, Todd Kimmel, Sara Bayer AIA,
Product Manager, AIA, CPHD CPHD, CDT CPHC, NCARB,
Architectural Senior Associate, NYC Architectural LEED AP
Signage, Handel Manager, Associate Principal
Inpro Architects ROCKWOOL and Director of
Insulation Sustainability,
Magnusson
Architecture and
Planning (MAP)
TO REGISTER FOR UPCOMING WEBINARS IN 2022, VISIT
HTTPS://CONTINUINGEDUCATION.BNPMEDIA.COM/WEBINARS
BUILDING TYPE STUDY 1,037
K-12 SCHOOLS
66 Thaden School
Bentonville, Arkansas
EskewDumezRipple, Marlon Blackwell Architects and Andropogon
74 Groupe Scolaire Antoine de Ruffi
Marseille, France
Tautem Architecture
80 Grant High School
Portland, Oregon
Mahlum Architects
86 Santa Monica High School Discovery Building
California
Moore Ruble Yudell and HED
92 Samuel Powel Elementary School and
Science Leadership Academy Middle School
Philadelphia
Rogers Partners
PHOTOGRAPHY: © TIM HURSLEY
THADEN SCHOOL, BENTONVILLE,
ARKANSAS; MARLON BLACKWELL
ARCHITECTS AND ESKEW DUMEZ RIPPLE
65
K-12 SCHOOLS
Reinvent
the Wheel
In Bentonville, Arkansas, a daring new campus
reflects an unorthodox approach to education.
BY BETH BROOME
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM HURSLEY
IT’S NOT EVERY DAY that a design team gets a crack at conceiving an
academic campus from the ground up. With their commission for the
private Thaden School—eventually serving about 500 students in grades
6-12, on a 32-acre campus in Bentonville, Arkansas—EskewDumezRipple
(EDR) and Marlon Blackwell Architects (MBA) seized this rare opportu-
nity with an adventurous spirit befitting the pioneering approach to educa-
tion that informed the master plan and architecture.
Envisioned by the Walton Family Foundation, the nonprofit led by
the founders of Walmart, the school is part of the mission to groom the
retail giant’s hometown as a sophisticated global headquarters that,
1 THADEN HOUSE 15
2 REELS BUILDING 13
3 HOME BUILDING 11
4 WHEELS
7
BUILDING 12 9
5 PERFORMANCE
6 BIKE BARN
7 CAMPUS QUAD
8 WATER LAB
9 AGRICULTURE
LANDSCAPE
10 OUTDOOR
PERFORMANCE
11 MOVIE LAWN
12 OUTDOOR
CLASSROOM
13 STUDENT
DROPOFF
14 PUMP TRACK
15 CYCLOCROSS
TRAIL
THE VARIOUS buildings, which embody the
school’s signature programs, are all distinct, but
share a formal language.
SITE PLAN 0 500 FT.
150 M.
66 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
67
K-12 SCHOOLS
THE HOME BUILDING (above), a stick-frame 21 5 1 ENTRANCE
structure clad in board and batten, houses the 14 2 DINING HALL
library and dining hall (right). 3 TEACHING KITCHEN
51 3 4 LIBRARY
with record-breaking population growth and 6 8 5 STUDY LOUNGE
new construction, remains pleasantly livable. 6 FACULTY OFFICES
7 SERVICE
In 2015, following a feasibility study, the 8 WATER LAB
foundation recruited Clayton Marsh, then
deputy dean of the college at Princeton 7 0 50 FT.
University, to launch and head a brand-new HOME BUILDING FLOOR PLAN 15 M.
school. “The brief was refreshing in its open-
endedness,” says Marsh, about the planned
coed, nonsectarian college-prep day school
with a focus on creativity. To foster inclusiv-
ity, families would pay tuition based on their
resources. (Marsh says the student body is
socioeconomically diverse, with about 80
percent of the families paying an amount
below the maximum.)
To develop the curriculum, Marsh took his
cues from the locale. For example, “you could
not overlook the culture of cycling that was
gaining traction here,” he says. (Bentonville
calls itself the Mountain Biking Capital of the
World.) Recalling a former Princeton colleague
who used the process of disassembling and
reassembling motorcycles to engage students in
the principles of mathematics, physics, and
engineering, Marsh considered the bicycle as a
medium for Thaden. And hoping to partner
with community organizations, he also thought
about how a nearby culinary institute could help
students delve into the economics, politics, and
biochemistry of the plate. In addition, he con-
sidered the role of a local film festival and the
history of art-making in Northwest Arkansas.
Thus evolved the three signature programs of
Thaden—Wheels, Meals, and Reels—that
would guide an interdisciplinary approach to
learning, with an emphasis on making.
68 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
6 3
7 4
2
2
3
2 32 33 7 7
3333 1 1
2
5 3 36
1
REELS BUILDING FLOOR PLAN 0 50 FT.
15 M.
1 ENTRANCE 5 FILM STUDIO
2 CHEM/SCIENCE LAB 6 SOCIAL SPACE PLYWOOD CEILINGS unite the classrooms (above, left) and double-
3 HUMANITIES CLASSROOM 7 ADMINISTRATION/MEETING loaded corridor (above) in the Reels Building (top).
4 ARTS ROOM
69
K-12 SCHOOLS
SECTION PERSPECTIVE THE BIKE BARN (above) serves as a gym (left) as well as a
70 ARCHITECTU R AL RECORD JANUARY 202 2 hub for cyclists using the nearby network of paths and
adjacent pump track (above, in foreground).
While putting together the curriculum and faculty,
Marsh helped craft an RFQ for a campus that would
complement the emerging pedagogy and become part of
the city’s fabric, both programmatically and physically.
The Walton foundation, which has created a design-excel-
lence program for Northwest Arkansas, invited a short list
of firms to submit for the project. EDR and MBA were
selected to collaborate on both the campus master plan and
the architecture. “What set EDR and MBA apart,” says
Marsh, “was their ability to translate our vision for the
school into architectural forms and spaces.”
The site, a former county fairgrounds, was an open field,
bordered by single-family houses and light industry and
bifurcated by a street running north–south to Bentonville’s
nearby main square. The planning challenge involved rec-
onciling the small amount of space required for the pro-
gram—just 136,000 square feet—and the enormous plot of
land. “We needed to develop a master plan that was as much
about the landscape as the buildings,” says Steve Dumez,
EDR principal and director of design; campus-planning
collaborator Andropogon adroitly handled the landscape.
“And it had to respond to Marsh’s idea of the classroom
being everywhere, with every space—inside and out—con-
ducive to learning.” In early conversations, Marsh had mem-
orably said, “When it’s cold, the kids need to feel the weath-
er, and when it rains, they need to get wet.” According to
Christian Rodriguez, EDR’s project architect, “That direc-
tive led us to arrive early at the concept of a porous campus”
of several low-slung single-story structures—rather than one
large building—with many openings connecting them to
meadows, vegetable and rain gardens, lawns, water features,
and meandering paths. On a recent afternoon, as a rain-
1 ENTRANCE
2 AUDITORIUM
3 MUSIC CLASSROOM
4 DRAMA CLASSROOM
5 FLEX CLASSROOM
6 ADMINISTRATION
7 BACK-OF-HOUSE
5 3 4
1 27
6
6
6
PERFORMANCE BUILDING FLOOR PLAN 0 50 FT. A STATE-OF-THE ART wood-paneled auditorium (above) is the heart of the
15 M. Performance building (top), which is also used by the local community.
storm moved in, children hesitated on a covered porch before flipping up Barn—which sits by itself across the street that cuts the campus in
hoodies and dashing across the quad to their next classes—an effective two—is a bright red gambrel-roofed, naturally ventilated wood struc-
way of learning the vagaries of mother nature. ture, abutting playing fields and a pump track for bikes. The barn
serves as a gymnasium and hub for cyclists using the network of nearby
The school was developed in phases, starting with a temporary trails. The most recent addition, the Performance building, houses a
modular facility designed by EDR that opened in 2017 (and is now state-of-the-art auditorium and practice rooms; on the northwest edge
gone). Four main buildings embrace a generous quad (with geothermal of campus, it is easily accessed by the public. An outlier—the diminu-
wells underneath) at their center. Each of the buildings embodies a tive white clapboard Thaden House, the relocated and renovated child-
signature program: Wheels, a lithe, snaking classroom building for hood home of Bentonville born-and-bred pioneering aviator Louise
math and physics, including a bike workshop; Reels, another serpen- Thaden, for whom the school is named—contains the admissions
tine academic building, for social sciences, art, and film, as well as office and sits along the dropoff area, next to a maple bosque.
administration; and Meals, or the Home building, a zigzagging struc-
ture with a soaring dining hall, a test kitchen, and library. The Bike Inspired by the poultry sheds that dot the landscape, the team origi-
71
K-12 SCHOOLS
THE WHEELS BUILDING houses classrooms and a bike workshop (left,
bottom), which opens to the street behind a soaring metal canopy (left,
top). A broad hallway is also a gathering place (above). Abundant
apertures, like the Reels Building’s breezeway (opposite), accommodate
learning spaces and foster a dialogue across campus.
1 1 71
24 5 6
33 3
7
WHEELS BUILDING FLOOR PLAN 0 50 FT.
15 M.
1 ENTRANCE
2 BIKE LAB 5 COLLABORATION
3 PHYSICS LAB 6 DIGITAL FABRICATION LAB
4 WOOD/METAL SHOP 7 TEACHER WORKROOM
72 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
nally conceived the campus as a series of linear volumes running east– square inch of its campus—and the designers’ cohesive but distinct ap-
west. The architects divided the design of the structures, with EDR proaches have clear didactic merit. No less important, the intrepid archi-
taking on the large Home building and MBA the classroom buildings, tecture and landscape this collaborative team has created can teach the
performance center, and barn. The forms evolved as the project pro- value of risk-taking and ignite imaginations into the future. n
gressed. For its building, EDR arranged the programmatic volumes
into a Z-shape, and created a cohesive whole by “draping” the assem- Credits CLIENT: Thaden School
blage with a standing-seam roof. For the Wheels and Reels buildings,
MBA cranked the linear forms and added cut-throughs, like porches ARCHITECTS: Marlon Blackwell SIZE: 136,000 square feet
and breezeways, to break up the long, narrow buildings’ walls. These Architects — Marlon Blackwell, (construction); 32 acres (site)
openings, along with those of the Home building, establish a dialogue Meryati Blackwell, Josh Matthews,
among structures across the quad, and can be used to bring learning Spencer Curtis, Bradford Payne, COST: withheld
outdoors. The articulation of the roofs—what MBA principal Marlon Stephen Reyenga, Colby Ritter,
Blackwell likes to call “pitching and rolling”—defines interior spaces Paul Mosley, Callie Kesel, Anna COMPLETION DATE:
and zones. “We thought about this as a type of carapace, where wall Morrison, Leonardo Leiva; March 2019–present
and roof are of the same material,” says the architect. Pleating on these EskewDumezRipple — Z Smith,
surfaces formed clerestories to bring daylight into the double-loaded Steve Dumez, Amanda Rivera, Sources
corridors. “The client believes the life of the school takes place in the Christian Rodriguez, Mike Johnson,
hallways,” notes MBA project manager Josh Matthews. Chris Jackson EXTERIOR CLADDING: Morin, East
Coast Metal Systems, Pac-Clad,
While the two firms’ work shares a formal language, with ground- MASTER PLAN: DuPont, Tubelite, American Fiber
hugging, vernacular-inspired volumes, they depart in their material use, EskewDumezRipple, Marlon Cement Company, JamesHardie
with MBA working largely with steel structures clad with a box-rib metal Blackwell Architects and
panel system and EDR using load-bearing 2-by-6 framing clad in fiber- Andropogon ROOFING: Firestone, Morin
cement board and batten, with recessed portions lined in cedar. “Carbon
and cost” drove the material choices, notes Dumez. Throughout, interiors CONSULTANTS: Ecological Design GLAZING: Viracon, Starphire,
employ a palette of practical materials, such as plywood and concrete, Group (civil); ECI (structural); Guardian, Vitro, Velux
underscoring the fact that this is a hands-on environment. CMTA Consulting Engineers
(m/e/p); Andropogon, Ecological DOORS: SteelCraft, Assa Abloy, C.R.
The Thaden School hopes to find a learning opportunity in every Design Group (landscape); TM Laurence, Kawneer
Light (lighting); Idibri (acoustics);
Charcoalblue (theater); Aqueous INTERIOR FINISHES: Tectum,
(irrigation) Homasote, Armstrong, PPG,
Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams
GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
Milestone, Nabholz, Crossland FURNISHINGS: Knoll, Herman
Miller, Haworth, Formaspace,
Landscape Forms
73
K-12 SCHOOLS
French
Lesson
Tautem Architecture shifts Marseille’s academic
terrain with a bold school building for young children.
BY ANDREW AYERS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUC BOEGLY
MARSEILLE, France’s gritty second city, was much in the news last
September when President Macron spent an unprecedented three days
there, on a mission to sort out the enormous problems facing this
ancient port. Among them is the state of Marseille’s schools, many of
which are underfunded and literally falling down. At the root of the
decline is late 20th-century deindustrialization, which saw the city lose
50,000 jobs and 150,000 inhabitants in just 20 years. The ongoing
regeneration of the half-abandoned port area—first launched in 1995
and baptized Euroméditerranée—focuses on 1,186 acres of land in and
around the Arenc and La Joliette neighborhoods. It now includes a new
school complex for the Groupe Scolaire Antoine de Ruffi, located in
the shadow of Zaha Hadid’s 2011 CMA-CGM headquarters (an
emblematic Euroméditerranée project right on the waterfront) that was
built to serve a rapidly evolving district.
An idea of the sweeping changes is clear from looking at the school’s
immediate neighbors: to the south, a 1930s social-housing block; to the
east, a 1910s soap factory, behind which are giant concrete grain silos;
to the north, on a party wall plot, an 18-story apartment building
currently under construction; and, to the west, a vast empty lot ear-
marked for an international school. “It’s rather a problem area,” says
Adrian Garcin, principal of Tautem, lead architect on the project.
“Cross the road, and you’re in another world. Moreover, we knew we
were going to have to exist next to dense, imposing projects. Given the
context, we felt the school should be a landmark for the neighborhood,
a reference point for its inhabitants.”
There was also the question of how to deal with a site that was
arguably too small for the required program: an école maternelle (ages
3 to 6) and an école élémentaire (ages 6 to 11), whose combined 480 or
so pupils needed 43,000 square feet of floor space, plus outdoor play-
grounds, that had to be squeezed into a 23,600-square-foot lot. “That
was the biggest challenge,” continues Garcin. “I think we won the design
74 A R C H I T E C T U R A L R E C O R D J A N UA R Y 2 0 2 2
LOCATED near Zaha
Hadid’s CMA-CGM
headquarters, the
prominent Groupe
Scolaire Antoine de
Ruffi building serves
a rapidly changing
community.
75
K-12 SCHOOLS
competition because our scheme proposed the largest playgrounds.”
The generous grade-level playground is protected at the heart of the
site behind classroom wings built right to the street line. Consequently,
the schools are stacked on top of each other, the école maternelle oc-
cupying levels one and two and the école élémentaire levels two, three,
and four. Although there is physical porosity between them, the
schools remain separate institutions, each with its own principal. They
share an entrance porch, but an open-air staircase, expressed on the
facade, allows elementary pupils to reach their part of the building
directly. They also have their own playground on the roof (maternelle
pupils use the courtyard), as well as a sports court, both of which enjoy
impressive views toward the port. Garcin, who grew up 60 miles away,
in Nîmes, knows the Mediterranean climate well, and adapted the
building accordingly. Its generously glazed courtyard facades, which
face north and west, are shaded by the broad overhangs of external
walkways, while the unbuilt western side of the site is enclosed by a
two-story-high “colonnade,” as Garcin describes it, that provides both
solar and visual veiling. The street facades, on the other hand, are far
less open, and realized in concrete—a material he considers better
suited to the local climate than wood, which he believes ages badly.
“The facades are a love letter to Mediterranean architecture, sculpted
by the sun,” says Garcin of the monumental elevations, which feature
33 5 1 ÉCOLE MATERNELLE
33 4 PLAYGROUND
2 CAFETERIA
3 ÉCOLE MATERNELLE
4 ÉCOLE ÉLÉMENTAIRE
PLAYGROUND
5 ÉCOLE ÉLÉMENTAIRE
A2 5
1 A
4
5
5
GROUND-FLOOR PLAN 0 30 FT. THIRD-FLOOR PLAN 0 30 FT.
10 M. 10 M.
5 4
54
4 1
0 30 FT.
SECTION A - A 10 M.
AXONOMETRIC DIAGRAM
76 ARCHITECTU R AL RECO RD JAN UARY 202 2
PLAYGROUNDS, terraces, classrooms, and a cafeteria (this page) have
views of Marseille’s rapidly growing Euroméditerranée area (opposite).
77
K-12 SCHOOLS
deep embrasures to protect the street-side glazing from the hottest rays. the exterior. The project’s environmental ambitions included making
They are cadenced according to a 4-foot measure, expressed in the the concrete as low-carbon as possible: mixed on-site to minimize
intervals of the colonnade, which wraps around the building both at deliveries, its sand and aggregate were sourced from nearby quarries,
roof level (protecting the sports court) and on the external stair. while two-thirds of the cement was replaced by slag from the metal
foundries at Fos-sur-Mer, 25 miles away. Wood was not entirely es-
Concrete, whose high thermal inertia helps ensure even tempera- chewed: it was used structurally for non-external walls and also
tures inside, is revealed both within and without, the facades being throughout the school’s interior for cladding and furnishings whose
realized in three layers: 8 load-bearing inches on the interior, followed slats echo the facade colonnade (as do the exposed concrete beams on
by 5½ inches of rigid insulation, then another 5½ inches of concrete on
78 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
OLDER children exercise on a generous
L-shaped roof deck and learn in top-floor
classrooms daylit by shed-roof clerestories.
the classroom ceilings, which follow the
4-foot measure). Islands of greenery dot the
courtyard playground, although roof planting,
which the architects proposed, was vetoed by
the city’s maintenance department.
Inside, the classrooms are all generously
daylit, with those on the courtyard opening
up to the exterior, thanks to floor-to-ceiling
sliding glass, while those on level four enjoy
extra light from a sawtooth roof, which
continues out over part of the école élémen-
taire’s playground so that it can still be used
in the rain (the building’s fifth facade is
entirely free of mechanical equipment, which
is hidden away in the very tall ground floor
that was imposed by local code). Responsible
for most of the furnishings, the architects
were able to reduce classroom clutter, even
getting rid of radiators, since they chose to
install underfloor heating and cooling, sup-
plied by the Euroméditerranée hydrothermal
seawater system. With such ingenious plan-
ning and detailing, this building sets a very
high bar for the renewal of Marseille’s ageing
school stock. n
Credits
ARCHITECT: Tautem Architecture — Adrian
Garcin, principal
ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT: BMC2 Architectes
ENGINEERS: BEST Portefaix (structural);
Elithis (m/e)
CONSULTANTS: Even Conseil (environmental);
Gui Jourdan (acoustics); Seri (infrastructure);
Ekos (soil decontamination)
CLIENT: Euroméditerranée
OWNER: city of Marseille
SIZE: 44,670 square feet
CONSTRUCTION COST: $13 million
COMPLETION DATE: January 2021
Sources
EXTERIOR CLADDING: Carl Stahl; Montibert;
Griesser; Kronoply OSB; Knauf; Girard Siniat
OUTDOOR FLEXIBLE-FLOOR COVERING:
Kompan
WINDOWS: Wincona; Menuiserie du Pharo
DOORS: Malerba; Delarosa
ACOUSTICAL CEILINGS: Rockfon
RESILIENT FLOORING: Forbo
RAISED FLOORING: Thermozyclus
PAINTS & STAINS: Unicalo
79
K-12 SCHOOLS
Thoroughly Modern
Mahlum’s radical reinvention of a 1920s Oregon high school transforms its physical plant and culture.
BY RANDY GRAGG
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER
IN 38 YEARS as an educator, Carol Campbell has enjoyed many at with a more than 20-person design-advisory group (DAG). Faculty,
Portland, Oregon’s Grant High School: nine years as a teacher, a parent parents, preservationists, and neighborhood activists weighed in. So, of
of two graduates, and—after stints as principal at two other regional course, did students, with Campbell inviting full-throated participa-
high schools—she was back to lead it in 2013. When voters passed a tion from kids of color and those who identify as transgender.
school bond directing $138 million to Grant, Campbell turned down
the job of district superintendent to lead the school’s modernization. Grant is as close as any school might come to being famous. In 1954, a
“Grant was built in 1923 for the way education has been delivered over national magazine declared Grant “the best high school in America.”
the last 100 years,” she says. “We had a chance to break up that model to The choir room starred in the 1995 movie Mr. Holland’s Opus, and the
deliver instruction more creatively.” existing skylit space that was formerly a gym—a separate structure with
classic open trusses and squeaky maple floors—has appeared in Nike
Hired to substantially upgrade the school in 2015, the local office of commercials.
Mahlum Architects quickly learned that when Campbell uses the
pronoun “we,” she means it. In decades of designing over 200 schools, But for the students, any grandeur the 1920s Classical Revival build-
the architects at Mahlum had never engaged in such a collaborative ings once held had become encrusted in a palimpsest of 1950s and ’60s
design process, says project designer Rene Berndt: more than 100 additions and adaptations. Thirty percent of the school’s usable space
user-group meetings, four public workshops, and a dozen meetings was in the basement, a dark purgatory with a cafeteria largely for stu-
dents enrolled in the free-lunch program, many of whom were youth of
80 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
THE HISTORICALLY
significant Grant High
School (opposite)
was restored and
enhanced by new
courtyards (above)
and solar arrays, one
above a bike shelter
(right).
81
K-12 SCHOOLS
THE REMOVAL of mid-20th-century additions integrates the school
with an adjacent park (left and opposite, bottom). New windows and
terraces (opposite, top) illuminate former basement spaces.
color. Everyone else ate in the upper corridors, in the park, or at
McDonald’s.
In addition to seismic, energy, and daylighting upgrades
mandated by the school district, Campbell and the stakehold-
ers asked Mahlum for a building that would drive a shift in the
school’s teaching and learning methods, safety protocols, and
equity among staff and students. “We were trying to figure out
a new model of education,” Campbell says, “but we didn’t
know what it would look like.” Both students and faculty
wanted collaborative areas with tables and flex space. While
Grant had notable art and theater programs, it did not offer
“career and technical education” (CTE), with makerspaces to
learn culinary arts, engineering, fashion, and other applied
skills. Having been a principal at two schools with strong CTE
programs, Campbell had witnessed higher graduation rates.
“Given the cost of college,” she adds, “it was our obligation to
provide opportunities to explore different areas in high school.”
Mahlum’s strategy reduced the number of traditional class-
rooms and the school’s overall footprint. “We respected the
building’s history by removing the additions and creating new
ones that take the school back to its roots,” says Mahlum’s proj-
ect manager, Alyssa Leeviraphan. Gone is a Monopoly-board
LOWER-LEVEL PLAN FIRST-LEVEL PLAN UPPER-LEVEL PLAN 0 80 FT. PHOTOGRAPHY: © BRUCE FOSTER (TOP)
25 M.
n COMMONS
n FITNESS/ATHLETICS n SPECIAL EDUCATION n KITCHEN
n CLASSROOMS n ADMINISTRATION n MUSIC/ART
n EXTENDED LEARNING n ACADEMIC SUPPORT
82 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
cluster of midcentury outbuildings. At the same time, the architects and as wood paneling elsewhere, school colors and mascots intact. The
expanded the old school with a 30-foot-wide, three-story bay on its west new bay and gym echo the original building’s brickwork and windows
side, adding a gym wing that enhances the Beaux-Arts symmetry. with contemporary flair.
Inside, dreary double-loaded halls lined with lockers have been The LEED-Silver renovation features a 325-kilowatt solar array—the
transformed, with large classrooms on the building’s historic side that largest of any school in the state—topping much of the main building
open to a “collaboration corridor”: a mix of various-size meeting spaces and covering an outdoor bike shelter between the gym and the theater. By
and smaller, open-plan offices. Windows in the bay filter daylight into demolishing a ’50s-era addition, the architects were able to create a grassy
the basement, where one of two new cafeterias and a fitness lab now 1,200-cubic-yard water-infiltration zone to mitigate storm drainage.
spill onto sunken courtyards. Most students eat at school now.
Among the improvements, the DAG sought to provide a greater
Staircases too have become destinations. The architects opened the
central flights on all levels, so each landing faces a school asset: a theater,
meeting room for alumni, and one of several glass-walled CTE spaces,
where equipment, from sewing machines to 3-D printers, is displayed
like items in a gallery. At the building’s ends, stairwells are flanked by
“collaborative forums,” with stepped concrete seating for classes, guest
speakers, and a biannual student-run event centered around discussions
about race and diversity. To shed light on such activities, linear lumi-
naires now zigzag through the halls and facilitate wayfinding while
providing a break from the building’s architectural formality.
Mr. Holland might not recognize the refurbished theater, which has
fewer seats, updated sound and lighting, and ADA-compliant acces-
sibility, while maintaining—with a special variance—its original
stained-glass exit signs. The only remaining outbuilding, the original
gym, has been turned into an arts facility, with studios around a dou-
ble-height gallery beneath a restored skylight. The design team reused
the old gym floors and bleachers both as flooring in the arts building
83
K-12 SCHOOLS
84 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
AMPLE GLAZING, collaborative corridors, and
all-gender restrooms (opposite) create friendly
environments. The old gym is now an arts
center—daylit by a skylight (right).
sense of inclusivity. Long before gender-
neutral bathrooms became a national issue,
Grant opened stand-alone staff bathrooms for
students uncomfortable in group lavatories.
But pupils in the Queer Straight Alliance,
and others, argued at stakeholder meetings
that gendered group bathrooms, besides being
discriminatory, further illicit activities, bully-
ing, and harassment—harmful to all. To
address these concerns, Mahlum replaced the
restrooms with fully enclosed individual stalls
that flank shared sinks open to the halls for
visibility and security. Some students were
wary about sharing. “But the new bathrooms
are cleaner, because everyone knows they’re
going to be shared—sometimes with teach-
ers,” says Maddie Patterson, a member of the
first senior class at the refurbished school. The
design is now standard for the school district.
The flexible design is holding up to unan-
ticipated tests: enrollment has surged from
the planned 1,800 to 2,000. Senior Zach
Olson feels that everyone is getting some-
thing that will be a benefit to their high
school experience. “It’s a whole lot less like
going to a prison.” n
Portland, Oregon-based Randy Gragg writes
about architecture and urban issues.
Credits
ARCHITECT: Mahlum Architects — Alyssa
Leeviraphan, Andrew Weller-Gordon,
Chris Brown, Bryan Holler, Emi Day, Mike
Kolander, Keyna Mulvaney, Rene Berndt,
Jeremy Thompson, Pip Allen, Stephen Endy,
JoAnn Hindmarsh Wilcox, Dwayne Epp, Yasu
Yanagisawa, Jennifer Lubin, Sean Murphy, Diane
Shiner, design team
ASSOCIATE ARCHICTECT:
Peter Meijer Architect
ENGINEERS: Interface Engineering (m/e);
Mazzetti/BHE Group (civil)
CONSULTANTS: Mayer/Reed (landscape
architect)
GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
Andersen/Colas Construction
CLIENT: Portland Public Schools
SIZE: 293,000 square feet
TOTAL COST: $158.5 million
COMPLETION DATE: September 2019
Sources
EXTERIOR CLADDING: Mutual Materials;
Arcadia; Morin; Quikcrete; Rockwool
WINDOWS: Chosen Wood Window; Winco
GLAZING: Hartung; Sunoptics (skylights)
85
K-12 SCHOOLS
A Place in the Sun
Architects Moore Ruble Yudell and HED exploit open spaces indoors and out in a Santa Monica high school.
BY SARAH AMELAR
PHOTOGRAPHY BY INESSA BINENBAUM
ACCORDING TO some predictions, 65 percent of preschoolers well as spatial needs that shift even over the course of an ordinary
today will hold jobs that do not yet exist. Whether such statistical school day,” says architect John Dale, principal of HED and cofounder
forecasts are precisely accurate, it’s undeniable that technology and of the Council on Open Building (OB), which advocates for nimble
pedagogical approaches are in flux, challenging age-old models for adaptability of architecture, as well as of entire cities. Dale was eager to
classrooms with tidy rows of students facing a teacher in front. Ideas apply OB principles to an educational facility from the ground up—the
that learning can happen more effectively in other ways—with, for first in the U.S.—and that opportunity came with the 260,000-square-
example, less formal clusters, in self-paced and interactive modes— foot Discovery building that HED designed, in collaboration with
have increasingly permeated the mainstream. “It’s become clear that Moore Ruble Yudell (MRY), for Santa Monica High School, the
schools need to be designed to accommodate long-range unknowns, as public institution affectionately known as Samohi. But the versatility
86 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
ALONG THE western side of the Discovery building is an Olympic-size swimming pool (above). Volumes are pulled apart and windows deep-pochéd and
painted yellow to break up the massing of the 260,000-square-foot structure (top). Plazas, stairs, and courtyard spaces abound (opposite).
87
K-12 SCHOOLS
5 of this project, begun in 2017, was put to the
test sooner than expected. By opening day, in
2 38 4 1 August 2021, Discovery’s resilient interiors
A 10 had been readily reconfigured for the social
3 distancing, reduced class sizes, and ventilation
adjustments the pandemic demanded. “What
3 we accomplished would not have been pos-
7 sible in our old building,” says Carey Upton,
chief operating officer of the Santa Monica-
11 Malibu Unified School District, in Los
11 Angeles County.
The five-story, $155 million Discovery
building—which includes classrooms, admin-
A istration offices, a large cafeteria, a suite for
12 medically fragile students, an Olympic-length
outdoor pool, and a two-level parking ga-
1 CAMPUS ENTRANCE 7 MEETING/
2 SWIMMING POOL CONFERENCE
3 CLASSROOMS
4 DINING 8 LABS
5 CENTENNIAL PLAZA 9 ADMINISTRATION
6 COMMONS 10 KITCHEN
11 SUPPORT
1 12 FREEDOM WALK
MAIN-FLOOR SITE PLAN
0 100 FT.
30 M.
9 6
6 11
6
SECOND-FLOOR PLAN THIRD-FLOOR PLAN 0 50 FT.
15 M.
3 96
96 0 50 FT.
6 4 7 15 M.
13
SECTION A - A
88 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
rage—was designed with loungelike common ECHOING the
areas in place of dedicated corridors, and rhythms of the
movable interior partitions throughout, maxi- outdoor staircase in
mizing flexibility. The project is part of a the central courtyard
2010 phased master plan by R.L. Binder is a wood stair with
Architects (RLBA) to renew the 26-acre, stadium seating to
99-year-old campus (concurrent with adaptive encourage casual
restoration of some of its early structures). study (above). Under
The Innovation building, by RLBA, com- the stair, a bench
pleted in 2016, has a STEM emphasis, angles around the
whereas Discovery focuses largely on the corner to offer an
humanities. Samohi’s “house” system divides intimate sitting
its student body of 3,000 into more intimate area (left).
groups of about 600, each with its own prin-
cipal, home base, and primary areas of study. 89
Discovery contains two houses.
Its Open Building strategy is based on a
permanent shell-and-core structure, with
reconfigurable, reprogrammable, even re-
placeable fit-outs—enabling the building to
evolve and remain sustainable over a long
lifespan. In response to workshops with
teachers, staff, administrators, and pupils, the
architects designed a loft-type building—a
plaster-clad shell and prefabricated steel
moment-frame skeleton with a uniform,
32-by-38-foot column grid, making interior
shear walls unnecessary. To enhance flexibil-
ity, vertical mechanical shafts are distributed
evenly throughout, and most classrooms,
commons, and labs have raised floors—con-
taining electrical, data, water, and supply-air
networks—allowing for relatively easy reloca-
tion of ports, outlets, and diffusers, as needed.
Instead of deep rectangular floor plates,
Discovery’s footprint is U-shaped, ushering
daylight across the interiors. The U defines an
open-ended courtyard, laced with overhead
walkways and a broad stairway—with a
growing green wall behind stadium and
regular steps—providing the building with
exterior circulation options, as well as social-
gathering perches. Most of the interior verti-
cal circulation rises along the plan’s perimeter,
keeping the floor plates unencumbered.
Echoing the rhythms of the big outdoor
staircase, a wide indoor one forms a casual
amphitheater, descending into a communal
area. Each commons has a long whiteboard
wall, with interactive video projectors along-
side reconfigurable clusters of easy chairs and
tables, encouraging spontaneous collabora-
tion. “We treat the entire building as a learn-
ing space,” says Upton. Glass-and-metal
folding walls open the classrooms visually and
physically to the commons. With similarly
blurred boundaries, the 12,000-square-foot
multipurpose cafeteria—with its glazed ga-
rage-style doors—spills outside to a plaza.
K-12 SCHOOLS
the school grounds, which open to the public after hours and on week-
ends, allowing for sharing of the swimming pool and meeting spaces.
But the students are the main focus. “When they first walked into
the new building,” says principal Antonio Shelton, “many said, ‘Wow,
this is like a college campus!’ ” And now, at the end of the day, when
they’re still collaborating in the commons, he adds, “We have to tell
them, ‘Hey, it’s time to go home!’ ”
Across campus, MRY and HED have already broken ground for the
master plan’s next phase, to include athletic, dance, and yoga facilities;
media, recording, photo, and design labs—and more. But with all their
work at Samohi, “completing construction is just the beginning; the
process of change continues,” says MRY principal in charge James Mary
O’Connor. “It’s about preparing this place for its next 100 years.” n
This dining hub serves the entire campus, with its kitchen also prepar- Credits SIZE: 260,000 square feet
ing meals for other district schools. Open-air learning areas will soon COST: $155 million
extend to a roof deck with a weather station, hydroponic and aquaponic DESIGN ARCHITECTS: Moore COMPLETION DATE: August 2021
labs, an aquarium, and a panel registering the performance of the build- Ruble Yudell — James Mary
ing’s own sustainable systems (which incorporate electricity-generating O’Connor, design principal; John Sources
PV panels and pool-heating solar collectors). Ruble, partner; Takuji Mukaiyama, METAL PANELS/CURTAIN WALL/
Anthony Wang, project managers. FRAME: Arcadia
Playing against the interior’s adaptability, the exterior has a more HED — John Dale, principal in GLASS: Vitro Architectural Glass
permanent, self-contained character, with its white-plastered facades charge; David Decker, Steffen ACOUSTICAL CEILINGS:
(highlighted by deep, yellow window surrounds) and curving corners Leisner, project managers; Duane Armstrong; MDC ZintraBaffles
honoring Samohi’s Streamline Moderne architectural legacy. Also im- Fisher, project architect WINDOW TREATMENT:
portant were connections between the community and campus—just a Mechoshade
few blocks from the beach, amid residential and commercial areas, and ARCHITECT OF RECORD: HED PAINTS AND STAINS:
bound to the north by the I-10 freeway. Michigan Avenue runs through Sherwin-Williams
ENGINEERS: Saiful Bouquet WALLCOVERINGS: Forbo
Structural Engineers (structural);
Wheeler and Gray (civil)
CONSULTANTS: Pamela Burton &
Company (landscape)
CLIENT: Santa Monica-Malibu
Unified School District/Santa
Monica High School
90 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
BRIDGES AND
STAIRS link the two
wings (this page); a
cafeteria with glazed
garage-style doors
connects to the plaza
(opposite, top) and
loungelike areas
open to terraces
and classrooms
(opposite, bottom).
91
K-12 SCHOOLS
Opportunity Zone
Two Philadelphia public schools converge in a building by Rogers Partners—part of an emerging boomtown.
BY BY JAMES S. RUSSELL, FAIA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT WARGO
WHERE THE CORNERS of a new public school building in West in partnership with Drexel University, the landowner and sponsor of
Philadelphia form knuckles in plan, angular stairways topped by clere- the school.
stories reconcile the skewed U-shaped geometry imposed by the site,
creating diagonal vistas, intriguing views, and diverse spaces illumi- The building layout is deceptively straightforward: the wings book-
nated by an abundance of ever-changing daylight. Reconciliation, in end a two-story classroom bar. One wing culminates in a double-
fact, could be the theme of this 87,000-square-foot structure, hosting height cafetorium (a term denoting both lunchroom and auditorium),
two schools, designed by the New York firm Rogers Partners Archi- the other a gym. Both dining and sports halls are largely glazed in
tects+Urban Designers. Programmatically, the corner joints reconcile translucent polycarbonate that diffuses daylight and shares their activi-
the distinctive pedagogies of the Samuel Powel Elementary School and ties with passersby. The wings also enclose a playground with a land-
the Science Leadership Academy, a middle school, each of which scaped mound, framed by wood bleachers, as a soft divider between
occupies its own floor, serving a total of 746 pupils. The relatively play spaces for the lower and upper schools.
small scale of the building draws the fine 19th-century row-house
grain of the adjacent Powelton Village neighborhood into a large new Add the differing pedagogic approaches of the two schools, and the
commercial and academic development rising around the school, un- design becomes more intricate. The K-4 Powel elementary school,
dertaken by the real-estate developer Wexford Science & Technology which moved to the ground floor from a long-overcrowded building
nearby, teaches in a traditional, rigorous, even regimented style. “They
line up to move from place to place, for example, and we needed to
92 ARCHITECTU R AL RECO RD JAN UARY 202 2
A SLAMS collaboration area overlooks the visitors entry (opposite)
that leads to the shared main lobby (this page). The cladding mixes
textured and smooth brick with zinc-composite panels.
93
K-12 SCHOOLS
8 WARREN STREET
2
4
1
36TH STREET
n SLAMS MIDDLE SCHOOL GROUND-FLOOR PLAN
n POWEL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
n SHARED SPACES 13
n ADMINISTRATION 12
n BUILDING SUPPORT
PROGRAMMATIC DIAGRAM 5 KINDERGARTEN SECOND-FLOOR PLAN 0 50 FT.
6 CLASSROOM 15 M.
1 VISITOR LOBBY 7 GYM 9 ART ROOM
2 ADMINISTRATION 8 MUSIC ROOM 10 LIBRARY 13 COMMONS
3 CAFETORIUM 11 PLAY YARD 14 SCIENCE LAB
4 POWEL CORRIDOR 12 SLAMS CORRIDOR 15 MAKERSPACE
make room for that,” says Elizabeth Stoel, the Rogers associate partner are also shared.) Both schools host a variety of classroom sizes, from
who directed the project. conventional rooms serving a couple of dozen students to smaller ones
for children with special needs and small-group work. All are light-
By contrast, the School District of Philadelphia’s model for the filled, thanks to oversize windows. To retain their separate identities,
Science Leadership Academy Middle School (known as SLAMS) on each institution has its own entrance facing the playground.
the upper floor, emphasizes science and engineering. Aimed at grades
5 through 8, the school’s curriculum is project-based; its wide hallway “We were able to introduce this generosity of space and light on a
and expansive square footage at the circulation “knuckles” allow stu- tight construction budget,” explains Rogers. The $33 million steel-
dents to spill out of classrooms to work in groups. “SLAMS invites framed building has concrete-plank floors, polished on top and left raw
occupancy of all these spaces,” says partner Rob Rogers. They “break on the underside in classrooms to allow for 12-foot-high ceilings.
down the idea that the classroom is the only place where learning
happens.” Science labs open off these collaborative areas, as does a For all the attention to programmatic needs, the design is also sensi-
library and a makerspace used by both schools. (Music rooms in Powel tive to its fast-changing surroundings. The Powel/SLAMS 1.8-acre
parcel is at the northern edge of the 14-acre, innovation-focused rede-
94 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022
THE SCHOOL buffers
a low-rise residential
area from the towers
being built to its
south and west
(opposite). At its rear,
a playground (above)
is flanked by a
polycarbonate-clad
gym (left) and
cafetorium.
95
K-12 SCHOOLS velopment being built by the Wexford/Drexel A STAIR (top, left) PHOTOGRAPHY: © ALBERT VECERKA (TOP, LEFT)
collaboration. Called uCity Square, it is leads from the
96 ARCHITECTURAL RECORD JANUARY 2022 located west of the university’s campus, north first-floor Powel
of the University of Pennsylvania, and east of block and such
a major hospital complex. shared facilities as
the cafetorium
Wexford plans an 8 million-square-foot (above), gym, and
mix of speculative life-sciences labs and library (right), up to
offices aimed at businesses connected to the SLAMS area and
university research (at both Penn and Drexel), makerspace, also
along with multifamily housing and retail. shared (left).
Construction is proceeding at a torrid pace,
with 1.3 million square feet of commercial,
academic, and residential space rising around
the school. This includes a looming 14-story
health-sciences building for Drexel, with a
busy pattern of glass and sallow yellow metal
panels, across a narrow alley from the school.
The alley will be landscaped to create an
appealing pedestrian path through the block,
though the tower, regrettably, blocks essential
winter daylight from reaching the playground.
After a community-consultation process,
Drexel agreed to sponsor the construction of
the school building and brokered the mar-
riage of Powel and SLAMS with the School
District of Philadelphia as a benefit to neigh-
bors concerned about the scale of develop-
ment. The university, especially through its
School of Education, has long worked with
Powel at its previous location. Today it sup-
ports teachers in the new schools, brings in its
students as tutors, and provides enrichment at
SLAMS by offering a wide variety of mini-
courses.
The intention to build a school that would
ostensibly benefit from proximity to univer-
sities and R&D spinoffs unfortunately
echoes the woeful creation in the 1970s of
University City, an urban-renewal scheme
encompassing a large area adjacent to the
two campuses that obliterated a longstand-
ing African-American community. The
University City district still exists, but it
grew much more slowly than anticipated,
leaving empty land and parking lots. The
Wexford/Drexel parcel had once hosted the
University City High School, built in 1972
with high aspirations for teaching-excellence
and collaboration. The school floundered,
however, and was demolished to make way
for the current development. With its build-
ings cheek by jowl, the commercial and
higher-education buildings benefit from the
light, air, and open space provided by the
Powell/SLAMS school. There is no reason
that University City’s history must repeat
itself and every reason that the stakeholders
involved must ensure that promises made to
local students and families are kept. n
Credits Sources
MASONRY: Endicott Brick
ARCHITECT: Rogers Partners — ZINC PANELS: Alpolic
Rob Rogers, principal in charge; CURTAIN WALL: Kawneer
Elizabeth Stoel, project director; WINDOWS: Intus
Johanna Dickson, project architect; TRANSLUCENT WALL PANELS:
Spring Braccia-Beck, senior Duo-Gard (polycarbonate)
designer; Eduardo Llinas-Messeguer, ACOUSTICAL CEILINGS: Certain Teed
Samantha Ding, design team SOLID SURFACING: Krion
TILE: Daltile
ENGINEERS: CVM (structural); RESILIENT FLOORING: Armstrong
Meloria Design (civil); WFT CARPET: Shaw Contract
Engineering (building systems) ATHLETIC FLOORING: Robbins
GYM EQUIPMENT AND FINISHES:
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Draper
BSI Construction
CONSULTANTS: Andropogon
Associates (landscape design); The
Lighting Practice (lighting design);
Shen Milsom & Wilke (acoustics, a/v,
IT/security)
CLIENT: Drexel University
SIZE: 87,000 square feet
TOTAL COST: $42 million
COMPLETION DATE: December 2020
97
EXPLORE MORE AT
ArchitecturalRecord.com
VIDEOS/PODCASTS WEBINARS CONTINUING ARCHIVE OF TOP 300 FIRMS,
EDUCATION ISSUES TOP ARCHITECTURAL SCHOOLS,
RECORD HOUSES, AND MORE!