windows
PROJECT
One day into the 2011-2012 school year, Tropical Storm Lee destroyed the original Owego Elementary School, Owego, NY. Highland Associates designed a replacement building with a high-performing envelope in order to meet LEED requirements. Photos: Guy Cali Associates, courtesy Guardian Industries
After The Storm Guardian SunGuard coated-glass products balanced high performance and energy efficiency to replace a school destroyed by a tropical storm.
O
ne day into the 2011-2012 school year, Trop-
sociate, Highland Associates. “It was important for us to
ical Storm Lee changed the community of
ensure the school embody the healing of a community
Owego, NY, forever. The school district had
devastated by a natural disaster and serve as a symbol of
four of its buildings completely destroyed by the 2011
the determination and perseverance of the Owego com-
flood and sustained significant damage to many others.
munity.”
One of the buildings destroyed was the original Owego
Additionally, Highland Associates needed to design a
Elementary. Within days of the initial flooding, High-
building with a high-performing envelope in order to
land Associates Architects, New York, was on site work-
meet LEED requirements, including the enhanced acous-
ing hand-in-hand with the school district, the Federal
tical performance credit. While it examined high-perfor-
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), New York
mance, low-e glazing options, the building team knew
State Education Department, and the State of New York
that incorporating laminated glass would greatly reduce
to assess the damage.
the amount of outside noise.
The architects committed to creating an atypical ele-
In approaching the design, Degnon said the firm con-
mentary school. “We wanted the building to be an inte-
sidered that a 120,000-sq.-ft. building can be very over-
grated tool for their curriculum and foster different types of learning: classroom learning, spontaneous interaction, small-group collaboration, large-group instruction, outdoor learning, etc.,” explained David Degnon, senior as30
COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE
OCTOBER 2017
whelming, especially to a four-year-old going to school for The addition of the interior surface coating (SunGuard IS 20 glass) helped bring the U-value performance of double-glaze units closer to that of triple-glaze.
commercialarchitecturemagazine.com
the first time. In order to avoid long, tunnel-like corridors, the halls are bent and broken, creating intermittent learning spaces that are filled with natural daylight and views of
