Tag: academic architecture
SCHRADERGROUP Presents at the 2022 EDspaces Convention in Portland, Oregon
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the EDspaces Education Conference from Wednesday, November 2nd to Friday, November 4th, 2022 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. SG Managing Partner David Schrader and SG Associate Danie Hoffer represented SCHRADERGROUP at the conference.
EDspaces is a place where innovation transforms learning environments. Attendees learned about industry trends, fresh perspectives, and innovative case studies. Professionals from across the country attended to contribute to collective industry knowledge and to add their own voices to the conversation surrounding the future of learning.
EDspaces featured a curated, multi-track educational and professional development series of 60+ education sessions conducted in classrooms designed by visionary A+D firms that competed to share their innovative ideas for the future of learning.
David and Danie were joined by Upper Merion Area School District (UMASD) Superintendent Dr. John Toleno and Upper Merion Area High School (UMAHS) Principal Jonathan Bauer for a special “EDsession” focused on UMAHS. The session, titled, “Student-Focused Design to Inspire Personal Achievement – the Next Generation High School,” explored how technology, space, and pedagogy converge to impact student success. The session profiled how local businesses and industries inspired the design of the new High School in King of Prussia, a suburb of Philadelphia. The session included a discussion on the educational limitations of the existing traditional high school designed in the 1960s as compared to the design of the new high school. The new facility provides higher education level spaces to engage in interactive learning activities of “research, develop, and present!” Spaces integrated throughout offer opportunities in flexible spaces to complement how different students learn.
The presentation visually immersed participants in the design of the school with a fly-around of the building. Using 3-D modeling technology, this tool is used throughout the design process to engage the client and allow the end user to experience the space design from the very early design stages to the full design development including the interior finishes. Participants will experience the volume of the spaces and how students will move through the building.
In addition to the speaking opportunities, attendees were also invited to tour nearby next-generation learning facilities and to attend a symposium on educational disruption. Thank you to Discovery High School, James Faubion Elementary School, and Vancouver Innovation Technology & Arts Elementary School for letting us tour your wonderful schools!
SG was proud to attend this conference again and we are very excited to attend in Charlotte, NC in 2023!
To learn more about EDspaces, click here.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to creating 21st Century learning environments, click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Thanks Ed Kirkbride for Helping Shape SG Careers
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) would like to extend the sincerest “Thank You” to Edward E. Kirkbride, NCARB, REFP for the considerable impact he has had on multiple SG employees in their career.
Ed is an educational architectural consultant who had similar involvement in the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), formerly the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI). His work with the organization has brought cutting-edge educational facility concepts and programs to fellow professionals across the globe and he has been involved in the design and construction of a significant quantity of school facilities in his career.
“A very good friend and fellow architect, Ed Kirkbride, mentored both David and me in our careers as architects. I first interned with Ed when I was 18 years old while finishing my senior year in High School. Ed’s firm designed the addition to my High School – East Senior High School in West Chester. My mother very creatively set up a meeting for me to meet Ed since I had expressed an interest in architecture. I ended up working for him the summer following my senior year. I also worked for him a couple of other times while going to college and during my career. David and I started working together around 1992 for Ed while he managed the L. Robert Kimball Office in West Chester. We are both very grateful to have such a great friend and mentor in our lives!” said SG Project Manager Mark Hitchcock.
“My greatest business mentors have been friends who run other types of businesses. I enjoy seeing diverse business models and learning about their challenges and experiences. A mentor in the K-12 planning business, Ed Kirkbride, introduced me to the Association for Learning Environments and promoted me within that organization. I hope I left the organization just a little better off than when I joined it. Thank you, Ed Kirkbride,” said SG Managing Partner David Schrader.
Click here to learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s work with K-12 school districts.
Click here to learn more about the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE).
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SCHRADERGROUP Attends North Penn School District’s Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Knapp Elementary School
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of an additions and renovations project to Knapp Elementary School for North Penn School District (NPSD) in Lansdale, PA on October 18th. Managing Partner David Schrader and Associates Danie Hoffer and Devin Bradbury represented SG at the event.
The ribbon cutting ceremony commemorated the transformation of this 1950’s facility into a next generation school. The 13,200 SF of additions and 64,800 SF of renovations to Knapp Elementary help facilitate interactive learning, provide enhanced learning environments with natural light, and generate a new sense of pride for the school and the community from the moment you enter its doors.
Community members were invited to see the new and improved school and to hear from district and community leaders. After a few words by the NPSD administration and David Schrader, the ribbon cutting ceremony was held. Following the ceremony, community members and attendees were invited to tour the new and improved facility and hear from staff and students about what they love about their new school.
The building renovations address ADA compliance issues and complete interior improvements throughout the school. The infrastructure and systems design incorporates energy-efficient construction, all-new lighting, HVAC, electrical systems, plumbing, technology, and fire alarm systems. The building design now serves 700 students.
The existing school was configured with classroom wings on either side of central enclosed spaces that housed the administration offices, kitchen, and cafeteria. As part of the renovation, a third classroom wing was added for grades 5-6 to accommodate the population and to eliminate the modular classrooms on-site. The central core was reconfigured to pull the dining commons directly across from the main entrance lobby and the roof structure was raised to introduce natural light into the space through clerestory windows. The library/resource center was relocated to the former cafeteria which now opens into a large group instruction area that is an extension of the dining commons. Internally connected to the two existing classroom wings and the third newly added classroom wing, these core spaces offer a variety of instructional areas in addition to small group instruction rooms provided in the classroom wings for pull-out instruction. The administration was relocated to the former library area directly adjacent to the main entrance which could now be secured.
To clearly identify the main public entrance to the school, the entry features a tall, glass-enclosed volume further marked by the prominent entrance canopy leading to it. This serves as the parent drop-off area with a new entry to the side of the addition serving as a separate bus loop. Sufficient parking is provided in the existing parking lot for staff and visitors with the bus loop used for parking for off-hour events. Outdoor facilities include new paving and sidewalks, hardscape and softscape play areas, one playfield, and open space.
SG would like to express our gratitude to the entire NPSD team for their contributions to improving their district’s schools. We would also like to thank our consulting team for all of the wonderful collaborative work done on this project.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to design for education, please click here.
To learn more about the North Penn School District, click here.
Upper Merion Area High School Recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Fall 2022 Issue
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is proud to announce that our recently completed project, Upper Merion Area School District’s Upper Merion Area High School, has been recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Fall 2022 Awards of Excellence issue. We are very excited to have another SG project recognized as an award-winning facility for its incorporation of next generation learning space design and planning methodologies.
Each year, Learning By Design highlights the best in the educational design and construction market. Educational facilities are judged on the basis of innovation, community needs, interior design, sustainability, functional design, and next generation learning. The award-winning magazine is published three times a year and regularly recognizes the nation’s top K-12 and higher education projects and architecture firms.
We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Upper Merion Area School District (UMASD) and are honored to have this wonderful facility featured in this issue. In addition to the successful completion of Upper Merion Area High School (UMAHS), SG has also worked with the District on the design and construction of the Gulph and Caley Elementary Schools. We look forward to continuing our relationship with this amazing School District that focuses on providing next generation education and facilities to the children of the community!
After a community-engaged master planning process and subsequent successful new elementary school projects, Upper Merion Area School District (UMASD) began the process of creating a flagship facility to house the upper secondary programs for the District. A thorough planning process was utilized, including multiple user meetings and tours of state-of-the-art facilities throughout the United States.
The intent behind the facility is to provide career and higher education level spaces for the students of UMASD to engage in the 21st century learning activities of “research, develop, and present!” Multiple hi-tech industry work spaces as well as contemporary higher education spaces were studied in the process of the development of this unique facility.
The 345,000 SF facility connects to the existing middle school through the athletic and performance arts components to provide a full secondary campus. The resulting facility provides enriching opportunities for students from the traditional 6th grade through 12th grade ages.
A true “student commons” is the heart of the facility and will be an “all-day” area for multiple activities. The commons is a two-story open space with learning resources located on the second level to enhance the research and project-based components mixed with dining and food-based opportunities. After hours, the “commons” spaces provide pre- and post-activity support for both the athletic as well as the performing arts complexes. A full competition gymnasium and competition swimming venue is the connector to the middle school. The performing arts complex provides a complete 650-seat theater with balcony and all supporting performing arts spaces.
Student services, technology distribution, and support spaces are located between the commons space and the academic area. A three-story academic wing supports the core academic programs with a STEAM based center, multiple project and team-based spaces, and a three-story learning stair. The learning stair connects all core programs vertically to enhance the cross-pollination of learning activities. Transparency is a key aspect of the facility’s design and is utilized to promote the visual connection between each of the learning activities.
The new facility was constructed while the existing high school on site was still occupied. The existing facility is currently being demolished, and new playing fields will be constructed in its place. A unique site feature is an underground stream bisecting the site. The project chooses to highlight that challenge by exposing the stream at its outfall within a new outdoor amphitheater and teaching area. This outdoor space enhances internal building program opportunities by connecting them to the exterior. The stream provides for science-based learning activities directly on campus. The new facility allows the students of UMASD to have additional tremendous learning opportunities.
You can view the Spring 2022 issue of Learning By Design here. You can find the Upper Merion Area High School entry on page 138!
If you’d like to learn even more about the Upper Merion Area High School, click here.
SG is proud to have partnered with Upper Merion Area School District. Learn more about this amazing school district here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends the Community College of Philadelphia’s Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the New Career and Advanced Technology Center
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Career and Advanced Technology Center (CATC) for the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) in Philadelphia, PA on August 18th, 2022. The event commemorated the completion of the college’s newest facility.
As part of its mission to build a better and brighter future for Philadelphia, the College selected SCHRADERGROUP, in partnership with Lavallee Brensinger Architects (LBA), to transform the college’s West Philadelphia Regional Center into a destination that provides high-quality academic, career, and technical programs that support career-focused students entering the region’s workforce. The main objective of this effort was to create a dynamic, identity-focused center that provides students with the ideal learning environment for mastering technologies of the ever-evolving industry and healthcare workplaces.
SCHRADERGROUP Managing Partner David Schrader, Project Architect Eric Weiss, and Interior Designer Charlotte Stoudt represented SG at the event, with members from LBA and our engineering subconsultants in attendance as well. Our design team joined CCP staff, faculty, students, local community members, and city and state officials to celebrate the new facility’s completion.
The main goal of the project was to create a center that provides students with programs that concentrate on career readiness and to generate a thriving workforce in Philadelphia’s transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare fields. The new 75,000 SF facility includes state-of-the-art advanced and adaptive technologies for instructional space and study areas, laboratory service bays for automobiles and small engine equipment, and spaces for diesel technology. Programs offered include transportation and logistics technology training, advanced manufacturing training, entry-level healthcare career training, and an innovation hub for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The existing West Campus Automotive Technology facility was demolished and replaced with the three-story building.
Comprehensive instruction and training in this facility will focus on automotive and stationary equipment. Programs on the ground floor will service current and future technologies, including diagnostic and repair procedures, as well as techniques for vehicles powered with gasoline, diesel, biotech, electric, propane, and compressed natural gas. The second and third stories will consist of a variety of classrooms and laboratory spaces supporting the automotive program, materials technologies, and healthcare programs.
Other notable features of the facility include LEED certification, energy efficient design utilizing copious amounts of natural daylight, green rooftops for students and community members, a second-floor patio and adjoining room for events, and a learning commons and multiple conference rooms for student collaboration.
SG would also like to express our gratitude to the entire team for their contributions to the design and construction of this amazing school. Thank you to our partnering firm, Lavallee Brensinger Architects, and our subconsultant team KS Engineers, Arora Engineers, Metropolitan Acoustics, Re:Vision Architecture, and International Consultants, Inc. for all of the collaborative work done on this project.
SG was honored to work on this exciting project. To learn more, click here.
To learn more about the Community College of Philadelphia, click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Attends Delaware Valley Association of School Business Officials’ Annual Golf Outing!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) recently attended the DVASBO Golf Outing at the Gilbertsville Golf Course on Friday, June 17th in Gilbertsville, PA. The Delaware Valley Association of School Business Officials (DVASBO) has held this outing for 32 consecutive years to help raise money for scholarships for Delaware Valley students.
DVASBO is the regional chapter of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO). For nearly five decades, DVASBO has been supporting school professionals in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. The organization currently has over 1,000 members and they are devoted to providing members with education, training, professional development, and timely access to legislative and policy news.
SG Principals Bruce Bachtle and Tom Forsberg were joined by Project Managers and Associates Devin Bradbury and Dan D’Amico. The SG team would like to extend our sincere thanks to the dedicated members of DVASBO for organizing this event held for a great cause.
To learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s commitment to educational facilities, click here.
To learn more about the Delaware Valley Association of School Business Officials, click here.
SCHRADERGROUP Sponsors and Attends the 22nd Annual MCIUEF Golf Classic
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) attended the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Education Foundation (MCIUEF)’s twenty-second annual Golf Classic hosted at the Brookside Country Club in Pottstown, PA on May 9th. The event raised funds to enhance and support educational opportunities for the students of Montgomery County, PA.
SG was proud to be a sponsor for this event. SG team members Harry Pettoni and Devin Bradbury represented SG at the outing that included some well-known faces of the Intermediate Unit.
The MCIUEF celebrated its 22nd year of providing camp and post-secondary scholarships for students with special needs, enriching classroom programs with technology support, and enabling student programs beyond school district budget capabilities. This includes more than $550,000 in grants and scholarships awarded over the last 22 years.
Events like these are important to the success of a community and its students, as it allows the MCIUEF to support programs that continue to attract nearly 7,000 students each year. SG would like to thank the dedicated members of the foundation for organizing this fun event.
Learn more about SCHRADERGROUP’s work with Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and other School Districts in the region here.
Learn more about the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit Education Foundation here.
Hatboro-Horsham School District’s Crooked Billet Elementary School Recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2022 Issue
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is proud to announce that our recently completed project, the Hatboro-Horsham School District’s Crooked Billet Elementary School, has been recognized as an Outstanding Project in Learning By Design’s Spring 2022 Educational Facilities Design Awards Showcase issue. We are very excited to have another SG project recognized as an award-winning facility for its incorporation of next generation learning space design and planning methodologies.
Each year, Learning By Design showcases the very best in the educational design and construction market. Educational facilities are judged on the basis of innovation, community needs, interior design, sustainability, functional design, and next generation learning. The award-winning magazine is published three times a year and regularly recognizes the nation’s top K-12 and higher education projects and architecture firms.
“A project that allows for a range of activities attached to the homerooms and support developing a routine of collaboration and individual work as customary practice. Corridor positioning and pauses along the way exponentially support the potential of an agile community,” said one of the jurors for the panel about Crooked Billet Elementary School.
This replacement school on a Revolutionary War battlefield site offered opportunities to reshape the delivery of education through design that couldn’t be afforded through a 1950’s facility. The new PreK-5 Elementary School is designed for 650 students to accommodate enrollments and to consolidate schools. Incorporating the history of the Battle of Crooked Billet as part of a 21st Century learning environment provided a unique opportunity to integrate the old with the new. An exterior monument at the main entry and a two-story rotunda lobby commemorates the history of the region, the battle, and the school. The rotunda is centrally located between the curricular areas for STEAM programs, including a STEAM classroom, media center, TV studio and art classroom. This central core of the building also serves as the transitional area between the public spaces (gymnasium and cafeteria), and the academic two-story classroom wing. To enhance the delivery of instruction, grade level classrooms are clustered around a large-group instruction area. Each classroom has direct access to a small-group instruction room which can either be shared by another classroom or divided into two by a movable partition. This provides a unique opportunity to pull students for individual or small group instruction in a controlled environment, or for larger group activities in the large group instruction commons, without leaving the grade level cluster.
With an industrial complex and SEPTA rail line on one side, a residential neighborhood in front of the school, and a creek and wooded area to the other side and around the back, the orientation and placement of the building on the site was important to the design. The larger public spaces act as a noise and aesthetic buffer to the industrial area, and the two-story classroom wing on the opposite side of the building takes advantage of the views of the green space down to the creek. Adequate parking is provided in front which also serves as the parent drop-off lane pulling cars off the roadway and onto the site. A separate bus loop and drop-off area alongside the gym/cafeteria separates bus and vehicular circulation on-site.
You can view the Spring 2022 issue of Learning By Design here. You can find Crooked Billet entry on page 51!
If you’d like to learn even more about the Crooked Billet Elementary School, click here.
SG is proud to have partnered with Hatboro-Horsham School District. Learn more about this amazing school district here.
We have thoroughly enjoyed working with the Hatboro-Horsham School District (HHSD) and are honored to have this wonderful facility featured in this issue. In addition to the successful completion of Crooked Billet, SG is currently working with the school district on a new replacement facility for Keith Valley Middle School. Stay tuned for more news on this exciting project as well!
SCHRADERGROUP Welcomes Newest Member to the Interior Design Team!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is happy to announce the newest member to join our team! Please help us welcome Senior Project Manager and Interior Designer Derek Perini!
Derek A. Perini, IIDA, NCIDQ
Senior Project Manager / Interior Designer
Lebanon Valley College – Bachelor of Arts, Interior & Environmental Design
Derek is a skilled Interior Designer with over 24 years of experience. He is well known in the region for his expertise in senior living design, having completed multiple multi-million-dollar retirement complexes in Pennsylvania and several other states.
Derek’s career includes high level Associate and Senior positions at previous firms in the region, with a focus on interior design and interior architectural design in the Senior Living, Multi-Family, Hospitality, and Higher Education markets. His skill in working closely with clients to design interior solutions that support programming objectives will be of immense value to the SCHRADERGROUP team.
At SG, Derek will be working with our Interior Design Team to provide his design expertise to new K-12 and Higher Education projects. He will also bring his past knowledge and experience of senior living and multi-family design to the table while we look to grow and expand into new markets.
Derek is passionate about both learning and teaching. He enjoys being challenged to learn new things and is excited to be pushed outside of his comfort zone in his new position. Derek is also enthusiastic about mentoring. His past positions have allowed him the opportunity to mentor young designers and he finds this to be one of the most rewarding parts of the job. His time mentoring has also proven to be very beneficial for him as well, as their “fresh eyes” and creativity give him inspiration to feed off of. In his free time, Derek enjoys cooking and baking.
Derek is a member of multiple professional organizations, including the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and the Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments (SAGE). He is also certified by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification and additionally serves on the exam grading committee. He is a Lebanon Valley College graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Interior and Environmental Design.
Welcome Derek! We are happy to see our Interior Design Team continue to grow, and we look forward to working on many successful projects together!
Interested in working with us? Visit our Careers page to see what opportunities are available at SG here.
SCHRADERGROUP Welcomes Newest Member to the Architectural Production Team!
SCHRADERGROUP (SG) is happy to announce the newest member to join our team! Please help us welcome Architectural Designer Trevor Mitchell!
Trevor Mitchell
Architectural Designer
Philadelphia University – Bachelor of Architecture, Minor in Sustainability
Trevor is a Philadelphia University graduate with over six years of experience in architectural design, most recently serving as Office BIM Manager and Architectural Designer at his previous architectural firm. During that time, he managed Building Information Modeling for the office, providing support and resolutions to program issues as well as operational training for his coworkers.
In addition to being an experienced designer, Trevor is a skilled organizer who is capable of creating templates and systems to enhance efficacy, whether for a project or for the firm as a whole. He has experience in all phases of a project’s life cycle, from initial surveying and test fits through to construction administration. His experience with educational and public safety facility design will be of tremendous benefit to SCHRADERGROUP.
Trevor is passionate about green design and sees our work with schools as a teaching opportunity to educate students about sustainability through building design. In his free time, Trevor enjoys working on home improvement projects and outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, hunting, and kickball.
Looking to the future, Trevor’s first goal is becoming a licensed architect. He hopes that his work here at SG will have an impact on the communities that we design for. Trevor is very knowledgeable about our education and public safety industries and looks forward to the new changes and techniques seen in the design of these types of facilities as of late.
Welcome Trevor! We are proud to have you join SG and are excited to see what’s in store for your future here! Our team looks forward to sharing our company culture and practice with our new team member and is excited to follow his journey of future success.
Interested in working with us? Visit our Careers page to see what opportunities are available at SG here.