TruexCullins Wins Awards for School Design

Anglo-American School of Sofia, Bulgaria

TruexCullins Architecture recently won national awards for their design of the Anglo-American School of Sofia (AAS), an authorized International Baccalaureate World School located in Bulgaria. TruexCullins was hired to create the “Vitosha Wing”, the new home for the middle and high school programs.

The $8 million expansion, included  site planning and building design developed by Architect and Managing Principal David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP and Associate Architect Diantha Korzun, AIA, LEED AP. Epstein Leads the K-12 and International Education Studios at TruexCullins.

TruexCullins worked closely with the AAS; listening to the needs and desires of the administration, faculty, students and parents. “The project is a result of unique community effort,” shares Marchella Ignatova, Business Manager of the AAS. “Students, parents and teachers worked with the TruexCullins providing feedback and ideas for these buildings.”

The significant expansion, which doubles the capacity of the school, includes new classrooms, sports facilities and plans for a new performing arts complex. The campus layout was crafted to foster smaller learning communities within the larger school community.TruexCullins designed the new 8,500 sq. meter middle school and high school facility to incorporate green building features including storm water management and reuse. This is accomplished through the use of green roofs, constructed wetlands and ponds. Other green features include daylight harvesting, solar hot water, photo-voltaic roof covered parking and extensive use of local materials. The project is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council and is expected to earn LEED® Gold certification.

TruexCullins’ building design earned first place at the National Building of the Year Awards in the Education Category and runner up in the Bulgaria Building of the Year in the Green Category.

The Bulgarian Chamber of Architects also awarded it first place in the Bulgarian Building of the Year – Education Category. It also received a second place award in the Bulgarian Building of the Year – Green Category.

“AAS was a great partner to work with," shared David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP. " They were truly interested in creating a facility that fosters collaboration, community, and engaged learning. And they were fiercely committed to sustainable design solutions. We are fortunate to work with clients with great vision."

Anglo-American School of Sofia Grand Opening

This fall the ribbon was cut and the doors swung open on the new $8 million expansion project for the Anglo-American School of Sofia in Bulgaria.

TruexCullins first developed a master plan for the school’s growth from 350 to 650 students, then provided Design Guardianship services as the new building addition took shape.  Under the leadership of David Epstein and Diantha Korzun, the school doubled its classroom space, which serves middle and high school students from 44 countries.

The project also includes new sports facilities, a performing arts complex, and an outdoor amphitheater built into the naturally sloping site.  The new wing has a green roof, solar power collection, and greywater recycling.

The existing wing received LEED Gold certification for Existing Buildings, and the new wing is currently being certified under LEED for New Construction.  The school is the only LEED Gold-certified building in Bulgaria.

The project was completed in August and the reviews are now coming in.  The Anglo-American School received Building of the Year 2006, and Sustainable Building Project 2010 by the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria. The project was also profiled on the Interior Design website in October.

If your Bulgarian is up to par, you can follow along with this video from the opening ceremonies.  The event was attended by school officials, dignitaries, and plenty of happy students and parents to mark the opening of their new school.

Anglo American School of Sofia nearing completion

Written by Principal David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

On a recent trip to Bulgaria, Diantha Korzun was able to check in on the construction of one of our current higher-ed projects, the Anglo American School of Sofia.  TruexCullins has been working with the school to develop a master plan, growing the school from 350 to 650 students.

The school serves middle school and high school students and the new facilities include classrooms, sports facilities and a performing arts complex, including a new outdoor amphitheater.  The design allows each section to be built independently, fosters the creation of smaller learning communities within a larger school, and minimizes disruption to ongoing operations.

When working on international projects, we take special care to listen to our clients and design spaces that are appropriate to each locale and culture.  On this project, we have had a wonderful working relationship with the local architecture firm Ivo Petrov Architects.  TruexCullins has been providing Design Guardianship with Ivo Petrov Architects acting as the local architect of record.

The facilities are nearing completion and will officially open for the start of the 2012-2013 school year.

 

Coming Events: Architecture and Design 2012

There are some exciting events coming up for our architecture and design community in Burlington and beyond. Here's a look ahead to some of them:

May 10: PKN-BTV Vol. 7
The next PechaKucha event is this Thursday at the Fleming Museum. If you've been to one of these before, you know that it is a fun, energetic night of wildly divergent and interesting presentations. This is volume 7 of the Burlington event, with another great line-up planned.

For the uninitiated, here's the official scoop: PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit chat"), it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

More info at:  http://pecha-kucha.org/night/burlington-vt/

May 24: Bennington College Campus Tour
Our local AIA branches in Vermont, New Hampshire and Western Massachusetts are presenting an afternoon of presentations and tours at one of the country's highest rated colleges in terms of building and campus design.  Building tours on the Bennington College campus include projects by Tod Williams + Billie Tsien, Robertson Ward, Kyu Sung Woo, and Edward Larrabee Barnes.

The event occurs from 3:30 to 7:45pm and is good for 3 AIA HSW SD learning units. To register, visit: http://aiavtnhwm.eventbrite.com/  For more details, click to enlarge the poster below:

October 19-21: AIA New England Conference & Design Awards
Finally, we have a look forward to this fall's big event for AIA Vermont: the AIA New England Conference & Design Awards Program on Oct. 19-21, 2012 at the Hilton Hotel & Conference Center in Burlington. For us Burlingtonians, we are not only looking forward to the great workshops, lectures, and tours planned, but also to the opportunity to show off our award-winning city to our friends from across New England.

This will be the height of the fall foliage season in Vermont, so if you're planning on attending from out of state, make your hotel reservations now and lock in the conference rate.

For more details, visit: http://www.aiavt.org/aiane_conf/

A New Direction for Vermont State College dining

TruexCullins recently teamed up with Sodexo, one of the nation’s largest food service companies, to submit a proposal for the renovation and operation of the dining facilities of the Vermont State College system.  After a four-month RFP process, the proposal was approved and Sodexo was awarded the contract to be the exclusive food service vendor for Vermont State College.

The schools include Castleton State College, Johnson State College, Lyndon State College, and Vermont Technical College.  Sodexo will begin providing food service for the VSC students at these schools at the beginning of the 2012 fall semester, with new menus and greater variety.

The new menus will prioritize locally sourced foods, providing students with a true farm-to-plate experience.  The renovations to the dining facilities will support these new culinary initiatives with comfortable dining and gathering areas.  Students will walk into completely transformed residential dining restaurants, with new food preparation areas and enhanced seating.

You can read more about the future of dining at the Vermont State College campuses in this article from Lyndon State.

TruexCullins wins Design Competition for Brazil School

We are pleased to announce another exciting project has just been awarded to the international practice team of our Education Studio. In competition with 3 international design firms, TruexCullins won the contract for Master Planning for the Escola Americana de Campinas (EAC).  In their decision, the selection team cited TruexCullins' strong green credentials as a significant factor.

Campinas is a city of 1 million people located just north of Sao Paolo, Brazil. The EAC is a K-12 school that currently serves 650 students and is growing rapidly. TruexCullins will be assisting EAC assess their educational, functional and environmental needs as it plans for the future.

The proposed design that TruexCullins submitted for the new EAC green campus center was an environmentally sensitive approach with earth-bermed spaces, shading elements and green roofs.

Here are a few views of the existing facility, located on the site of a former coffee plantation:

TruexCullins awarded International Planning Project

We are proud to announce that the TruexCullins Education Studio has been awarded the contract for Master Planning at the St. John's International School in Waterloo, Belgium. Competing against top firms from around the world, the TruexCullins team was selected for their expertise in sustainable solutions in school design.

Since 2006, the international practice team at TruexCullins has been working with international schools all over the world, including Russia, Ethiopia and Brazil. At the Anglo-American School of Sofia, Bulgaria, an 80,000 square foot addition designed by TruexCullins is slated to receive LEED Green Building Rating System silver certification in August 2012.

Hinesburg Photos

We just received these new photos of the completed renovation at Hinesburg Community School!

The project was a 14,000 square foot renovation to the interior of a 1969 classroom wing.  The space has now been transformed into a welcoming, colorful and light-filled learning environment.  The project also increased the energy efficiency of the wing, and improved campus security by relocating the administration suite.  Additional features include enlarged public ADA compliant restrooms, a new Flex-space, a centralized nurses suite, and a new roof and sprinkler system.

Best of all, the students and teachers love the new space, evident by this thank-you card we received earlier this year.

Singapore – Part I

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

I was recently invited to visit the Singapore American School to speak with them about some upcoming work. So in December, after a working trip to ICS Addis in Ethiopia, I headed east thru Istanbul to Singapore. I was excited about traveling to southeast asia, a place I had never been.

Singapore is not your typical country. It is really a city-state – a small island with 5 million inhabitants. It is very modern and clean. There is a large middle class and low unemployment.  People seem generally satisfied despite (or perhaps because of) the government’s tight control.

The school is impressive. Singapore American School has over 3800 students from Pre-K to Grades 12 on a very compact 20 acre site. I was hosted by William Scarborough, the Finance Director and Anthony Wong, Facilities Director.  Anthony took me on a morning tour of the facilities. The morning drop-off, fondly nicknamed the “bus ballet” was especially impressive, with over 120 full size busses arriving, dropping and departing within 20 minutes. The facility boasts multiple gyms, theaters, pools, gardens – all operated with Singaporian efficiency.

It was a great visit. It was interesting to learn about the sustainability initiatives underway both in Singapore and in the school. There is a local green building council and the school has a sustainability coordinator on staff to help lower their environmental impact. As you can imagine, on a facility this large, small incremental changes can go a long way.

 

 

Coming next… my visit to the Singapore Marina Bay Sands Hotel by Moshe Safdie.

Field Excursion

posted by Matthew Bushey

It’s an annual tradition in our office that once a year, we step aside from our desks for a few hours and make a group pilgrimage to visit a few works of architecture and design that we hope will serve to inspire and inform.

This time around, we visited three TruexCullins projects that opened their doors for business over this past year: Church & Main restaurant in downtown Burlington; the new FBO facility for Heritage Flight at the Burlington International Airport; and the wonderfully bright renovation to the Kindergarten and 1st grade wing of the Hinesburg Community School.

Our tour started with a delicious lunch at Church & Main, the new restaurant at the bottom of Church Street that just opened over Columbus Day weekend. (I recommend the Chicken and Waffles, found under the “Your Comfort Zone” section of the menu: a perfectly cooked boneless filet of crispy fried chicken served on a savory herbed corn waffle topped with a bourbon & bacon gravy. Yum!)

But of course, we were focused on the Interior Design: TruexCullins Interiors assisted with the furnishings, lighting, and finishes in this renovated space, formerly occupied by the popular Smokejacks restaurant. For the rebirth as Church & Main, the bar has been pulled forward towards Church Street, and a variety of seating options are available in the dining room in the back half of the space, including flexible tables and intimate semi-circular booths.

       

Our next stop was the impressive Heritage Aviation facility at the Burlington airport. Richard Deane led a tour of the 60,000 square foot building that was completely stripped and rebuilt from an old Army National Guard hangar.We started in the lobby, where the immense structural crossbracing gives you the first indication that this is a space with high ambitions.  As we continued through the building, the well appointed interiors were evident in everything from the executive conference rooms to the public restrooms. Up on the roof, we walked along one of the largest green roofs in New England, set amidst a 19 kW PV array and within view of the adjacent 100 kW wind turbine, the first ever installed at an airport location. This super-green facility was the 2010 winner of Efficiency Vermont's Best of the Best Award in Commercial Building Design & Construction, and is receiving LEED Silver Certification.

Our last stop was to the Hinesburg Community School, which only 2 weeks earlier had opened the doors on their new Kindergarten and grade-1 wing. This renovation was the work of Matt Wheaton in the Education Studio, with interior designer Rebekah Bose. This was the perfect way to end our day: there is no better way to appreciate the work that any of us do than to hear from those who use it on a daily basis. And at this place, the last stop on our tour, we were lucky enough to speak with the teachers who are benefiting from the renovation, a space they simply refer to as a “gift”. There was a smile on everyone’s face as we listened to the very kind words of the Principal, Bob Goudreau. He described the transformation in the attitude of the students, teachers and parents who have walked down these halls.

The classroom wing has been reconfigured, with the addition of new lighting, colorful finishes, and skylights that punctuate the ceiling in a staggered rhythm marching down the hall. This newest wing of the Hinesburg Community School is a space that facilitates learning, but also makes learning fun.

AIA Grassroots Annual Leadership and Legislative Conference

The AIA Grassroots Annual Leadership and Legislative Conference was held in the beginning of February 2010 this year in Washington DC.   As indicated in the title, the conference provides leadership training for the architectural community as well as leadership training to engage the greater political community.  The conference also allows for a day on Capitol Hill to discuss state issues with Congressmen.  Each year, AIA Vermont (as well as the other states in the nation) sends its Executive Committee to the conference to participate.

The AIA Vermont Contingent (Daniel Johnson, Diantha Korzun (from TruexCullins), Lauren Davis, Michael Hoffman and Hanne Williams) met with Congressman Peter Welch, Senator Sanders and Senator Patrick Leahy’s staff.  There were five key issues discussed at each of the meetings that included:

1. Green Schools.  The AIA encourages government policies and programs that spur the creation of high performance, 21st century schools.  Specifically, the AIA promotes the 21st Century Green High Performing Public School Facilities Act. Legislation would provide 6.4 billion in grants to states and local school districts.

2. Freezing Credit.  The AIA supports policies that ensure credit is available for commercial development projects that create jobs and rebuild communities.  The proposal was to restore liquidity to credit markets by extending the deadline for the Term Asset Backed Securities Loan Facility through the end of 2011.

3. Renewing Communities.  The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, targets funding to communities in need.  The AIA is promoting using the CDBG as a vehicle for funding community-building projects with federal money.

4. Energy Efficient Tax Deductions.  The AIA promotes legislation that enlarges the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction from the current $1.80 per square foot to $3.00 per square foot as contained in the Expanding Building Energy Incentives Act.

5. Relief for Small Business.  The AIA is urging Congress to support the Small Business Financing and Investment Act and taking steps to relieve the burdens of COBRA.  The bill would help small business secure loans, and gain access to larger amounts of capital.

The National AIA offers support information and research into current bills so that state components can specifically address current legislation as well as offer deeper background expertise in areas of critical interest in the profession.  In particular, our Vermont contingent was very impressed by the preparations Bernie Sanders had made for the meeting and the time he spent with our group despite the votes being cast in the room next door.

In addition to the leadership workshops and our day on Capitol Hill, Hanne Williams was given tribute at the AIA New England dinner, the CACE workshop, and at a General Session for her 40 years of service.

LEED Goes International!

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP

These days many people are familiar with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System.  Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is a credit-based system that addresses 5 categories:

Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality.  There are also Regional Priority and Innovation in Design credits available as well.  In each category, there are prerequisites that are mandatory and an array of available measures to be considered, each with their own documentation required.  LEED Version 3.0 relies on certification by GBCI (Green Building Certification Institute), an outgrowth of the USGBC.  Because of both its flexibility and rigor, LEED has become the de-facto green building standard in the U.S.

And it is growing rapidly.  Currently, there are over 35,000 projects participating in the LEED system.  More and more clients are requiring LEED certification for their new projects. TruexCullins' experience bears this out, having completed 2 LEED projects to date and with 2 more undergoing certification.  Virtually every RFP (Request for Proposal) we see these days includes LEED certification as part of the project.

Despite its U.S. roots and U.S. based standards, LEED is now growing rapidly overseas. According to Alex Palmer of Nielsen Business Media, international projects now account for “…27 percent of all square footage registered for LEED qualification.  The number of registered projects outside of the United States went from only 8 in 2004…to 1,120 in 2008…There are currently LEED projects in 114 of the world’s 195 nations.”  The highest concentration is in Scandinavia, where 43 LEED projects are underway.

Our work with international schools has made us acutely aware of this trend.  For several years, we have been using LEED as a framework for evaluating environmental design opportunities on our international school projects.  Recently, however, we were retained by the International Community School of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to coordinate the LEED process and certification for 5 new campus buildings to be built over the next 10 years.  That the standards have not been converted to metric or European equivalents is the least of the challenges.  Some of the prerequisites, such as energy modeling and commissioning, are new concepts, and local consultants are not yet experienced with these activities.  On the other hand, other credits, such as Daylighting and Views, are easy to achieve in Ethiopia's benign climate.

As LEED goes international, it will be interesting to see whether USGBC will adapt its standards to the metric system or European equivalents.  Currently, all documentation must be in the U.S. based “imperial” system.  Similarly, regional credits and climate zone choices are all based on North America.  With its growing popularity overseas, perhaps it is only a matter of time before LEED adopts standards that are viable across the globe.

Green Schools: Impacts on Health and Learning

posted by David Epstein, AIA, LEED AP on August 27, 2009

Recently, my colleague Steve Kredell and I attended the School Building Expo in Pittsburgh, PA. Many of the sessions focused on creating sustainable schools. Of particular interest to us was the keynote speech given by Vivian Loftness, FAIA of Carnegie Mellon University on the impact of green schools on health and learning. She was part of a team of researchers at the National Academy of Science who reviewed the scientific literature related to this subject and reported their findings, which are summarized below.

Quantifying the benefits of green building typically focuses on life-cycle costs. This approach looks at the cost of materials, the energy or resources they consume, and the cost and timing of maintenance and replacement. While many green building rating systems, such as LEED and CHPS, suggest improved student performance is a benefit, it has always been difficult to point to hard evidence in support of that claim. The notable exception (that we are aware of) being the “Daylighting in Schools” study by Heschong Mahone Group, 1999, which demonstrated increased student performance in day-lit schools.

So we were eager to hear the findings, as health and learning is of critical importance in an educational environment, and making the case for green schools, at least partly based on this criteria, while sensible, has not always been substantiated by readily available data.

The results of the study are documented in “Green Schools: Attributes for Health and Learning” by the Committee to Review and Assess the Health and Productivity Benefits, National Research Council, 2007. Below is the summary of their findings:

“After evaluating the research literature, the committee concluded that a green school with the following attributes would support student and teacher health, learning, and productivity:

• Dryness: Excessive moisture, which has been associated with adverse health effects, particularly asthma and respiratory diseases, is not present.
  
  
• Good indoor air quality and thermal comfort: Ventilation rates, air pollutants, humidity levels, and temperature ranges, which have been linked to human health, learning, and productivity, are effectively controlled.
  
  
  
  
• Quietness: The acoustical quality, which has been shown to affect student learning and the development of language skills, meets the newly released Standard 12.60, “Acoustical Performance Criteria, Design Requirements, and Guidelines for Schools,” of the American National Standards Institute.
  
  
  
  
• Well-maintained systems: Building systems are commissioned to ensure that they perform as intended, and their performance is monitored over time. Routine preventive maintenance is implemented throughout a school’s service life.
  
  
  
  
• Cleanliness: Surfaces are disinfected to interrupt the transmission of infectious diseases, and measures are implemented to help control indoor pollutants that have been associated with asthma and other respiratory diseases.”
  

Within the report are more detailed findings and recommendations, with discussion. In some cases, there simply was not enough evidence to support a finding. In other cases, it was not possible to associate a cause with an effect. Ironically, the committee was not able to include daylighting as a benefit to health and learning. According to the study, the available literature did not adequately differentiate between artificial, natural light and corrective eyesight issues. The evidence of non-visual benefits of daylighting through the circadian system was noted, but also did not meet the “sufficiency of data” threshold.

In regard to the complexity of their task, the committee rightly notes that a building is a “system of systems” and that the focus of green school guidelines should emphasize these interrelationships, so that health and learning benefits are maximized along with energy and resource efficiency.