Princeton Charter School Expands with Sustainable Campus Center
The Princeton Charter School (PCS), the nation’s first charter school to be accredited by the American Academy for Liberal Education, has opened a new Campus Center, a facility that houses a sports complex as well as art and music classrooms. Designed by Princeton, NJ-based architecture firm Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects, LLC (FMG), the building is the centerpiece of a master plan that has developed and refined the campus of the 13-year old Princeton Charter School.
Princeton, NJ, May 21, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The new, 17,000-SF mixed-use complex houses a gym, theater, art studio, and music classroom. Its mixed-use function will be reflected in the combined displays of both artwork and athletic awards.
“There is an inspiring spirit of support that focuses on students here at PCS. It has brought us to this moment of great community accomplishment,” said Head of School Dr. Broderick Boxley. “Teachers are excited about what the building will mean in their day-to-day efforts to challenge and support their students, and students are expressing hopes for fun, practicing in the gym, being together in one place, and opportunities to perform.”
“We’re excited to be part of this visionary project for PCS,” said FMG Design Partner Michael Farewell, FAIA. “Our plan for the campus integrates a comprehensive outlook on long-term growth potential for its facilities, so that the school can grow with its students.”
Since its founding in 1997, PCS has upheld the highest standards in education, becoming the first charter school in New Jersey to receive national recognition as a Blue Ribbon School – the federal program that honors public and private schools of academic distinction. Yet the school has also coped with restricted space for its classes and activities. The new Campus Center provides a long-needed facility for recreation and creative learning for the students of PCS.
Sustainable design
For PCS, which serves students in kindergarten through grade 8, developing a sustainable site and architecture in this ecologically significant section of Princeton was of key importance. Following this mandate, FMG has woven the new construction and the plans for new outdoor spaces together with the existing buildings to create a new, ecologically sensitive campus and designed the Campus Center to the standards of LEED for New Construction v.2.2.
The architects focused on energy efficiency, the use of natural light and renewable resources, and indoor air quality as key aspects of their design. The Campus Center is shaped as a series of successively higher volumes and is perforated on its wall and roof surfaces to admit an abundant amount of daylight. The southern orientation allows for a roof-mounted photovoltaic array to capture solar energy.
Learning from the landscape
In the newly reworked campus, a central complex of buildings and circulation routes is integrated into the site, providing access to the school’s academic and sports programs while creating a green landscape zone that follows the sloping land. Rainwater is channeled to a collection point that spills into a cistern and leads water through irrigation channels into a recharge system and to a vegetable garden; the recharge process is a key component in both the building and garden design. This means that the school itself can function as a teaching tool for natural processes, the daily changes in natural light, and the relationship of building and landscape.
FMG’s enhancements to the campus also included an addition to an existing building to improve circulation and provide expanded program areas; enlarged athletic fields and defined play areas; and additional parking and site enhancements.
About Farewell Mills Gatsch
Farewell Mills Gatsch is an award-winning architecture firm that focuses on the integration of building and environment. This has led to buildings and plans for academic campuses and urban institutions that are highly site- and use-specific. The firm numbers 25 practitioners from a broad range of backgrounds and interests. Other educational projects include The Willow School, the Paepcke Auditorium at the Aspen Institute in Colorado, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a new research library for Farleigh Dickinson University.
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“There is an inspiring spirit of support that focuses on students here at PCS. It has brought us to this moment of great community accomplishment,” said Head of School Dr. Broderick Boxley. “Teachers are excited about what the building will mean in their day-to-day efforts to challenge and support their students, and students are expressing hopes for fun, practicing in the gym, being together in one place, and opportunities to perform.”
“We’re excited to be part of this visionary project for PCS,” said FMG Design Partner Michael Farewell, FAIA. “Our plan for the campus integrates a comprehensive outlook on long-term growth potential for its facilities, so that the school can grow with its students.”
Since its founding in 1997, PCS has upheld the highest standards in education, becoming the first charter school in New Jersey to receive national recognition as a Blue Ribbon School – the federal program that honors public and private schools of academic distinction. Yet the school has also coped with restricted space for its classes and activities. The new Campus Center provides a long-needed facility for recreation and creative learning for the students of PCS.
Sustainable design
For PCS, which serves students in kindergarten through grade 8, developing a sustainable site and architecture in this ecologically significant section of Princeton was of key importance. Following this mandate, FMG has woven the new construction and the plans for new outdoor spaces together with the existing buildings to create a new, ecologically sensitive campus and designed the Campus Center to the standards of LEED for New Construction v.2.2.
The architects focused on energy efficiency, the use of natural light and renewable resources, and indoor air quality as key aspects of their design. The Campus Center is shaped as a series of successively higher volumes and is perforated on its wall and roof surfaces to admit an abundant amount of daylight. The southern orientation allows for a roof-mounted photovoltaic array to capture solar energy.
Learning from the landscape
In the newly reworked campus, a central complex of buildings and circulation routes is integrated into the site, providing access to the school’s academic and sports programs while creating a green landscape zone that follows the sloping land. Rainwater is channeled to a collection point that spills into a cistern and leads water through irrigation channels into a recharge system and to a vegetable garden; the recharge process is a key component in both the building and garden design. This means that the school itself can function as a teaching tool for natural processes, the daily changes in natural light, and the relationship of building and landscape.
FMG’s enhancements to the campus also included an addition to an existing building to improve circulation and provide expanded program areas; enlarged athletic fields and defined play areas; and additional parking and site enhancements.
About Farewell Mills Gatsch
Farewell Mills Gatsch is an award-winning architecture firm that focuses on the integration of building and environment. This has led to buildings and plans for academic campuses and urban institutions that are highly site- and use-specific. The firm numbers 25 practitioners from a broad range of backgrounds and interests. Other educational projects include The Willow School, the Paepcke Auditorium at the Aspen Institute in Colorado, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a new research library for Farleigh Dickinson University.
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Contact
Farewell Mills Gatsch, LLC
Tami Hausman
646-742-1700
www.fmg-arch.com
Tami Hausman
646-742-1700
www.fmg-arch.com
Contact
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