Charter Schools
DattnerArchitects
Firm Profile
Dattner Architects is a mid-size New York City firm with a strong, varied portfolio of design work for educational and cultural institutions, public agencies, not-for-profit groups and corporate clients. We have deep in-house resources, with significant experience within the urban setting, including maximizing the zoning envelope, designing for tight sites, renovating and adding to occupied structures, adaptive reuse and historic preservation, and sustainability. The firm has designed numerous K-12 schools in the metropolitan area. These projects provide spaces scaled for children to encourage their physical, mental and psychological development, are non-institutional in character, and respectful of children’s special needs. We design spaces that promote positive interaction with the environment and engender an understanding of and respect for the importance of each child’s place in society as well as of the collective community. Our work aims at the realization of our clients’ highest aspirations, respecting our shared social responsibilities, built within available resources. Projects for a wide range of communities, clients and users demonstrate our respect for context
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and the needs of the people these projects serve. As a result, our work has garnered over 100 design awards and recognition across the country. Dattner Architects is a leader in the sustainable design movement. Our whole-building design process seeks ways to make our projects increasingly sustainable. Our work incorporates features such as high efficiency lighting and equipment, innovative ventilation systems, healthy materials, rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic arrays, and green roofs. Our approach is to achieve high standards of environmental performance and energy conservation, while controlling costs and simplifying building operation and maintenance. The work of the firm includes master planning and buildings for educational and cultural institutions, public agencies, not-for-profit groups and corporate clients; historic preservation/adaptive reuse; sustainable architecture; interior design. Our work aims at the realization of our clients’ highest aspirations while respecting shared social responsibility and building within available resources.
Klein Campus Center at the Dwight Englewood School
Location Englewood, New Jersey Client Dwight Englewood School Area 40,000sf Schedule 2003/2005 Awards 2007 AIA New Jersey Award of Merit New York Construction Magazine Best of 2006 Merit Award
Located on the heavily landscaped campus of this private K-12 school, the Klein Campus Center provides a new focal point for the campus. The building is integrated into the campus fabric by completing the definition of the central campus quadrangle. The structure is connected directly to Schenk Hall—which houses the main auditorium and cafeteria. The heart of the building is the 170-seat multipurpose “black box” theater. A sky-lit atrium over the main building stair marks the entrance to this theater. Both the new stage and the existing stage in Schenk Hall share back-of-house theater spaces, transforming the two buildings into one unified performing arts complex. Public circulation spaces are designed to facilitate student interaction and accommodate large groups during events. Facing the interior of the campus, a glazed “interior street” runs the length of the building on both floors— providing circulation, student locker spaces and study and seating niches overlooking the quadrangle. Classrooms, music rehearsal spaces, administrative spaces and an expanded cafeteria are located on the more public side of the building, facing the main access avenue.
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Klein Campus Center at the Dwight Englewood School
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Primary School / Intermediate School 276
Location New York, New York Clients New York City Department of Education New York City School Construction Authority Size 125,000sf Schedule 2007/2010
PS/IS 276 will serve 950 students from prekindergarten through eighth grade, and will include 100 seats for special education students. As part of the city’s new “green development” initiative, the school will be one of the first in the city to be built under the New York City School Construction Authority’s Green Schools Guide, developed by Dattner Architects in 2007. A flexible example of a “high-rise” school, the 8-story building’s massing reflects the vertical orientation of the program. Public assembly spaces and pre-K through fourth grade are accommodated on the first 4 floors. Shared spaces, such as the cafeteria, library, art and other specialized classrooms are on the fifth and sixth floors. Fifth through eighth grades will fill the seventh and eighth floors.
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A 10,000sf outdoor playroof is situated on the third floor. All classrooms will be well lit with natural light, reducing the need for overhead lighting. Combined with high-efficiency boilers and other equipment, extra insulation and photovoltaic solar panels, the school will reduce its energy costs by more than 25%. Roof-mounted photo-voltaic cells alone will generate 50 kilowatts of energy, roughly one-third of the energy needed to light the school. Low-flow plumbing fixtures will consume 40 percent less potable water than a comparable building, and 80 percent of the building’s construction waste will be recycled. The exterior will be clad in brick, with contrasting brick on the top floors.
Primary School / Intermediate School 276
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New Settlement Community Campus
Location Bronx, New York Client Settlement Housing Fund, New York City School Construction Authority Area 146,000sf Schedule 2007/2012 in association with Edelman Sultan Knox Wood / Architects LLP
The New Settlement Community Campus will offer a unique model for school development. The new campus will include two schools: a Primary School with a capacity of 423 students, an Intermediate/High School with a capacity of 568 students, as well as 96 students participating in the Citywide Special Education District 75. Accordingly, there will be two Administration Suites for the two separate Principals, as well as offices for a Pre-Kindergarten Coordinator and separate Supervisory and Guidance functions for District 75. There will also be a Community Center with a swimming pool and related facilities. Settlement Housing Fund owns 16 buildings with 995 apartments in the neighborhood known as New Settlement Apartments. New Settlement Apartments operates many excellent community programs, including after-school programs, college counseling, arts and books-and basketball. The kitchen / cafeteria complex, auditorium, gymnasium and library in the school will serve the entire school population.
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The gymnasium complex and other school facilities will be available for off-hour use by the local community by arrangement through the Settlement Housing Fund. The play yards will also be shared-use facilities available to both school organizations and for off-hour use by the local community. A key architectural element is the interplay between the massing and expression of the two wings of the building. Although the predominant material is brick, materials such as metal panels and channel glass will be used to express special functions and provide visual interest and scale. As part of the city’s new “green development” initiative, the school was designed and is being built under the New York City School Construction Authority’s Green Schools Guide, developed by Dattner Architects in 2007. Sustainable features include daylighting, high-efficiency lighting, use of recycled and local materials, occupancy sensors, low voc paints, mold resistant wallboard and roof deck, extensive commissioning and IAQ management during construction.
New Settlement Community Campus
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Intermediate School / High School 362
Location Bronx, New York Client New York City School Construction Authority, New York City Board of Education Size 188,700sf Schedule 2004/2008
IS/HS 362 is a grouping of two high schools, an intermediate school and a special education facility located on a single site but independent of each other. Each of the three schools accommodates 600 students, while the special education component accommodates 120 students. The school complex is located in an urban residential neighborhood on a constrained site. The building consists of two blocks; a low commons building, and a higher classroom building which wraps the commons building on two sides. This arrangement reduces the bulk on one street and creates several smaller buildings along the largely residential streets, minimizing the impact on its surroundings. Shared areas such as the auditorium, gymnasia, library and cafeteria are arranged along a skylit “interior street” on the ground floor. For a pilot exploration of Local Law 86, we prepared a LEED certification Feasibilility Study for the School Construction Authority using the IS/HS 362 design as a guide.
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Intermediate School / High School 362
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Primary School / Intermediate School 79
Location Bronx, New York Client New York City School Construction Authority Area 65,141gsf addition 8,100gsf renovation Schedule 2006/2010
PS/IS 79 is a 5 story early 20th century building located in the University Heights section of the Bronx that serves 1,600 students from pre-k through eighth grade. The schoolyard directly behind the existing building, is the site for the new addition. The expansion and renovation and reconfiguration of many of the existing spaces, provides age appropriate school and playground organization, improving pedestrian, service access and ADA accessibility to site and building. Community access and use of school facilities is also improved by the new addition. In order to recapture as much of the existing play yard as possible, the roof on the cafeteria has been designed as an outdoor play space serving the entire student body. The project reflects the city’s need to adapt giving school programs to sites with limited area.
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As part of the city’s new “green development” initiative, the school was designed and is being built under the New York City School Construction Authority’s Green Schools Guide, developed by Dattner Architects in 2007. Sustainable features include daylighting, high-efficiency lighting, use of recycled and local materials, occupancy sensors, low voc paints, mold resistant wallboard and roof deck, extensive commissioning and IAQ management during construction.
NYC Green Schools Guide
Location New York City Client New York City School Construction Authority, New York City Department of Education Schedule 2006/2006 Awards Sustainable Buildings Industry Council Award for Policy and Program Development
In 2005 the City of New York mandated sustainable design for public construction projects. With the NYC School Construction Authority, Dattner Architects developed a LEEDbased, school-focused prescriptive sustainable rating system for New York City public schools. Developed as a LEED equivalent system to comply with mandated requirements, the NYC Green Schools Rating System and Guide go beyond LEED to best practices and betterment credits from several state Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) systems.
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The Guide was adopted in January 2007.
Additional Opportunity Charter School
Location Bronx, New York Client Additional Opportunity Area 144,00sf Schedule 2009 / 2011 Phase 1
An adaptive re-use scheme developed for a new charter school coalition transforms a former utility building into a home for three independent K-8 schools. By carving out space for shared functions, such as the entry, gymnasium/auditorium, cafeteria, and library, the scheme allowed each school to have its own floor, thereby creating an individual
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identity and foster the culture of each institution. The design includes both indoor and outdoor play yards for the charter schools’ 950 students. Phased construction is planned, allowing for the first school to open within 24 months of design initiation, and the 2nd and 3rd schools opening the following fall.
Additional Opportunity Charter School
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Modular Charter School
Location Bronx, New York Client withheld Area 150,000sf Schedule 2010
A modular construction approached was used to meet an aggressive schedule for this new 950-student Charter School. Foundations and below grade spaces will be traditionally constructed while all the other floors will be assembled from custom modules, built off site. The school includes a long span structure to accommodate the full-size gymnasium with regulation basketball court.
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All the floors above ground, including all the instruction and administrative spaces are modular. An interstitial module at the ceiling of the first floor will permit structural and mechanical transfers. This innovation compensates for the inherent spatial limitations of the modular system and will create large open spaces and adequate ceiling heights at the ground floor within a modular framework.
Renaissance Charter School Feasibility Study
Location Queens, New York Client Renaissance Charter School Area 29,000sf addition Schedule 2008/2008
The Renaissance Charter School (RCS) occupies 66,000 SF within a 3–story, mixed-used building along 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens. The building is privately owned and leased by the NYC Department of Education. The school currently serves 525 students in grades K through 12. RCS has been cited as one of the City’s more successful charter schools and would like to serve a greater number of children from the neighborhood but is constrained by the size it’s present facility. The school’s goals are to increase classroom space, provide a dedicated assembly spaces for performances, and a competition gymnasium.
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Dattner’s tasks included interviewing staff, examining the school’s program and space utilization, researching the building’s construction, and preparing a zoning analysis. Based on this information, Dattner developed 3 alternate schemes that reorganized of the interior layout and recommended an addition on floors 4 and 5. Scheme A adds an auditorium to the ground floor of the school, which will be connected to the abutting Jackson Heights Branch Public Library. It can be used by the school during weekdays and by the community at nights and on weekends.
Amber Charter School l
Location New York, New York Client Amber Charter School Area 41,000sf Schedule 2004
The Amber Charter School, now a K-5 elementary school, planned to expand its program to include grades 6-12 in order to provide continuity for its successful academic curriculum. The site, located at 172nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights provided space for 320 students. Dattner Architects design created a solar garden through the classroom floors to provide light, views and cross ventilation to all of the teaching spaces. The garden is bisected by a glazed bridge
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containing the student lounge. Public assembly spaces are located on the lower floors where they are easily accessible for after hours use. A planted green roof for storm water absorption and passive solar shading were planned to help students learn environmental concepts through first hand observation. The project was put on hold due to funding.
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130 West 57th Street New York NY 10019 www.dattner.com
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