K-12 SCHOOLS Qualifications
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For more information contact: Matthew Pitzer, AIA, LEED AP BD+C Education Practice Leader mpitzer@chacompanies.com
Architecture Full-Service Design Programming Design/Build Sustainable Design Historic Renovations Adaptive Re-Use of Existing Buildings Energy Conservation Upgrades Interior Design Space Planning Furniture & Office Systems Workflow Analysis Finish Selection Planning Educational Planning Health Care Planning Facilities Studies Campus Planning Feasibility Studies Master Planning Land Use/Permit Study Zoning/Code Analysis Existing Building Analysis
Firm Profile Founded more than 40 years ago, CHA Architecture provides architectural design that is rooted in community ideals and responsive to the landscape and local aesthetic. Our people thrive on collaboration, working as part of project team, listening to our clients’ needs, and concentrating on modern design. CHA Architecture is aligned with the CHA Consulting, Inc., a multi-disciplined engineering consulting firm, with a shared aspiration to responsibly improve the world we live in. As part of the CHA team, we are supported by more than 1,300 technical professionals throughout the United States and Canada, providing a national platform to combine art and science to rethink, refine and reshape the built environment. The tools may have changed over the past 40 years, the office has grown, and we have many new colleagues to collaborate with, but the ideas and creative energy persist and overflow. Our foundation remains clear — to create high-quality, collaborative designs that stress innovation grounded in careful listening to our clients’ functional needs.
Education Studio From our founding, CHA Architecture has had a primary focus on designing educational facilities. As we have programmed K-12 school buildings, interviewing teachers and parents in various communities, we have developed an understanding of the needs of successful schools.
1.800.836.0817 chacompanies.com 3
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• Site Planning: Articulating the sequence of travel from bus drop-off to front door and onto playfields, a safe service drive location, easily navigated public access, location and design of playfields, and future expansion. • Building Planning: Defining the “heart” of the school, the relationship between learning commons and teaching stations, departmental relationships, supervision and control, building use after school hours and on weekends. • Child-Scale Design: Size and proportion of a building’s exterior and interior elements. Designs should be playful and spirited, using color, texture, and plenty of natural light, with easily understood wayfinding and identity markers. • Flexible Spaces: Movable walls or small tutoring rooms between classrooms, science/art project rooms, learning commons, and flexible classroom designs anticipate change in teaching styles and school populations. • Technology: Defining both the building infrastructure and the technology tools that will engage the students in learning. • Safety and Security Strategies: Secure access vestibules, control of access doors, construction of safe rooms and egress, and two-way communications.
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• Integrated Curriculum: CHA can help teachers use the school building, its energy systems and grounds, as teaching tools. • Acoustical Control: Acoustical isolation and dampening of band/music rooms, gymnasium, cafeteria, special education spaces, classroom-toclassroom, corridors. CHA facilitates a community charrette in Orono, ME to gain input from community members about what features are most important to them in a new school facility
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• Durability: Low-maintenance exterior and interiors, state-of-the-art longlived building systems. • Energy Efficiency: Highly insulated buildings with heat recovery deliver high air quality at an affordable price. QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
Space Planning and Furniture Selection Furniture can make a statement about how one should sit, how one should learn, whether one should collaborate before one has even engaged with it. CHA’s interior designers recognize the vital role furniture plays in all environments but believe the furniture in educational environments has a profound impact on those who engage with it.
Project Advocacy As school specialists, we know public representation and advocacy in the state and local approvals process are critical for the success of your project. To help promote the referendum vote we provide the following: • • • •
Promote voting participation on our website and social media Develop materials for your website and social media Develop informational brochures Develop presentations to be used by parent and administration supporters to speak before local groups • Design and prepare materials to support a fundraising campaign • Participate in radio and cable television programs
High Performance Design Our goal on all of our projects, whether or not we are pursuing green building certification, is to lower utility and operating costs for our clients and to create comfortable, healthy spaces for the occupants. CHA-designed buildings save our clients money by incorporating high-performance envelope and mechanical systems, energy-efficient lighting systems and controls, maximum daylighting, and alternative energy systems. Our careful attention to non-toxic material selection, fresh air supply, and plentiful natural daylight facilitates healthy buildings.
There has been such a dramatic shift in teaching styles since the start of the 21st century—from the traditional stand-anddeliver method to today’s emphasis on student-centered learning. While our interior designers do not know what may come next, they realize how critical it is for furniture pieces to be flexible, adaptable and multi-functional. Furniture pieces need to inspire collaboration, but also allow for heads-down focused work. Furniture must be compatible with technology, but functional without it. Chairs should allow for movement yet remain durable for an extended period. While 21st century learning is studentcentered as opposed to teacher-centered, this style of learning only works when the teacher can adapt the classroom quickly and easily to his/her students’ needs. Choice is critical for students and teachers alike because it gives everyone the opportunity to learn the way they learn best. This means flexible heights, various textures, numerous forms and kinetic engagement. CHA works closely with clients to discuss what the goals are for the finished environment. Our designers strive to facilitate thought-provoking discussions that encourage clients to move beyond the status quo and think about how their goals can be accomplished using a variety of furniture solutions. We rely on our own experience as designers, parents, volunteers and mentors to create furniture packages that encourage learning in all users.
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Our Team Our K-12 team stays abrest of the lastest trends in the education market. We invest in our professional development by regularly attending conferences and workshops sponsored by the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education, the Association for Learning Environments (formerly CEFPI), and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education Learning Environments for Tomorrow. We tour educational facilities here and abroad to expand our knowledge of 21st-century learning. We interview teachers and parents in various communities to develop an understanding of the needs of successful schools. We analize the evolution of learning environments to understand how learning and teaching styles continue to change. All of this allows us to create environments that are vibrant and flexible and encourage learning, creativity, growth, and independence.
Matthew Pitzer, AIA, LEED AP BD+C Matt oversees CHA’s Education Group as the Education Project Team Leader. In this role, he oversees and identifies resources for our most complex education projects. Matt is known for his strong leadership, challenging his colleagues with difficult questions and problems, and preparing them to present design ideas and solutions to complex problems that arise in educational buildings. The results are facilities that are inspirational to teachers and students, highly functional, durable, and sustainable.
Alan Kuniholm, AIA, LEED AP As one of the CHA’s K-12 Section Leaders, Alan brings almost 40 years of experience in educational space planning and design. Alan’s designs advance the quality of learning environments with a focus on improving a building’s environmental impact; they emphasize energy efficiency, resulting in reduced utility costs allowing the savings to be redirected to educational programming. Alan often leads our community forums and builds consensus and community support resulting in key stakeholder input.
Kathy Cogan, LEED AP BD+C As one of CHA’s K-12 Section Leaders, Kathy has served as project manager for many significant K-12 projects including new schools and renovations with budgets between $40 and $60 million. K-12 projects are very personal and unique to the communities and families they serve and Kathy is known for developing strong relationships with clients and consultants.
Suzanne Morin, CIT, NCIDQ Suzanne has more than 40 years of experience as an interior designer on K-12 and higer education projects. She combines a deep understanding of the design of public interior spaces with a wealth of practical knowledge of finishes and furnishings. Suzanne is an expert in programming and space planning, conducting programming interviews, assessing organizational space needs, and producing test fits for a range of new scenarios. #
K-12 Experience Designing a new school is a tremendous opportunity for a community and architect to create a functional building that is protective and state-of-the-art yet encourages discovery and invention. CHA Architecture believes the best schools are technology-rich with a broad range of spaces that support expeditionary learning, project-based curriculums, and hands-on learning. From preschools through middle schools and high schools, we design schools that serve the unique learning and organizational needs of all students, whether it is supporting team teaching, increased student support services, lower student/staff ratios, or traditional independent study.
Elementary Schools Vivian Hussey Elementary School – Berwick, ME Grades pre-K–3, 496 students North Berwick Elementary School – Berwick, ME Grades pre-K–5, 416 students Hanson Elementary School – Lebanon, ME Grades pre-K–5, 512 students Great Falls Elementary School – Gorham, ME Grades pre-K–5, 550 students Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School – Topsham, ME Grades 3-5, 600 students Caribou Community School – Caribou, ME Grades pre-K–8, 750 students Kate Furbish Elementary School – Brunswick, ME Grades pre-K–2, 660 students
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Camden-Rockport Elementary School – Rockport, ME Grades pre-K–4, 500 students Dirigo Elementary School – Peru, ME Grades pre-K–5, 380 students Old Town Elementary School – Old Town, ME Grades K-5, 600 students Stevens Brook Elementary School – Bridgton, ME Grades K-6, 400 students Skillin Elementary School – South Portland, ME Grades K-5, 475 students Sea Road Elementary School – Kennebunk, ME Grades 4-5, 400 students Cape Cod Hill School – New Sharon/Vienna, ME Grades K-6, 350 students Lincoln Elementary School – Augusta, ME Grades K-5, 350 students
QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
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Farrington Elementary School – Augusta, ME Grades K-5, 525 students
Casco Bay High School – Portland, ME Grades 9-12, 355 students
Windham Primary School – Windham, ME Grades K-3, 1000 students
Gray-New Gloucester High School – Gray, ME Grades 9-12, 600 students
Middle Schools
Lake Region High School – Naples, ME Grades 9-12, 900 students
Gorham Middle School – Gorham, ME Grades 6-8, 900 students Lake Region Middle School – Naples, ME Grades 6-8, 500 students King Middle School – Portland, ME Grades 6-8, 500 students Lincoln Middle Schools – Portland, ME Grades 6-8, 500 students Lyman Middle Schools – Portland, ME Grades 6-8, 500 students Bruce M. Whittier Middle School – Poland, ME Grades 7-8, 200 students Murray Middle Schools – Providence, RI Grades 6-8, 760 students
High Schools Freeport High School – Freeport, ME Grades 9-12, 540 students
York High School – York, ME Grades 9-12, 575 students Windham High School – Windham, ME Grades 9-12, 930 students Thornton Academy – Saco, ME Grades 9-12, 1600 students Mt. Blue High School – Topsham, ME Grades 9-12, 950 students Mt. Ararat High School – Topsham, ME Grades 9-12, 950 students Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School – South Paris, ME Grades 9-12, 1240 students Cony High School – South Paris, ME Grades 9-12, 900 students Ellsworth High School – Ellsworth, ME Grades 9-12, 675 students #
Location Brunswick, Maine
Kate Furbish Elementary School
Project Info New construction - 90,000 sf
Brunswick School Department
Grades prek-2, 660 students
A new elementary school in Brunswick will relieve overcrowding at several existing schools and allow for the addition of pre-K classrooms within the district. Responding to concerns about the large size of the student population, CHA developed a concept of two schools within a school, sharing core facilities. Architectural forms and color were used to reduce the scale of this assembly to help it fit within the surrounding residential neighborhood. Site circulation was reconsidered to promote student and campus safety. A one-story pre-K wing near the administration office offers an intimate, safe area # for the youngest students who are acclimating to public school and includes direct access to their own outdoor play space. The kindergarten, first, and second grades are broken into two “Houses,� each consisting of kindergarten and first grade classrooms on the ground floor and second grade classrooms on the second floor. Students will remain in their assigned House, to help create smaller communities within the otherwise large school. Diversified Arts (library, art, music, gym) and special support service classrooms are located along or just off one of two central corridors that run through the center of the school. The wooded site inspired a forest trails theme that informs the interior spaces and wayfinding. The pre-K wing is inspired by acorns and pine cones, the fruit and seeds that sprout into coniferous or deciduous trees. House A takes inspiration
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QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
from coniferous pine and spruce trees, with strong shades of green defining their common spaces; House B represents deciduous maple and oak trees, using oranges throughout shared spaces. The central corridor from the front to the back of the building is envisioned as a meadow’s edge trail, buffered by vertical green elements on the walls and embedded in the floor. This trail merges into a cross corridor outside of the shared cafeteria and gym, where wavy layers of blue elements evoke the experience of rippling water along a river’s edge trail.
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Location Lebanon, Maine Project Info Project Type: New construction - 38,000 SF Addition to Existing 42,000 SF Building Grades: Pre-K - 5 Student Size: 512
Hanson Elementary School MSAD 60 Berwick Schools
The proposed Hanson Elementary School addition/renovation combines the populations of Hanson Primary and Lebanon Elementary to create one consolidated Pre-K - 5 elementary school. The integration of the two schools will allow for additional classrooms spaces, separate gym/auditorium and cafeteria spaces, shared special education spaces, and the addition of new modern pre-kindergarten classrooms. The new 38,000 SF addition will house administrative and guidance services, a new secured main entry, the gymnasium/auditorium, and a 2-story classroom wing for the 3rd-5th grade population. The classroom wing will include 2 unfinished # classrooms for planned future expansion. The Pre-K – 2nd grade classrooms will remain in the existing building along with the district’s Behavior program and other specialties including the cafeteria and a shared community library. The two distinct classroom wings will allow for separation of the older and younger student populations, while still allowing them to share modernized support and specialty spaces.
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QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
In order to create a safer site, circulation will be modified to create separate bus and parent/visitor drop off loops. Additional satellite parking will be created at the current location of the Lebanon Elementary School. The new addition is planned to utilize air source heat pumps to provide both heating and cooling year-round. In addition to substantial operational cost savings from the consolidation of two buildings, the district plans to design the two-story classroom wing to be PV ready in anticipation of installing a solar array on the roof to further offset energy costs.
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Location Rockport, Maine Project Info Addition – 67,000 sf Pre-K–4, 500 students Consolidation of 2 schools
Camden-Rockport Elementary School MSAD #28
Located on a tight 14-acre site off Route 90 in rural Rockport, Camden-Rockport Elementary School more than triples the existing former Montessori School, providing new instructional spaces, expanded play areas, and improved site circulation. This new school boasts numerous sustainable initiatives, including on-demand ventilation, CO2 monitors, a high-performance exterior envelope, daylighting, daylight harvesting, geothermal heating, radiant floors, an enthalpic heat recovery system, and a palette of low VOC (volatile organic compounds) sustainable finishes. #
In order to maximize the amount of available outdoor play area for the students, the new design allows the school to add another floor without expanding the footprint. Camden-Rockport’s cafeteria, with its clerestory windows, easily converts to an auditorium. The photo above shows the proscenium open to the cafeteria and the back wall closed. The folding back wall opens into the gymnasium.
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QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
The entrance lobby, the crossroads of the school, coordinates five entrances in a lively, light-filled space that doubles as an art gallery and event space. Working with Youth Arts, the school has built a permanent hanging sculpture project called FishE.S. Each grade worked with a different artist, medium, and color palette, and each student contributed a fish to this multi-media project. “MSAD #28 is absolutely thrilled with the new CamdenRockport Elementary School. . . . The staff is overjoyed at having all of our K-4 students and programs under one roof. Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of the new building is that our students are now experiencing a firstrate education in an equally first-rate facility. You can be proud that your design helped to create an extraordinary new school that will be appreciated by the entire CamdenRockport community for many years to come.� - Patricia Hopkins, Superintendent of Schools
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Location Brunswick, Maine Project Info New construction on an in-town site – 97,000 sf Grades 3-5, 600 students LEED for Schools Certified
Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School Brunswick School Department
Stowe Elementary School is located in the heart of Brunswick in an older residential neighborhood where many students can walk to school. Architectural elements from the old Art Deco high school that had stood on the site were salvaged and reused. At 13 acres, the site is modest and long, which resulted in a “linear village” of five # connected sections, each with a distinctive spatial “break” and orientation to the street. The linear village starts to the east at Spring Street with a single-story library and fine arts wing with low-pitched roofs surrounded by mature oak trees and a pedestrian-friendly relationship to the quiet street. Each of the five sections has a distinct use, yet harmonizes with the whole through shared materials and colors. The building runs from east to west, so all classrooms and major spaces receive natural daylighting, and views to the neighborhood are emphasized.
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QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
Particular attention was paid to the design of the classrooms, where every room has access to a shared tutorial small group room (see below, orange stools). Coats and boots stay in lockers in the hallway while large knapsacks are hung on pegs in the classroom. Classroom storage was maximized with tall shelving units, counters, and locked cabinet wardrobes. The entire school is heated and air conditioned by a closedloop geothermal system with an expected 8-year payback.
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Location Naples, ME Project Info 26,500 sf addition Grades 6-8, 500 students
Lake Region Middle School MSAD #61
This older junior high school for 250 students was expanded and reorganized to become a middle school for 500 students. This locally funded project reorganized the major specialty spaces to support four houses. New science rooms, computer # labs, and movable walls put an emphasis on flexibility for future programs. The district’s plans had long called for moving the sixth grade to the daylight basement at the middle school when the elementary school population grew too large. In response to concerns about the sixth grade going to school with older students, the sixth-grade “wing” was conceived as its own unit, sharing only the library, cafeteria, and playfields with the rest of the school. Every classroom has extensive built-in storage, a SMART board, natural daylighting, and operable windows. Sophisticated lighting controls use sensors to adjust light levels and to save energy by turning off lights in unused spaces. Teachers are taking advantage of the bright color palette as a backdrop for displays of student work.
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QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
Location Freeport, ME Project Info 540 Students Renovation/Addition - 30,000 sf
Cafeteria and Classroom Addition Freeport High School
This project addresses needs for expansion and updating that were identified in the 2012 Master Plan for the campus. A new 2-story addition on the northwest side of the building houses a food court and kitchen as well as 7 new classrooms, a band room, and fitness and health rooms. New learning spaces—STEM classrooms, active learning classrooms, art and ceramics rooms, and learning labs in the library—accommodate evolving modern education practices. A new entrance, ADA accessibility updates, new flooring, bathrooms, and technology are also included. Traffic reconfiguration, with new parking and pick-up and drop-off loops, improve flow and safety.
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Location Portland, ME Project Info 355 Students Renovation - 4,300 sf
STEM Expansion/Master Plan Buildout Casco Bay High School
The first phase of the CBHS Master Plan buildout is a series of state-of-the-art STEM # (Science Technology Engineering Math) chemistry and physics classrooms and a physics maker space equipped with 3-D printers. The classrooms are designed and furnished for maximum flexibility so that teaching and learning can continually change. Students can pick up the furniture to change classroom configurations from discussion, to group work, to individual workstations all during one class period. Secure storage and prep areas are adjacent to work areas. Science classes at CBHS are integrated with math and humanities classes and are often geared toward the school’s current expeditionary learning theme. These classrooms support constantly changing groups of students collaborating on multiple projects. 20
QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
Location Naples, ME Project Info 900 Students New Construction - 20,750 sf
Education & Services Building MSAD #61
The Education and Services Building features high-bay construction with ample storage, full-height overhead doors, efficient air-quality control systems, and passive solar heating with south-facing Kalwall windows. It houses expanded largevehicle maintenance, auto repair, and building construction trade programs, plus MSAD #61 services operations (transportation, facilities, and food). The stand-alone facility doubles the bus fleet maintenance shop and automotive program while eliminating indoor air quality problems in the existing school. “The entire team was extremely knowledgeable and helpful before, during, and after the projects were completed. CHA worked closing with us to renovate and add additions as well as some completely new buildings on our campus, mostly when school was in session, and did so with little interruption to the school.” —Andy Madura, MSAD #61 Facilities Director
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Location York, ME Project Info New Construction - 9,600 sf
Music Wing York High School
York High School’s active music program includes a 130-member Chorus, the freshman and sophomore Treble Choir, the Chamber Singers, the Jazz Band, and a 65-piece Concert Band. #
This locally funded Music Wing alleviates overcrowding with new practice spaces, chorale and band rehearsal rooms, a keyboard classroom, instrument and uniform storage, and faculty offices. Special attention was paid to soundproofing and acoustical engineering. The Music Wing is adjacent to the existing auditorium and is designed to integrate with a future performing arts center. “We rehearsed this morning for a bit, and I’m ready to cry, I’m so happy.” -Rob Westerberg, Choral Director
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QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
Location Saco, ME Project Info 1,600 Students
Master Plan Buildout Thornton Academy
A private academy that functions as the local high school, Thornton Academy has been strategically increasing its enrollment to increase diversity and offer a broader range of courses. CHA Architecture’s 2012 Master Plan “found” space for instructional programs that could be reclaimed by moving some functions and renovating others. Chief among the 7 small projects were the renovation of the old gym space for the new library, and the renovation of the former library for the Arts + New Media program. This advanced technology space provides the tools for courses such as Music Technology, Game Design Development, Technical Writing in an iPad World, and Video Production. As a result of the Master Plan, CHA has designed several larger projects: a 4,000 sf middle school addition, a 12,000 sf, 6-classroom STEM addition to the Scamman Science Building, and a dormitory. #
Location Topsham, ME Project Info New construction – 150,000 sf 950 Students
Mt. Blue Campus RSU #9
This major overhaul of the Mt. Blue High School/Foster Technical Center campus serves as a model for fully integrating career technical education (CTE) with an academic high school. The organizational principles place academic classrooms directly adjacent to CTE labs and scatter CTE programs throughout the floor plan, allowing for complete integration between the two. The building incorporates multiple alternative energy technologies such as wood chips, geothermal, solar hot water heating, electrical wind generators, and photovoltaic panels. All of the alternative energy technologies have been designed # to be monitored and maintained as part of the school curriculum. The building was designed with 1-, 2-, and 3-story instructional blocks, with shorter blocks designed for future expansion.
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QUALIFICATIONS | K-12 Schools
There are two new performance spaces: a 500-seat, two-story auditorium to serve the theater, music, dance, and video media programs, and a 250-seat performance space for academic lectures, meetings of the faculty senate, and small group performances.
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