New Schools win Architecture Awards

One-year-old Shadow Oaks Elementary School was one of only three new schools to be evaluated as an Honorable Mention winner in the 2012 School Architecture Competition during the recently held Texas Association of School Administrators/Texas Association of School Boards (TASA/TASB) Convention. The new Shadow Oaks Elementary, located at 1335 Shadowdale, opened August 2011.

It was designed by Pfluger Associates and built by Drymala Construction. The strikingly modern, two-story building of 39 regular classrooms and additional learning spaces is constructed of brick and Texas limestone with a geometric plan, angled metal roofs, exterior tile and curtain wall glazing. At its capacity, more than 700 students in kindergarten through fifth grade will learn at this new school.

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As one of three Honorable Mention competition schools, Shadow Oaks earned awards in multiple areas. These included awards for value, planning process, design, educational appropriateness, innovation and sustainability. Separately, the newly rebuilt Wilchester Elementary School earned awards for value and its educational appropriateness from the two Texas school groups in the same competition. Wilchester was designed by PBK Architects. Several other rebuilt SBISD schools qualified for recent competition. They include Spring Branch and Meadow Wood elementaries.

Spring Oaks Middle qualified as a renovated school building. Also earning Honorable Mention ranking were Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy in Dallas ISD and the Sarah Hollenstein Career and Technology Center in Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD. The contest winner of the annual Caudill Award was Lady Bird Johnson Middle School in Irving ISD.

The TASA/TASB Convention is the annual meeting of Texas school groups. It was held earlier this fall in Austin. Under the 2007 Bond program, SBISD has now rebuilt nine of 13 planned elementary schools. Housman Elementary School, the district’s 10th rebuilt school, is expected to open by January 2013.

 In separate but related news, the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) has recognized two new elementary schools – Edgewood and Wilchester – as earning CHPS Designed status. The awards are issued by the Sacramento, Calif.,-based organization to buildings that meet benchmarks that ensure youth learn in healthy, comfortable spaces that minimize impact on the environment. CHPS believes that qualifying schools can improve occupant health, increase student performance, lessen operating costs and provide energy savings.