School Tour A
Classroom 203
9:15 – 10:00 AM
Norman-Sims Elementary School
Tour Guide: Michael Mann, Senior Architect & Senior Project Manager at Austin Independent School District, Executive Vice President and Director of pK-12 Projects, Kirksey Architecture
Norman-Sims Elementary School is a thoughtful modernization which joins two school communities into a newly revitalized campus. The project features extensive renovation of the campus’s original buildings from the 60s, 80s, and 2000s in combination with new construction. The campus maximizes learning spaces, daylight zones, and social interaction to create a true 21st century learning environment. The campus was renovated as part of the $1.2B Austin ISD Bond, passed in 2017. The project was unique in that it involved a school consolidation, including the closure of one elementary school campus on the east side of Austin. The closure and consolidation were both highly sensitive issues to the community. Learn how the team leveraged community engagement to create a new learning environment that evoked a sense of tradition and pride. Creating a new sense of place, engaging the community, and incorporating equitable learning opportunities were prime drivers for the district and school design team. The physical space of the entire campus was maximized for efficiency, with a focus on eliminating underused spaces. The campus features indoor/outdoor learning and eating spaces, a dual-sided theatre, creative cantilevered spaces, maximized natural lighting and comfortable spaces for student learning all while adhering to an incredibly tight budget. This tour also focuses on creating a sense of history and belonging within the campus and community, engaging the outdoors, and capturing natural beauty within the primary school experience.
Learning Objectives:
- How to maximize education spaces, particularly in what are more commonly idle/single-use spaces, such as cafeterias and hallways.
- Creative ways to incorporate natural daylight in all classrooms through design and building physics modeling.
- The importance of quiet zones within classrooms to engage learners with sensory needs.
- Creative ways to transform concerns from community members into a sense of community ownership throughout the design.
Team:
Architect of Record: Kirksey Architecture
Landscape Architect: Coleman & Associates
Structural Engineer: Martinez Moore
Electrical Engineer: DBR
Civil Engineer: Garza EMC
Mechanical Engineer: DBR
Contractor: Joeris Construction
Owner: Austin Independent School District
Specialized Consultants:
Acoustical: Jaffe Holden
Foodservice: Foodservice Design Professionals
Sustainability Consultant: Kirksey Architecture
Building Physics: Kirksey Architecture
School Tour B
Classroom 203
10:15 – 11:00 AM
Collin College Technical Center
Tour Guide: Dr. Bill King, Ph.D., Campus Provost, Senior Project Manager, Perkins&Will
Situated in the fastest growing county in North Texas, Collin College recognized the need to provide strong technical education, trade, and workforce training to the community as well as continuing education opportunities for corporate training and workforce partnerships. To accomplish this mission, Collin College embarked on design and construction of a Collin Technical Campus (CTC) campus in Allen. The building houses classrooms, science labs, a dual credit high school in partnership with Allen ISD, student services, learning commons, dining, collaboration zones, and a conference center. The programs offered include a wide array of trades and technical spaces such as construction trades, HVAC, metals lab, automotive repair, drone technology, robotics, and allied health. The new campus is a microcosm of society and is designed to serve people of various ages, skill levels, interests, and backgrounds. Perkins&Will designed this new Technical Center to bring together trade, work force development and technical courses in a way that elevates the status of the trades, creates interdisciplinary connections, and puts the craft of hands-on learning on display while placing importance on human wellness and connections. Each building allows daylight to permeate the interior, with additional diffused daylighting techniques throughout. Outdoor courtyards support the social life of the College and create opportunities for cross- disciplinary collaboration. A place of respite, shade and campus social space, the courtyards provide a thread of connectedness throughout the campus. This new 340,000 SF state-of-the-art technical school responds to the site by creating an open-to-sky central spine that forms the heart of the new campus. Open air and closed bridges intersect this central spine, with bioswales that capture rainwater and release it back to the stream that runs through the property.
Learning Objectives:
- How to effectively partner with local schools and businesses to offer programs, certifications, and training opportunities to a community where there is direct demand for workforce.
- Campus planning and programming for $100+ million project with multiple concurrent buildings on the same site.
- How to address wellbeing for building occupants, most of which are students who also work full-time jobs before attending hours of classes.
- The keys to designing a building that successfully serves a population of all ages and educational backgrounds.
Team:
Architect of Record: Perkins&Will
Landscape Architect: Perkins&Will
Landscape Designers: Jeff Johnston Associate Landscape Architects
Structural Engineer: LA Fuess Partners
Electrical Engineer: Purdy McGuire
Civil Engineer: Pacheco Koch Consulting Engineers
Mechanical Engineer: Purdy McGuire
Contractor: McCarthy Building Companies
Owner: Collin College
Specialized Consultants:
Associate Architect: Hoefer Wysocki
Audio/IT/Equipment: Ross & Baruzzini
Food Service: Ricca
Client Representative: AECOM
School Tour C
Classroom 203
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM
Davenport High School
Tour Guide: Mike McCullar, Executive Director of Construction, Marketing Manager
Through a collaborative approach between the district, architect and contractor, Comal ISD received incredible value for their comprehensive new high school. An outdoor pool, ag barn and waste water plant are a few amenities the district added upon realizing significant savings in their construction budget. The district emphasized functionality and quality in all spaces; and the tour will also explore how this guiding principle influenced design, how the district invested in the learning environment, and how the team incorporated a variety of unique amenities. Davenport High School is a 315,000 sf campus. It was developed on a 221-acre site with a nature preserve and significant changes in the topography. In addition to cost savings, the project was also delivered well ahead of schedule within a fast-track timeline.
Learning Objectives:
- How the partners approached design and construction to realize significant savings in cost and time for the district
- Challenges and solutions to developing a greenfield site with undulating topography
- Defining "functional" design through utilization and quality materials
- Concepts and use for a multi-purpose commons as the educational center of a campus
Team:
Architect of Record: Huckabee
Landscape Architect: Cooper Lochte
Structural Engineer: R-S-C-R
Electrical Engineer: Cleary Zimmerman
Civil Engineer: Pape-Dawson
Mechanical Engineer: Clearly Zimmerman
Contractor: Bartlett Cocke General Contractors
Owner: Comal ISD
Specialized Consultants: Combs Consulting Group, WJE, WJHW, Sports Design Group, Foodservice Design Professionals, Water Technology