Completion Date:     2/3/2014

Square Footage:      33780

Building Use:           High School - Middle School Enclave Classroom Building - Science / Technology / Engineering / Art / Math

Location:                 Newport Beach, California

Project Description:

Located on an impacted existing high school site, a high-density solution offers a three-story campus-within-a-campus “Enclave” to provide a home specifically tailored to middle school students, providing a place that inspires and challenges them to explore, yet feel secure. This new home allows students to transition into the greater population at their own pace, offering shelter when needed and access when desired. A creative curriculum informs the design of a comprehensive STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) program within a high-performance LEED Gold, CHPS, and Savings by Design building.

A technology rich environment offers a full academic support community around a central enveloped courtyard. Individual building wings house science and engineering, the art lab, technology and flex classrooms, and campus administration. Upper levels weave through horizontal and vertical sunshades, creating nooks for chance encounters, fresh air, views, shade, and cool coastal breezes. This inventive solution personifies the Southern California educational experience as a direct result of a community engagement process that speaks of true collaboration. Envisioned as a new gateway to the west side of an existing campus, the Enclave echoes the spirit and context of the original contemporary campus design and surrounding neighborhood.

PROCESSES AND OUTCOMES:

Sustainability:
This project is rich with sustainable strategies designed to meet ecological objectives.
- Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), LEED for Schools, and Savings by Design
- Natural light and ventilation is introduced through the courtyard to all interior spaces
- Mechanized light, air and water systems are all resource efficient
- A rain garden bio-filters water and spills it onto a restored native garden to be detained and percolated
- Educational displays inform students of consumption of the earth’s resources and the impact on the future
- Sustainability and resource management is incorporated into the educational curriculum

Planning Process:
The Middle School Enclave embraces the spirit of the original design of this high school.
- A joint committee of staff & parents have influenced this courtyard design
- The budget of $386 per sf was established with a local bond measure (construction value = $8.5 million)

Community Engagement:
A committee composed of District and Community members has directed the planning and design process.
- Neighborhood contextual connectivity bridges the campus with a new community-oriented entry
- The campus recently hosted its first State-of-the-District event
- The new entry portal distributes traffic & drop-off/pick-up to alleviate the impact on neighboring streets
- Parental support has led to growth in the PTA program, & a surge of students relocating from surrounding private schools
- A community food service partner has donated funding & services to improve nutritional campus food service

Learning Environment:
This three-story academic facility houses a 21st Century Learning Center.
- High quality learning environment reflects STEAM magnet school programs
- Spaces between the classrooms create opportunities for students to interact
- Linked to the greater campus, the Enclave allows middle school students to ebb and flow
- Middle School students finally have a campus to call their own to learn & grow together as a community

C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment

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