Sidwell Friends School

Sidwell Friends School Stewart Middle School

A Study in Sustainable Design and Renewables Shane O. Batchelor, M.Arch

Florida International University Shane O. Batchelor

May not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the author Copyright, 2016

T.O.C 1-2

Site Plan

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About the Building

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Table of C on te n t s

Sidwell History

Sustainable Strategies Overview Water Management Green Roof + Energy Efficiency Materials

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Sidwell Images

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Citations and Sources

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SIDWELL FRIENDS SCHOOL Stewart Middle School

Year Built: 2006 Location: Washington, DC Architects: Kieran Timberlake Associates Landscape Architects: Andropogon Associates Group B4 Teri Watson Sharon Farina Shane Batchelor Professor Claudia Busch

Florida International University Sidwell Friends School is an educational facility with campuses located in Washington DC, and Bethesda, Maryland. Founder Thomas Watson Sidwell first started the ‘Friends’ Select School’ in 1883, based upon Quaker principles as an example of leadership in co-educational, urban day-school initiative.

Initial enrollment at the Friends’ Select School was only 18 students. however enrollment rapidly grew over the next 20 years to over 200 students. During that time the school expanded its facilities significantly, adding one of the first

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Early Classroom Photo at the Friends’ Select School

Sidwell History

Gymnasiums in Washington, DC. The school had since established a fully matriculated K-12 curriculum with integrated Primary, Intermediate and High School Departments.2 The school grew over the years, evolving through a series of changes including the marriage of Founder Thomas Sidwell to Frances Halderman, whom he later made Co-Principal. The name of the school underwent its share of changes as well, going from ‘Friends’ Select’ to ‘Friends’ School,’ and an even more simplified Friends’. Later, the name Sidwells’ Friends School seemed to stick, as it emphasized the joint interest of the Co-Principals in the direction of the school.

The school was a model for academic diversity and success. It placed significant emphasis on high-quality academic college preparation and college placement, and similarly co-education Frances Halderman-Sidwell, including active encouragement of girls to study study science, ca 1910-1920 mathematics and industrial arts, in addition to participation in sports and physical education. The school also actively sought enrollment from Washington’s elite, including political and diplomatic communities, further ensuring a geographically and ethnically diverse student body.4 Frances Halderman-Sidwell died in 1934, after which Thomas Sidwell sought to secure the future of the school by incorporating as a non-profit institution led by a Board of Trustees. Two years later, in 1936, Thomas Sidwell died, however his due diligence had prepared the school to be led by the Board of Trustees with Headmaster Albert E. Rogers leading the venerabe institution.5 As was typical throughout Post War America in the late 1940s through 1950s, the school experienced booming growth. Their 5th-8th Grade Middle School was among the first in the nation in 1950. In 1955 the school sold its playing fields on the west side of Wisconsin Avenue which allowed them to purchase the Thomas Sidwell, ca 1915 adjacent historic structure known as the Highlands.6 Major purchases continued in the 1960s with the aquisition of the Longfellow School for Boys in Bethesda, MD, after which they transferred Primary grade students to the new location. This allowed for the demolition of the Sidwells’ Dutch Colonial making room for construction of a new modern High School Facility.6 Major construction and renovation projects lessened over the years; in 1981 the Kogod Center

for the Arts was constructed inpreparation for the school’s centennial, in 1997 the Upper School underwent major remodeling and the new Earl G. Harrison Jr. Upper School came to fruition in the fall of that year.7 2004 saw a new green renovation project led by Kieran Timberlake Associates . Highlights of the project include a new geothermal heatpump system, the construction of a new Middle School Building in 2006, in cluding renovation and additions to the shell of the 1950s Middle School. It was the first LEED Platinum K-12 School building in the country owing to a slew of innovative green building technologies.

Renovated Middle School

The Renovatoin of the Sidwell Friends’ School is part of a Master Plan begun in 2001 by Kieran Timberlake Associates. The plan calls for a phased transformation of several buildings between its Washington, DC and Bethesda, MD campuses.

The Middle School, constructed in 1950 was among the buildings slated for an upgrade. The design began with an analysis of the site which found an underutilized landscape and inefficient energy and ecological performance. The opportunity was henceforth born to unite forward thinking values of the school with a new facility built on sustainable environmental design. The result was a “true teaching landscape-not only inside its classrooms but also on site-with rooftop gardens and a constructed wetland in the school’s quadrangle as a metaphor for the school’s committment to sustainability.”

Renovated Meeting Center

Site Plan, Sidwell Friends’ School

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About The Building

(Left) Sustainably clad facade using reclaimed Western Red Cedar (Bottom) Wetland featuring terraced filtration and Biology Pond

Building Sq Ft: Renovation Sq Ft: Addition Sq Ft:

72,500 33,500 39,000

Program (Renovation + Addition):

Classrooms - Science, Music, Art, Library, Constructed Wetland, Rooftop Gardens

The construction saw the renovation of the existing middle school along with an L-shaped addition that merges with the old school building to form a U-shaped building cradling a sloping courtyard. The idea was to create one contiguous green building, utilizing sustainable materials that re-interpreted the architecture to be part of the landscape. The first act of sustainability was to preserve the existing building rather than demolishing the structure. “The new school now performs an environmental function but is also part of the life of the campus-all the way up to the green roofs.� 9

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About The Building Photovoltaic Panels

Constructed Wetland

Solar Venting Stacks Natural Lighting

Green Roof Old Building

New Addition

Sustainable Material

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Sustainable Strategies: Overview

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B

KEY SUSTAINABE STRATEGIES

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Managing Water Resources

Courtyard Wetland with closed loop cycle for water reuse.

Stormwater and Wastewater Reclaimation

Energy Efficiency

Active and passive energy strategies, including photovoltaic panels and venting stacks

Green Roof

Rooftop vegetable garden and water filtration

Sustainable Materials

Reclaimed materials including Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir

A Solar Ventilation Stacks

B Rooftop Garden

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C Photovoltaic Array

Roof Plan

COMPONENTS OF A SUSTAINABLE SITE 1

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Existing Middle School

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New Addition

Trickle Filter

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Wetland Wastewater Treatment

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Rain Garden

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Stormwater Biology Pond

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Outdoor Classrom

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Butterfly Meadow

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Woodland Screen

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Playground

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Sustainable Strategies: Water Management

Rooftop Vegetable Garden Green Roof Roof Leaders

Solar Panels

Aeration Course

Trickle Filtration Biology Pond Settling Tank Treatment Wetlands Overflow Rain Garden

Basement Tanks and Filters Rainwater Cistern

Wastewater Management System Stormwater Management System

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Waste Water/Storm Water Management Systems

Sustainable Strategies: Water Management

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Water From Restrooms and Lavatories

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Terraced Wetland Filtration

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Exit Trickling Filter

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Underground Storage Tank

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Exit Wetland

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Sand Filter

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Flow Splitter

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Trickling Filter with Interactive Display

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Building Storage and Re-distribution

Waste Water Management System Detail

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Sustainable Strategies: Water Management Rooftop Gardens planted and maintained by students. In the background, solar chimneys provide natural ventilation and light to lower levels.

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Wetland Terraces Wastewater doesn’t flow over the terraces, but rather seeps into the pebble beds below as it percolates towards the Biology Pond. This reduces the possibility of any wayward smells from the wastewater recycling process.

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Rain Garden

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Biology Pond

Section Through Site Showing Water Filtration Mechanisms

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Sustainable Strategies: Water Management

Biology Pond featured marine and bacterial life that clean and purify wastewater produced by the building Rain Garden catches overflow from Biology Pond as well as stormwater for recycling

Renders showing stormwater management system in action.

Diversion visualize systems

channels that the filtration

Students have an opportunity to see and learn how the building’s filtration system works, from the rain garden, to the diversion channels, to the wetland filtration terraces

Water Management Systems

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Sustainable Strategies: Green Roof + Energy Efficiency

(Top) Students tend to the rooftop vegetation garden while learning how the Solar chimneys funnel fresh air through the building (Middle) The green roof is a beautiful addition to the building with integral functionality. It provides insulation for the building’s interior, and filters stormwater for the building’s water management system (Bottom) A photovoltaic array produces up to 5 percent of the building’s energy needs

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The building utilizes active and passive energy strategies including a photovoltaic array adorning the roof of the old school. The Solar chimneys on the new addition provide natural ventilation as the sun heats up the air within the glass chimney tops creating a convection current that pulls fresh air in through open open windows on the north face of the building.

Horizontal light shelves on the south facade and vertical shading on the east and west screen out harmful sun rays, while welcoming natural light.

The green roof features a vegetable garden and acts as an integral part of the filtration system for stormwater runoff.10

Sustainable Strategies: Materials

OTHER SUSTAINABLE FEATURES10 Douglas Fir from old high school bleachers used for window framing Screening on the building’s West End provided by natural vines Cabinets from sustainable Bamboo Sunlight sensing adjustable lighting Angled reflectors in hallways that bounce light into classrooms without increasing temperature Occupancy sensors in classrooms and labs CO2 sensing Ventilation system that adjusts/freshens air based on occupancy load

Almost all materials used in the building construction and renovation is reclaimed or recycled.10 Cladding from 100 year-old Western Red Cedar Lobby and deck walkways from green lumber pilings taken from the Baltimore Harbor Extensive use of linoleum, cork and reclaimed stone

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Sidwell Images

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Sidwell Images

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Sidwell Citations and Sources

In Text Citations 1

Sidwell Friends School ‘About SFS’ http://www.sidwell.edu/about_sfs/index.aspx

2-7 Sidwell Friends School ‘History’ http://www.sidwell.edu/about_sfs/history/index.aspx 8 Kieran Timberlake ‘Stewart Middle School’ http://www.kierantimberlake.com/pages/view/230 9-10 New Sidwell Middle School a Living Component to D.C Campus http://info.aia.org/aiaarchitect/thisweek06/1027/1027d_pw_sidwell.cfm Works Cited "About SFS." Sidwell Friends School:. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

Boniface, Russel. "AIArchitect This Week | Project Watch: New Sidwell Middle School a Living Component to D.C. Campus."

AIArchitect This Week | Project Watch: New Sidwell Middle School a Living Component to D.C. Campus. American Institute of Architects, 27 Oct. 2006. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

Drake, Erin, Matthew Goyak, and Matthew Von Soest. Ball State University, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015 "Green Building." Sidwell Friends School: Middle School » Middle School Building. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

"History." Sidwell Friends School: About SFS ». N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

"Pruned: The Wetland Machine of Sidwell." Pruned: The Wetland Machine of Sidwell. N.p., 4 June 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

"Sidwell Friends Middle School, Washington, DC." Sidwell Friends Middle School, Washington, DC. Chicago Architecture Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

"Stewart Middle School | Sidwell Friends School | KieranTimberlake." Stewart Middle School | Sidwell Friends School | KieranTimberlake. Kieran Timberlake Associates, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

Wessler, Sarah. "AD Interviews: Kieran Timberlake." ArchDaily. Arch Daily, 18 Aug. 2009. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

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