Author: Caroline Dolan

Exploratory Labs: Paving the Way for Experiential Learning

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

Exploratory Labs: Paving the Way for Experiential Learning

In support of Weymouth’s mission to engage and empower students through interdisciplinary, project-based learning, the educational program for the new Chapman Middle School is centered around unique “exploratories”—introductory classes to elective tracks that focus on modern, STEAM-driven paths in career technical education.

Located at the threshold between the school’s academic wings and central hub for student activity, the exploratory labs bridge the transition from shared public space to academic zones. The labs are housed within three distinct tower-like, top-lit structures, or pods, that utilize their unique and expressive architectural forms to represent the flexible and collaborative nature of the interior program spaces. Each positioned at the entrance to one of the three academic wings extending off the cafeteria, the exploratory labs shape the organic layout of this central space. Distinct cladding materials define a unique identity for each space: a metal pod, a wood pod, and a glass pod.

Culinary Lab

Chapman Middle School’s culinary lab occupies the first floor of the metal pod and provides a unique opportunity for students to incorporate cooking, cultural awareness, and nutrition in their curriculum at the middle school level. The spacious layout of the lab positions a teaching room for lecture-based learning adjacent to cooking stations for hands-on lessons.

Notable features:

  • Flexible classroom furniture for lecture-based lessons on culinary practices, world food cultures and healthy nutrition
  • Universally designed cooking stations used for hands-on lessons include 4-burner stoves, convection ovens, char broilers and microwaves
  • Mobile teaching demonstration station with cooktop induction units
  • Large openings to convenient transportation of materials
  • Solid surface counters and washable walls and ceilings for simplified maintenance
Expeditionary Learning Lab

Located directly above the culinary lab, the expeditionary learning lab provides a flexible learning space geared towards self-directed, collaborative and project-based activities. Varied seating and table types can be re-arranged to outfit the space for a wide range of lessons from presentations, to class discussions, to small group projects.

Notable features:

  • Designated presentation space and teaching wall with large LCD monitor
  • Small group collaboration spaces with individual touch screen monitors
  • Flexible and varied furniture for a variety of hands-on activities including research, writing, reading, math and science
Theater Arts Classroom

To accommodate Weymouth’s robust theater programs, the first floor of the wood pod provides teaching space outside of the auditorium and a black box theater for students to study, rehearse and put on small-scale performances. This flexible space is not only a valuable resource for the emerging middle school theater program, but also for the high school theater program and local drama groups. Co-locating theater arts and the broadcasting lab within the same pod enables the programs to share a control center.

Notable features:

  • An overhead tension wire grid – a fall-safe technical level space where students learn the behind-the-scenes ins and outs of theatrical lighting and rigging
  • Motorized blackout shades block any light penetrating the space for Blackbox performances and let light in during lessons and rehearsals
  • Moveable furniture in the performance room can be used for audiences, lectures or removed entirely
Broadcast Lab

The broadcast lab overlooks the theater arts space below and offers students state-of-the-art equipment and spaces to explore the technical aspects of video and audio production. The lab will also be utilized for student organizations and a large after-school program.

Notable features:

  • State-of-the-art broadcasting equipment including a soundproof control center, recording studio with green screen and mounted LED studio light fixtures
  • Windows from the control center to both the adjacent recording studio and to the theater arts space below to allow both programs to utilize the high-tech control and recording equipment
  • Ability to broadcast throughout the school or town-wide
Media Center

Chapman Middle School’s new media center, which resides on the first level of the glass pod, introduces contemporary design elements typically seen in higher education spaces without compromising the function of a traditional school library. A double-height open plan layout combined with tall openings in the frosted resin cladding establish a visual connection between the media center and the Town Square, while a variety of seating types and breakout spaces make the space fully accessible.

Notable features:

  • Flexible and varied seating conducive to a wide variety of learning styles
  • Designated spaces for casual study, small group learning, and large group meetings
  • Operable glass wall enables the meeting room to open up into the flexible learning space for larger assemblies
  • Circulation desk centrally located to monitor media center activity
  • Located near the main entrance for after-hours community use
  • Skylights and tall openings introduce daylight into this space at the heart of the school
Makerspace

Overlooking the media center below, the makerspace lab encourages collaborative, hands-on learning as students begin to explore the engineering, design and fabrication process. Centered around student discovery, the flexible makerspace accommodates a wide range of large-scale projects and fosters teamwork among students.

Notable features:

  • Robotics focused equipment
  • Flexible work benches with durable tabletops for a wide variety of projects
  • Spray paint booth, vent booth for soldering, 3D printers, a plotter and laser cutter
  • A built-in storage wall for student projects, raw materials, parts, and kits

HMFH Bus Tour 2021

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

HMFH Bus Tour 2021

HMFHers gathered for our 2021 bus tour to explore current HMFH construction projects and learn more about the exciting work of fellow project teams. This year, the tour took us through Bristol County Agricultural High School and Fales Elementary School.

After more than a year apart, HMFHers were thrilled to spend a day together for our annual bus tour, where we learned about the work of our colleagues and were able to experience these spectacular spaces first-hand!

The bus tour provides a perfect opportunity for project teams to share their creative work with one another and inspire future innovative designs. The tour brought the firm through Bristol County Agricultural High School and Fales Elementary School, both of which are currently under construction and set to open later this year.

Bristol County Agricultural High School

HMFH’s designs and renovations for six buildings on the Bristol Aggie campus will establish a sense of connectivity throughout and accommodate the school’s wide range of unique and high-level vocational programs centered around agriculture. Beyond the specialty spaces that will provide students with the resources necessary to excel in their academic and vocational endeavors, the entire campus functions as a teaching tool with its exposed heavy timber structural elements, highly visible sustainable mechanical and electrical systems, recycled and renewable materials, composting systems, and water conservation systems.

Fales Elementary School

As the first net-positive energy public school in Massachusetts, the Annie E. Fales elementary school is breaking new ground in the design of energy efficient schools. Sawtooth roof shapes provide optimal positioning for PV panels on the south side, while on the north face skylights draw daylight into the learning spaces. Stunning light conditions and views of the surrounding environment, including woodlands, meadows, and a pond, characterize the new elementary school, while staggered window heights and child-scaled details demonstrate how a breakthrough design can also be a welcoming and engaging environment for both its young learners and teachers.

Stories of Sustainability

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

Stories of Sustainability

For over 50 years, responsible energy use and conservation has been guiding the design process at HMFH. Today, our commitment to climate action is stronger than ever. From LEED, to CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools), to net-zero energy, we help our clients make smart decisions about how to build an energy-efficient, healthy building that contributes to the wellness of its occupants.

Learn more about our ongoing efforts to design sustainable, resilient learning environments—including the new net-positive energy Fales Elementary School, the innovative Tri-Gen system at Saugus Middle High School, and the net-zero ready dairy barn and living learning lab used as teaching tools at Bristol County Agricultural High School.

Video created by Clyde Media and produced in collaboration with the Boston Society for Architecture.

HMFH Sustainability Leaders Take the Floor at Architecture Boston Expo and Greenbuild

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

HMFH Sustainability Leaders Take the Floor at Architecture Boston Expo and Greenbuild

Two of HMFH’s Sustainability Leaders presented at Architecture Boston Expo (ABX) and GreenBuild to share their expertise on designing energy-efficient, comfortable spaces through daylighting—and empower student-driven sustainable progress through mentoring and metrics.

Daylight Your Building to Net-Zero Energy

Natural light is a critical facet in the design of well-lit spaces. Daylighting contributes not only to the energy savings of a building, but to the wellbeing of its occupants. At this year’s ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX), Alexandra Gadawski is co-leading a workshop on designing comfortable, energy-efficient spaces through daylighting with Lam Partners and Compass Project Management. Alexandra and her fellow presenters will examine how the eye perceives brightness and impart strategies for planning and designing these environments—from selecting colors and finishes to utilizing metrics and tools to analyze and model daylight, including digital and heliodon modeling using classrooms in the new Arlington High School as a base to explore daylighting possibilities.

As Vice President of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) of North America’s Boston Section, and HMFH’s own sustainability leader in building science, Alexandra’s contributions to lighting design through daylight and energy modeling support student health and reduce energy. Her recent project experience includes the Roeper School Learning Commons in Birmingham, MI, the Hastings Early Childhood Center, and the Florida Ruffin Ridley School—each honored for their exceptional lighting design by the IES.

Sustainability Beyond the Textbook: Partnerships with Green Mentors to Bring Schools to Life for Students

Student action is vital to the sustainable efforts of any school. The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Schools as Teaching Tools program connects schools with its network of professionals to equip students to lead and drive sustainable changes. As a Green Building Professional Mentor with the USGBC, Stephanie MacNeil partnered with Boston Latin School, a renovation and expansion project completed by HMFH in 2001. At this year’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, Stephanie, fellow mentors, and student mentees will share lessons and strategies learned throughout the process.

The BLS chapter of YouthCAN gathered feedback from the student body for the previous year; using Arc, a digital sustainability performance platform affiliated with the USGBC, they were also able to collect data on the building’s energy, waste, transportation, and human experience. Working with the information they had gathered, Stephanie led student charrettes to help them determine tangible changes to adopt as well as ideas for new, healthy environments at the school based on the desires of their peers: an on-campus “calm room” and greenspace. As a result, the students crafted and submitted a detailed proposal for their renovation ideas to Boston Public Schools.

“Schools as Teaching Tools was a great resource, not only for the students, but for architects, too.”

Stephanie MacNeil | Associate and Sustainability Leader, HMFH Architects

Child-Centric Design

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

Child-Centric Design

“When I went to school, my classrooms were so boring. Because of that, in the back of my mind I’m always gathering information and thinking: how can I design this school to make it feel like a place I want to be, like a place a child would want to be?”

Melissa Greene | Senior Associate, HMFH Architects

We call that kind of thinking child-centric design because it focuses on the student’s needs and interests, and it’s critically important in the design of environments for children. As designers of schools, we’re always thinking about children and how they move, think and play. We want to make sure students’ physical environments are emotionally engaging, supportive of their learning and their creativity. That critical concept travels through all our design decisions. This means we spend time understanding the students’ daily activities within the school or classroom and anticipating how the spaces might support those activities and we talk with educators and  students to get their input and to make sure our choices support their goals.

For instance, we think a lot about designing to the scale of the child. Windows, cubbies, lockers and seating areas are carefully designed and scaled so that students know the spaces are specially created for them. Particularly for younger children, we build in whimsy and fun through playful use of color, form, and pattern; and the unusual juxtaposition of design elements sparks a student’s curiosity and inspires creativity.

At HMFH, designing child-centric spaces also means keeping up to date with neurological research on learning and understanding the implications of that research on the spaces we design. We are seeing clear themes in that research that reinforce our current design ideas but also point to new ways of thinking about the design of learning places.  For instance, research is telling us that students learn more readily when emotionally engaged in the subject matter. We know that stress reduces the ability to learn because the thinking lobes of the brain’s prefrontal cortex shut down when we are stressed. Conversely, creativity is fostered when students feel safe, supported and free to explore their interests. We know that neural connections are strengthened, reinforcing learning, when students are exposed to the same ideas through different types of learning activities. We also know that physical activity reduces stress and has a positive impact on a child’s cognitive performance. So what does this all mean for how we design schools?

At the Thompson Elementary School we designed the school to be a joyful and supportive learning environment. To minimize any stress associated with students’ first school experience, we made sure it was a welcoming place for their families. The design draws the families into a colorful and light-filled lobby space and then provides a clear path to special transition spaces outside of classrooms where students can spend time with their family members before or after school. This is a place where the students know their whole families are welcome and supported.

For older kids, we include break-out zones for  activities like individual study, collaborative projects, social conversations, or crafts, so that students have space to develop their own interests, and to feel creative within a larger school setting. Such project spaces are now a regular component of our school designs. We want to design to the scale of their ideas.

No one likes to sit still for long; physical activity is important and has a positive impact on learning. We are building in opportunities for movement at all scales, from wonderful new types of seating allowing students to wiggle and squirm without disturbing others, to spaces for project-based learning that allow for movement while building stuff, to creating connections from the out-of-doors to learning spaces so students can move in and out easily. Even providing different types learning spaces allows student to take a break and reengage by simply moving from one place to another.

All of these techniques are child-centric. Whether providing a small child with a small nook to curl up in to read a book, or carving out a small group area off of a corridor for teenagers to perform a skit they have written, every design decision should help support the student socially and emotionally as well as cognitively.

“At the Bristol County Agricultural High School, students asked for connections to outdoor areas, and a community space that really flows between the outdoors and indoors. That connection to nature was important, but they also valued the option for flexibility and to shape their space over time. Those elements were key to creating a comfortable and welcoming place for them.”

Bobby Williams | Associate Principal, HMFH Architects

At HMFH we design spaces that will resonate with the students and help them understand that they are important and that learning is important, and that their school has been designed for them. Spaces have the power to re-awaken thinking, provide comfort and support academic growth. That potential is at the core of why child-centric design is so powerful.

Florida Ruffin Ridley School Earns Copper in Architecture Award

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

Florida Ruffin Ridley School Earns Copper in Architecture Award

Award

HMFH’s design of the Florida Ruffin Ridley School in Brookline, MA received a Copper in Architecture Award from the Copper Development Association.

When the 227,000 sf Florida Ruffin Ridley School, Brookline’s largest elementary school, faced severe overcrowding, comprehensive additions and renovations became necessary. Built in 1913, the original school building has historic significance and was the school that President John F. Kennedy attended. It was important to the community that the building retained its historic significance and character while still being updated to best support Brookline’s strong educational program. Using copper throughout the design was integral to maintaining the building’s historic character and referencing it in contemporary ways.

Historic Identity

An iconic feature of the existing 1913 building was a patinated copper cupola, and this element served as a central component in the design of the added academic wings and the material choice of pre-patinated copper used throughout. The front entrance of the school features the original entryway and cupola as central elements; the view from the back of the school also prominently features the cupola, which serves as a grounding element that unites the new spaces with the existing.

Merging Old and New

On the exterior of the added spaces, 5,775 sf of pre-patinated copper cladding further reinforce the connection between old and new, historic and contemporary. The design team carefully used the copper to accentuate significant areas that include entrances, community spaces, and the cafeteria and gym. This accenting also breaks up the massing of the large school, providing visually interesting highlights against the exterior masonry. Copper’s timeless quality allows views from any angle of the school to be both modern and classic.

Copper as a Learning Tool

Beyond creating cohesiveness between the additions and existing areas of the school, the choice of copper also responds to the community’s interest in using the building and its surrounding environment as a teaching tool. The aging process of copper, causing the building to change over time, creates opportunities for educators to incorporate their learning environment into the curriculum—students can engage directly with their learning environment in discussions of both natural process and historical context.