John S. Chase Academy
Collaboration with SCAD NOMAS
Award Winning Project - NOMA Conference 2017
Top 5 - Honorable mention
Brief
Our team belongs to a generation that is so aware of the detriments to nature that surrounds us, and simultaneously, so threatened by a fragile state that suggests an imminent collapse. The word eco-friendly is thrown around today as much as an “I love you”, and as a result is losing its meaning all together. Taking things for granted as a society: assuming there will always be clean water, unlimited amounts of food, that trash and waste simply disappears, seems to have been what motivated us to design this project in the first place.
Proposal
Our proposal for the John S. Chase Academy of Architectural Design and Sustainability wishes to tackle our generational struggles through a learning environment that maintains the student hyper aware of sustainable ideas, good design and technology. The academy also strives to be a center used by an entire community, and was designed with that extended purpose in mind. Through proper programming, defining multipurpose, adaptable spaces and offering instances everyone needs.
Sustainability
Environmental strategies can be so symbiotic to the program and architecture, that their benefits should be implemented as much as possible. In our conceptual design development, how to make the most out of circulation became a core value of how the rest of the building would resolve. Envisioning and clearly remembering how dynamic and even slightly chaotic commuting from class to class was in our own high school experiences, we thought to not let that energy go to waste. Kinetic energy tiles harvest the energy from the pressure of walking on them and can be converted to usable electricity.
Large majority of regularly occupied spaces were raised from the ground making them secure against harsh natural conditions. Other sustainable strategies incorporated into the buildings were the use of a double skin system, green roofs and gardens, large amount of photovoltaic cells and ample glazing towards the north.
Program
The program of the building was designed into arrangements that complied to be used as a securely accessed school, but could be easily transformed into public spaces.
The programs accessible on the first floor: the cafeteria, gym and open air theatre are the ones best fit for these applications.
In the ideal realization of our design we envisioned supportive programs such as open kitchen community potlucks, theatre club and open gym policy to be readily available to create a tighter knit community, train in additional skills and have a place to have a sense of ownership and pride for.