Lakeridge Middle School
Category
INeducation
Description
Firm: Mahlum Architects
Project Name: Lakeridge Middle School
Project Statement: With its welcoming, biophilic environment, this Middle School is designed to support the unique needs of the middle school learner.
To create an environment tailored to the academic, social, and emotional needs of the teenage learner, the building is organized as a “loop,” which eliminates dead ends, diversifies circulation pathways, and reduces travel distances by encouraging short-cuts through a secure outdoor courtyard. The biophilic elements, natural material palette, and building performance continually re-enforce a connection to nature which has shown to create improved learning outcomes.
“How can every learning experience be interactive, creative, and adaptable?” This question was posed by the district, and from that inquiry, the design team and faculty tested classroom mock-ups for one full year. The result is a school consisting of pairs of 950 SF “clean“ classrooms and 1,150 SF “makers labs“ which are physically and visually connected. Dubbed “Learning Studios,” the classrooms offer flexibility and technology, with multiple teaching walls, flexible furniture, and mobile technology while the makers labs offer space to seat a class at tables with an open project work area or to spread the class out into individual small group areas. The labs also contain overhead power, industrial sinks, and mobile tool closets. Exposed concrete floors allow STEAM activities to take place anytime.
Restrooms are comprised of rows of individual, non-binary toilet rooms with full height doors that provide privacy and safety for all users, regardless of gender identity or personal needs. The toilet rooms open into the public corridor with shared sinks for handwashing, allowing staff supervision to prevent unsupervised congregation and bullying.
Designed as a Seismic Risk Category IV structure, the building is planned as a community shelter in the case of a seismic event, large-scale power outage, or other disruptive incident. Hybrid passive cooling, a robust building envelope, and operable windows allow the school to be habitable without power. The gymnasiums, commons, kitchen, and locker rooms have extra features that will support temporary shelter. Water connection for pumper trucks can supply water to these areas, while select kitchen equipment and emergency outlets (colored red) receive power from a generator.
Two of the top design goals for the new Middle School as developed by the design team, committees, and the community, were to create a highly sustainable building and to promote equity.
Sustainability strategies focused on hybrid passive cooling, a robust exterior envelope, a target EUI of 22.5; resilient systems, and the structure was designed to be ready for a photovoltaic (PV) array installation as a path to Net Zero Energy. This building represents a 71% reduction in energy use compared to a baseline middle school and is registered with the Energy Trust of Oregon’s “Path to Net Zero” program.
To support student well-being, the traditional middle school cafeteria was reinterpreted into a distributed commons, catering to students who thrive in more active areas as well as students who prefer calmer, quieter spaces. The commons is broken into several zones, each offering a range of seating options and scales, including covered outdoor seating.
The restrooms throughout the building allow for personal privacy and safety for all students regardless of abilities or gender identity. Rows of individual, non-gendered toilet rooms provide acoustic and visual privacy with full-height doors that open to a hallway with shared sinks for handwashing, allowing staff supervision to prevent unsupervised congregation and bullying.
LeRoy Landers
Principal-in-Charge
Abby Dacey
Project Manager
Stephen Endy
Project Architect
Pip Allen
Design Team Member
Roy Abdun-Nur
Interior Design
Rene Berndt
Project Designer
Laura Craig-Bennett
Design Team Member
Janet Jacobs
Design Team Member
Sean Murphy, Design Team Member
Brett Dunnam, Design Team Member
Dwayne Epp, Quality Assurance Manager
Czarina Ducay, Design Team Member
Carissa Barry, Design Team Member
Emma Nolan, Design Team Member
General Contractor | Skanska | |
General Contractor
Skanska
MEP, Fire Protection, Technology | PAE Consulting Engineers | |
MEP, Fire Protection, Technology
PAE Consulting Engineers
Structural Engineer | KPFF | |
Structural Engineer
KPFF
Civil Engineer | Harper Houf Peterson Righellis (HHPR) | |
Civil Engineer
Harper Houf Peterson Righellis (HHPR)
Landscape Architect | Mayer/Reed | |
Landscape Architect
Mayer/Reed
Lighting | Biella Lighting Design | |
Lighting
Biella Lighting Design
Transportation | Kittelson & Associates | |
Transportation
Kittelson & Associates
Acoustics and Security | Stantec | |
Acoustics and Security
Stantec
Cost Estimating | RLB|Robinson | |
Cost Estimating
RLB|Robinson
Envelope Consultant | Morrison Hershfield | |
Envelope Consultant
Morrison Hershfield