Category: Projects
SCHRADERGROUP Earns an Outstanding Project Award for the Learning by Design 2017 Fall Awards of Excellence Issue
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is excited to announce that the Upper Merion Area School District School, Gulph Elementary School, was chosen for an Outstanding Project Award in the Fall Awards of Excellence issue of Learning by Design.
SG developed designs for two new elementary schools in the Upper Merion Area School District. The new schools will replace the existing Caley Elementary School and Gulph Elementary School facilities, which were originally constructed in the 1960’s and no longer accommodate the District’s enrollment or educational program.
The proposed school programs encompass 83,279 SF and 95,538 SF respectively, and, in the interest of parity between the two buildings and their respective student populations, each will include a prototypical wing that houses the kindergarten learning node, dining area, gym, stage, music department, support spaces, and administration offices. Due to the complex site boundary and grade conditions present at the Gulph Road location, site specific design responses were developed for the classroom wings.
Classrooms wings are structured as groupings of grade appropriate classrooms with learning support, faculty spaces and team work areas. Each set of grade clusters is then oriented around the two-story open Learning Resource and STEAM Center. The classroom clusters connect to the Learning Resource Center through a grand Learning Stair which doubles as a mini auditorium space for the building.
Following an extensive Master Planning process lead by SG, the design team developed a series of programming and design workshops that included members from the school community, the community at large and current students.
The issue of Learning by Design (linked here) is available October 1, 2017 and check out the article on Gulph Elementary School (linked here) that received the Outstanding Project Award.
Mill Creek ES Selected as Outstanding Design
Mill Creek Elementary School, Levittown, Pennsylvania has been selected to appear as an Outstanding Design in the 2017 American School & University Educational Interiors Showcase, the premier competition honoring education interiors excellence.
Update on Holland Middle School Renovation and Addition Project
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) began work on the renovation and additions for Holland Middle School in 2014. Located in the Council Rock School District, the 135,200 SF facility, built in 1975, is undergoing extensive renovation and expansion that allows for a more STEAM-focused arrangement within the existing infrastructure. The project additionally provides a 6-classroom addition; a new administration suite and entry; a music wing housing band, orchestra and choral; a 650-seat auditorium; an auxiliary gymnasium; and a fitness center.
A significant challenge presented with the renovation of the middle school was to maintain operation while renovating the entire facility and building an 80,000 SF addition. Extensive phasing plans were created to assure continuous operation while allowing quadrants of the existing building to be renovated in 6 month time frames, for a total construction duration of 24 months.
The facility is slated for LEED Gold certification with construction completion planned for late August 2018. To learn more about this project, please visit our website.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends Ribbon Cutting of New Mission Critical Facility Completed in Outer Banks
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) was honored to attend the ribbon cutting for the new Dare-Tyrrell-Hyde Counties Regional Emergency Communications Center located in Manteo, Dare County, North Carolina. The new 18,200 SF facility consolidates the emergency communications operations of Dare, Tyrrell and Hyde Counties into one Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) and additionally creates an Emergency Operations Center for Dare County.
“It was a great pleasure to be at the ribbon cutting ceremony,” said Project Architect Dan D’Amico, AIA, LEED AP. “It was exciting to be a part of the design and construction of the first facility in North Carolina to consolidate emergency communications for three counties into one state-of-the-art facility. To see the end result and experience the pride and satisfaction of the new facility users was a great reward.”
The ribbon cutting was recently featured in The Virginia-Pilot. In the path of frequent mid-Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms, the facility is designed to withstand 150 mph winds, and additionally is sited to be above the 100-year flood plain. For more information about the project, please visit our website.
Elementary School Named Outstanding Design in LEARNING BY DESIGN Spring 2017
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is pleased to have Caley Elementary School named an Outstanding Design in the spring 2017 LEARNING BY DESIGN, the premier source for education design innovation and excellence. Caley Elementary School is one of two sister schools simultaneously designed by SG for the Upper Merion Area School District in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Constructed in the 1960s and no longer able to accommodate the District’s enrollment or educational program, two existing facilities will be replaced by the new sister schools, which will serve 525 K-4 students each.
As part of the project selection process, LEARNING BY DESIGN judged Caley Elementary School on six criteria: Innovation, Community Need, Interior Design, Sustainability, Functional Design, and 21st Century Learning. Jury comments about the project included:
“Project is simply expressed and frankly executed. Light and bright interiors with transparency for visual connections as well as interior day lighting. Classrooms have interior spaces differentiated to support small group and whole group instruction.”
To learn more about this project, please visit www.learningbydesign.biz or our website.
SCHRADERGROUP Mill Creek Elementary School Receives Award from A4LE, Association for Learning Environments
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is honored to receive a Project of Distinction award for our design of Mill Creek Elementary School from the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) Northeast Region. The Northeast Regional Planning and Design Awards are held annually and judge entries based on their merits regarding community, learning and physical environments as well as the planning process for the project.
Mill Creek Elementary School, part of the Bristol Township School District in Levittown, Pennsylvania, is one of three sister schools designed and constructed by SG. The District, based on recommendations of a District-wide study completed by SG, elected to replace nine outdated and aging elementary schools with three new facilities, which include Mill Creek. In addition to the award bestowed by A4LE, the Elementary School designs also have been recognized as Outstanding Designs in two American School & University publications: Architectural Portfolio and Educational Interiors Showcase.
To learn more about this project, please visit our website.
Elementary School Project Featured as Outstanding Design in Architectural Portfolio
Brookwood Elementary School, featured previously this year in American School & University Educational Interiors Showcase and Learning by Design, additionally has been selected for publication in American School & University 2016 Architectural Portfolio. The project is featured in the November 2016 edition of the magazine and also online at www.SchoolDesigns.com. An annual competition honoring education design excellence, the Architectural Portfolio spotlights projects representing today’s most effective learning environments.
To determine citation winners and other outstanding designs, this year’s jury decided upon the following criteria: integration of technology, engaging landscapes, regional vernacularism, project-based learning, user-specific designs, sensitivity to context, accessibility, quality, diversity, inclusivity, living/learning communities, experiential learning, cohesive design concept, and environments that are evocative and inspirational.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends Ribbon Cutting of New Pennsylvania State Emergency Operations Center
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) team members were proud to attend the ribbon cutting of the 145,000 SF State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) recently completed by SG in a joint venture with AECOM. Presenters and ribbon cutters included Lt. Governor Michael Stack; Honorable Curt Topper of the Pennsylvania Department of General Services; Honorable Richard D. Flinn, Jr. Director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA); Jeffrey Thomas, Executive Deputy Director, PEMA; and the Honorable Timothy Solobay, State Fire Commissioner.
Elementary School Project Receives Additional Accolades in Learning by Design Fall 2016
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) happily received an Outstanding Project award for excellence in educational facility design in the fall 2016 issue of Learning by Design for Brookwood Elementary School, a new facility recognized for its overall plan, architectural design and for having attributes worthy of imitation.
The new school is designed to support two specific grade-grouping structures, K-2 and 3-5, in a “school within a school” configuration. The design places functions shared by both programs, including the Media Center, dining, gymnasium, administration, and art and music instruction, at the center of the building with other academic spaces flanking the shared core. Learning studios, small group instruction areas and large group instruction areas provide spaces for individual, small-, medium- and large-group learning. Spaces traditionally used as vertical transition areas function as additional dynamic, large group instruction spaces in the form of “learning stairs”.
The distinguished jury of architects and end-users for Learning by Design commended SG for our success in designing Brookwood Elementary School after judging the project based on six criteria: Innovation, Community Need, Interior Design, Sustainability, Functional Design and 21stCentury Learning. “Very efficient plan that successfully breaks down the school into two,” and “Good use of learning stairs,” were among jury comments.
To learn more about the project, please visit www.learningbydesign.biz or our website.
Elementary School Project Named Outstanding Design in Educational Interiors Showcase
SCHRADERGROUP is pleased to announce that the new Brookwood Elementary School was selected to appear as an Outstanding Design in the 2016 American School & University Educational Interiors Showcase. It is featured in the August 2016 edition of the magazine and also on the web at www.schooldesigns.com. An annual competition honoring educational interior design excellence, the Educational Interiors Showcase spotlights projects representing some of the most effective learning environments in America.
Brookwood Elementary School was evaluated on criteria that included contribution to learning experience; ease of use; alignment with program and community; timeless aesthetics; provision of a variety of spaces to support all learners; consideration of human and environmental health; and deep, authentic, ongoing community engagement.
For more information about this project, please visit our website.