Transcript GilaRidge

2009 Monarch Award
Gila Ridge High School
Yuma, Arizona
High School
Design/Bid/Build
VCBO Architecture
The Yuma, Arizona weather allows for common areas to be moved outside. The Mall is the social center of the school,
with the library at the heart (“SEARCH”).
Classrooms are designed to be flexible and can be re-configured to adapt to the curriculum. The windows allow
natural daylight from the classroom to enter the collaboration spaces and provide a more open, community feel.
Learning takes place both in and out of the classroom.
Collaboration spaces are essential to prepare students for College and for a lifetime of learning.
Student traffic areas were designed both indoors and outdoors. The North side of the buildings
provide shade during the hot Arizona days. This view shows the “Explore” academy.
The Dining Room overflows onto the outdoor Commons/Mall area. Students dine outside for seven months of the school year.
The Media Center (“Search”) overlooks the Mall, provides valuable shade, and invites the students to SEARCH for knowledge and insight.
Note: Photo taken before shade structures were completed
The indoor Dining Room is designed as a flexible space that can be used as a lobby for student registration by opening up to the
Bookstore. Families registering in August can enjoy a temperate space while waiting for ID cards and books.
The Media Center is an inviting area that makes full use of natural daylighting.
Inspiring quotations create curiosity among students.
Within the Academic Houses themselves, there is a number sequence,
either binary code (which hides a fun message to students who decode
it), the Fibonacci Sequence, Prime Numbers, or 200 feet of “Pi”.
Further, historical timelines create fun parallels, and grab student attention
– topics of the timelines include the history of transportation, scientific
discovery, communications, inventions, art and architecture, food
technology, and of course, Yuma, Arizona.
Signage was a key learning element on this project: Glass at entrances to all buildings is etched with topic appropriate quotations. Buildings
themselves are named with action verbs to indicate function.
The 1200-seat Auditorium was modeled digitally, to achieve outstanding acoustics; the space also features a state-of-the-art lighting system.
The Auditorium is used by both the school and the Yuma community.
The Gila Ridge High School landscaping features hardy, attractive desert plants that contribute to the
District’s goals for sustainable buildings and require very little water.
Gila Ridge High School
Site Plan
north
This site is shared with Yuma City on the western side, and Arizona Western College shares the stadium with the High School. From the
start of the project, one of the most important design factors was the orientation of the building with the long axes to the north or south
(The easiest and most economical sustainable measure!)
Gila Ridge High School
Main Floor Plan
Gila Ridge High School
Upper Floor Plan
Gila Ridge High School
Enlarged Academic House
Each Learning Academy enjoys a different color scheme, name, and theme, enhancing student identity and wayfinding, while piquing
student interest. Houses may be organized by grade level or career path. Central teacher’s office space encourages collaboration and
frees up classroom use.
Gila Ridge High School
Enlarged Science Laboratory
The Science Lab was designed to allow ultimate flexibility: The gas and air are recessed, with a removable cover, and the loose tables can be
configured in a variety of ways accommodating a full array of diverse experiments. Two lecture classrooms share each laboratory, which is
centrally located in each Learning Academy.
Gila Ridge High School
Enlarged Science Laboratory
Planning Process & Specific Challenges
The school provides an innovative and environmentally responsive design solution resulting from a lively collaboration of stakeholders. The District
determined the need for the new building, interviewed architects, and then set up a group to begin defining the program for a completely new and
student-centered facility. The programming and design committee included administrators, facilities/maintenance personnel, department heads and
teachers from the existing 4 comprehensive high schools, parents, and most importantly, students. Small Learning Communities were
requested from all stakeholders; even the science teachers were willing to separate labs to achieve this goal.
This design/programming committee created eight specific challenges
that the new building must accommodate. It would have to:
• Support an integrated, project-based, technology-rich curriculum
• Encourage collaboration & create community – Small Learning
Communities are critical
• Provide a sustainable environment
• Enhance physical educational space
• Pique student interest
• Incorporate durability & maintainability
• Be an integral community partner
• Appeal to the aesthetics of the future occupants
The Solution
The solution is multi-faceted, like the challenges, which were answered as follows:
Support an integrated, project-based, technology-rich curriculum:
The school is comprised of 5 buildings, including two 2-story academic buildings. Within each of the academies,
there is a science core, specifically designed to be appropriate for all science disciplines, a faculty office, where the
instructors have space to work individually or together, and classrooms surrounding a highly visible collaboration
space. This accommodates both grade-level-specific and multi-age interest-based academies, encouraging an
integrated curriculum. Technology design includes ceiling-mounted projection and fully integrated sound
reinforcement in all classrooms, as well as wifi availability throughout the campus. The rear portion of the
Auditorium is designed to act as a small stadium seating style Lecture Hall with fully integrated projection systems.
Encourage collaboration & create community:
The Academic houses create small student/teacher communities, which all coincide at the heart of the campus,
where the Media Center and the central quad are intentionally located. The student collaboration spaces in each
learning academy include conference rooms where students can meet with acoustic privacy, as well as the larger
spaces for bigger groups, all totally supervisable through large interior windows in each classroom.
Provide a sustainable environment:
Sustainable measures incorporated into the design of the project include the careful and conscious orientation of
the building along the East West axis, (all classrooms have only south or north facing fenestration), the choice to
use locally produced and low voc building materials, and selection of a chilled water mechanical system for cooling,
rather than the package rooftop units commonly used in the area. Electrically, the building utilizes multi-level
lighting options and occupancy sensors within the individual spaces to accommodate different classroom activities,
as well as saving energy. Classroom daylighting was modeled, and sloped ceilings with a very high light reflectance
were utilized to draw natural light deep into each classroom. The building envelope design, including the use of high
performance glazing and the use of light-colored exterior materials also contribute to this exceptionally energy
conscious facility.
Enhance physical educational space:
The building is designed to optimize natural daylighting; all learning spaces are daylit and oriented to increase year round environmental comfort,
both inside and outside. The main circulation spine is located on the north side of the building, utilizing shade created from the shadow of the
building itself. The building siting also creates a natural ventilation effect in all but the hottest months by capturing the prevailing winds at the same
time highlighting the panoramic views offered to the East, North and West. Color selections are designed to appeal to the student community,
recollecting the desert landscape.
Pique student interest:
Etched on the glass throughout the facility are inspiring quotes from eminent thinkers of many nationalities, and
“welcome” in over 50 languages. Each collaboration space bears either the Fibonacci series, the prime numbers, the
numbers of Pi, or a secret message expressed in binary code, as well as a themed timeline. Academic houses are
named Explore and Discover, providing identities, color schemes, and way finding for the academies.
Incorporate durability & maintainability:
District maintenance staff played a huge role in the selection of finishes, materials, and systems for this project. All
were selected for ease of maintenance and durability, as well as life cycle performance, local origin, (where possible),
and aesthetics.
Be an integral community partner:
The community passed a bond to pay for building amenities that the state facility building funds do not - the performing arts
space, applied technology labs, and additional sports facilities, as well as the upgraded mechanical system, lighting and
interior tile wall finish. The stadium was built as a shared venture with the Western Arizona Community College down the
street, and the City will be building a city park on 20 of the project’s acres. The health clinic, located at the front of the
Admin building, is utilized by the greater community as well.
Appeal to the aesthetics of the future occupants:
The exterior colors were selected both to be a part of the desert, and to catch the eye of the community. Inside the complex, colors were chosen
to enhance wayfinding, and create a sense of place – occupants know where they are, partly as a result of the theming of the building, partly due to
the color with which they are surrounded. Theming shows up in a number of places – the timelines, which respond to their location on the
campus, and the area appropriate quotes, etched on the glass, as well as the exterior signage – which tells patrons not only “where” – but “what”!
Gila Ridge High School
Project Budget
This project had a total
project budget from the State
of Arizona of approximately
$34 million, plus bond monies
of $16 million from the local
constituency, and included
money for building design, city
impact fees and permits, and
fixtures, furniture, and
equipment.
Gila Ridge High School
Project Details
Project Name
Gila Ridge High School
City
Yuma
State
Arizona
District Name
Yuma Union High School District #70
Supt/President
Toni Badone
Occupancy Date
August 1, 2007
Grades Housed
9-12
Capacity(Students)
1,800
Site Size (acres)
40 Acres (school site: 40 acres, total site: 80 acres)
Gross Area (sq. ft.)
270,000 sq ft
Per Occupant(pupil)
150 sq ft
gross/net please indicate
Design and Build?
No
If yes, Total Cost:
Includes:
If no,
Site Development:
$4,054,000
Building Construction:
$41,619,000
Fixed Equipment:
$1,500,000
Other:
Total:
$47,173,000
Gila Ridge High School
Educational Specifications
Educational Specification is
included in a separate PDF
file.
Gila Ridge High School
Confidential Form
Submitting Firm :
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
VCBO Architecture
Architect of Record
Boyd McAllister
Principal in Charge
524 South 600 East
Salt Lake City, Utah
801-575-8800
Joint Partner Firm:
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
Other Firm:
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
Construction Firm:
Project Role
Project Contact
Title
Address
City, State or Province, Country
Phone
Pilkington Construction
General Contractor
Jim Pilkington
President
2975 South Avenue B
Yuma, Arizona
928-317-0345
Gila Ridge High School, Yuma, AZ
Photo Release
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Name of Project:
Location of Project:
Occupancy Date, if applicable:
Gila Ridge High School
Yuma, Arizona
August 1, 2007
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Firm:
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Date of Release:
May 15, 2009
Gila Ridge High School, Yuma, AZ