EDNEYVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Henderson County, North Carolina

To better serve its more than 550 students, the new Edneyville Elementary School reflects established goals for a collaborative, 21st-century learning environment, outdoor instruction, and integration as a community center. The new school maintains a strong connection to its site and rural community, with all classrooms positioned with views to the west, capturing the surrounding pastoral farmland, lake, and mountains.

The school uses 36% less energy than the baseline, and its R-23 walls exceed the NC energy code by 53%. Using exposed wood as a primary material in the roof structure reduces the project’s embodied carbon and serves as a biophilic element for minimizing student stress. The facility receives generous natural light, with approximately 95% of spaces having direct exterior views. Clerestory windows in the atrium space let light deep into the building, while translucent windows in the gymnasium largely minimize the need for artificial lighting during the day. By creating a sheltered connection between classroom and playscape, the building elevates its site from a picturesque backdrop to an immersive experience.

A central circulation corridor “spine” divides classroom space on the west side from administrative and support areas on the east. Working with the site’s existing topography to limit site disturbance, the south half of the building is two stories, with kindergarten and first grade on the ground floor and second and third grades on the main floor. This structure establishes a direct access to the exterior terraces for outdoor learning opportunities.

FITTS-WOOLARD HALL

NC State University, Raleigh, North Carolina

Fitts-Woolard Hall marks the culmination of the College of Engineering’s move to the oval on Centennial Campus. The facility joins Engineering Buildings I, II, and III on this unique campus that blends education, research, industry, government, and community spaces. Clark Nexsen partnered with NC State to develop a dynamic, sustainable facility centered on goals to promote interaction and collaboration between students, faculty, and individual engineering departments.

Driven by a commitment to “engineering on display,” the four-story facility features high degrees of transparency that create a light-filled, vibrant educational environment. Each teaching and research space supports initiatives critical to the global high-tech economy, including advanced manufacturing, bioengineering, ergonomics, robotics and sensor technology, transportation and logistics, and environmental. From a large scale driving simulator to testing labs for military equipment, students have access to spaces where they can apply classroom knowledge and explore the results. High performance glazing reduces the building’s heating and cooling envelope loads while natural daylighting and LED light fixtures reduce demand for electricity. Temperature sensors, humidity sensors, VOC sensors, occupancy sensors, and carbon dioxide sensors are utilized in selected lab spaces as the basis for monitoring space usage, occupancy, and controlling the space heating, cooling, dehumidification, and ventilation air systems. Reinforcing overall pEUI reduction, the HVAC VAV terminal unit controls are integrated with space level lighting control utilizing a common space occupancy sensor. This feature controls both space lighting levels and indexing spaces from “Unoccupied Mode” to “Occupied Mode” through the building BAS system. FittsWoolard is tracking LEED Silver certification.