If it's true that a well-designed school can boost educational achievement, the students attending Westview Elementary School, Warren, Mich., are destined to be top performers. Completed in August 2007, the new facility is a textbook example of how to use architecture to enrich young minds.
Even before stepping into a classroom, Westview Elementary students get an education in color, texture, shapes and angles through the playful design of the building’s exterior—a lively juxtaposition of sloping metal panels, vertical and horizontal metal siding, glass, and textured and glazed brick veneers. The dynamic design carries through to the interior, which employs a similar blend of diverse materials to create stimulating learning spaces that invite exploration and discovery.
Credit: Steve Maylone for Partners In Architecture PLC
Westview Elementary was built by the Fitzgerald Public School District to replace an outdated 1950s-era building that no longer could adapt to today’s educational demands. The district aimed to replace the existing building with a state-of-the-art facility that would help redefine the concept of attending school and accommodate present and future educational needs. The school board also wanted a facility that would instill a sense of place in the community and become a focal point for revitalization within the neighborhood and school district.
The new school combines the latest technology with an innovative design approach that will set the standard for elementary schools in the area for years to come. “Westview Elementary infuses new energy into the neighborhood and supports the Fitzgerald Public School District’s position of providing the best for their students and community,” says Michael Malone, AIA, of Partners in Architecture PLC, Mount Clemens, Mich., and principal in charge of the project. “The exterior makes a bold statement by incorporating a multitude of materials, colors, textures and differing planes. The intention was to be strong, dynamic and inspiring while remaining sympathetic and supportive to the surrounding community.”
AN ENVIRONMENT FOR CHANGE
The design of Westview Elementary overcomes the restrictions of the previous building by incorporating adaptable spaces that can accommodate group and smallscale learning activities and meet future educational needs. The new 2-story building is approximately 98,500 square feet (9151 m2) and comfortably accommodates 200 pre-K and kindergarten students, in addition to 600 students in grades 1 through 5. The facility is organized around a central entrance lobby and main corridor with wide, bright circulation lanes to ease congestion and enhance comfort and security. The layout takes a unique approach by organizing each grade into individualized learning communities, or pods, with their own identities and centralized resource areas. A 2-story academic wing houses grades 1 through 5, as well as a media center, computer lab, and art and science rooms. The facility also encourages socialization among the grades by allowing visual interaction between spaces and providing accommodations for group instruction.
“The art and science rooms have windows into the media center, which allow visual connections between these spaces. The idea is to put these activities on display, sparking interest, stimulating the mind and developing an understanding of what occurs in each area,” Malone says.
METAL EXPANDS CREATIVITY
Just as the interior plan of Westview Elementary provides optimum flexibility to meet the educational demands of its students, metal gave the design team the flexibility it needed to achieve its ambitious architectural vision. “Metal provided our team with many options and alternatives, giving us extreme flexibility in accomplishing our design goals,” Malone says. “It was used throughout the project to introduce color and texture and contribute to the overall dynamic exterior aesthetic.” In addition to aesthetics, Malone cites durability, low life-cycle costs, sustainability and ease of installation as factors contributing to the choice of metal.
The early-childhood section of the building incorporates two large metal boxes, constructed of standing-seam siding and sloped roofing panels that extend from a height of 13 to 22 feet (4 to 6.7 m). “These boxes house four of the early childhood classrooms and introduce subtle color, texture and excitement to the youngest members of the school population,” Malone explains.
The standing-seam siding and roofing are 22-gauge panels in a combination of blue and purple finishes. The panels, which connect with an integral snap-lock batten, were chosen for their versatility to accommodate sloped horizontal and vertical applications. The 1 1/2-inch (38-mm) standing-seam profile also adds dimension with its strong shadow lines. Brighton, Mich.-based Roofcon Inc. rollformed all the panels on-site and installed them on nail-base insulation on top of metal decking for the roof and over gypsum sheathing for the siding.
The standing-seam metal-roofing panels accentuate other areas of the building, adding visual interest through the use of bright colors and diverse shapes. For example, red panels form a dramatic curved-roof accent above the media center, framing a wall of multicolored glazing. A tilting canopy roof over the main entry is clad with yellow panels while some of the classroom pods in the academic portion of the building feature silver sloped metal roofing.
Smooth-faced aluminum-composite metal panels, fabricated by Shaffner Heaney Associates, Berkley, Mich., are used to accent the fenestrations in the classrooms. In some areas, the composite metal panels form projections that tip outward with a sloped roof transitioning to an inclined wall. “These sloped metal boxes make the building unique and provide surprise,” Malone says. “The smooth silver finish also contrasts nicely with the adjacent surfaces of brick veneer.” The compositemetal panels have an extruded thermoplastic core fusion-bonded between two sheets of aluminum and a spline-type joint design. In addition to their aesthetic function, they act as a rainscreen, allowing moisture to enter and drain away without penetrating through to an underlying vapor barrier and sheathing.
Perhaps the boldest use of exterior metal occurs at the building’s four stairwells where horizontal, bright-yellow metal panels provide welcome contrast with the red brick and add angular interest to break up the squareness of a single large masonry building. The siding is installed on 3-inch (76-mm) Z girts over rigid insulation. Concealed fasteners and matching metal trim result in a nearly seamless continuum of horizontal lines.
Because the use of color played a prominent role in the building’s design, the various colors of the metal elements were custommatched to coordinate with a defined color palette. “Each metal manufacturer didn’t offer the same colors,” Malone says. “Therefore, we decided to define the custom color prior to the bidding phase, so the metal manufacturers understood what we were looking for. We felt that this was important to maintain our design direction.”
A LESSON IN CONSERVATION
Westview Elementary also embodies sustainable-design principles and technology that teach children the importance of environmental stewardship. A closed-loop geothermal ground-source heat-pump system provides heating and cooling for the entire facility, tapping into a series of 147 wells drilled 350-feet (106-m) deep. This mechanical system, in conjunction with a building-wide automation system that monitors heating and cooling and controls lighting, is expected to result in substantial energy savings.
An abundance of natural light enters through large windows, light-directing glass block and clerestory windows in the media center and main entry to brighten most of the occupied spaces in the building. Natural light enhances student productivity and reduces energy costs. To further reduce the building’s energy consumption, the windows have tinted, low-E glazing. Daylight is supplemented throughout much of the facility by energyefficient fluorescent light fixtures controlled by occupancy sensors.
Aesthetically and functionally, Westview Elementary exemplifies what can be accomplished when community members and a design team work together to set goals and solve problems. By incorporating environmentally friendly materials, minimizing the use of nonrenewable resources, and taking a design approach that fosters creativity and embraces change, the school will be a productive and cost-efficient institution for teaching and learning for decades to come.
Anne Balogh writes about architecture and metal construction from Glen Ellyn, Ill.
WESTVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, WARREN, MICH.
- OWNER: Fitzgerald Public Schools, Warren ARCHITECT: Partners in Architecture PLC, Mount Clemens, Mich., www.partnersinarch.com
- CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Skanska USA Building Inc., Southfield, Mich., www.skanskausa.com
- METAL PRODUCT INSTALLER: Roofcon Inc., Brighton, Mich., www.roofcon.com
- STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers, West Bloomfield, Mich., www.desainasr.com
- MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: MA Engineering Inc., Bingham Farms, Mich., www.ma-engineering.com
- FABRICATOR: Shaffner Heaney Associates Inc., Berkley, Mich., www.shaffnerheaney.com
- COMPOSITE-METAL PANELS: 6,200 square feet (576 m2) of RLS 9000 made from Reynobond with a three-coat fluoropolymer finish in silver by Alcoa Architectural Products, Eastman, Ga., www.alcoa.com
- HORIZONTAL METAL SIDING: 1,400 square feet (130 m2) of Integrity Series X-16 22-gauge, zinc-coated steel with a two-coat fluoropolymer finish from Metecno-Morin, Bristol, Conn., www.morincorp.com
- STANDING-SEAM METAL SIDING AND ROOFING: 28,000 square feet (2601 m2) of Cee-Lock 22-gauge, zinc-coated steel with a two-coat fluoropolymer finish from Berridge Manufacturing Co., Houston, www.berridge.com
- CUSTOM COLOR: The Sherwin-Williams Co., Cleveland, www.sherwin-williams.com
- EXTERIOR SHEATHING: DensGlass from Georgia-Pacific, Atlanta, www.gp.com