Site Plan

Floor Plan, First Floor

Floor Plan, Second Floor

Enlarged Learning Suite Conceptual Diagram: Learning suites were designed to provide flexibility, transparency, and security. Twelve suites provide a variety of learning settings to allow for “everywhere & anywhere” learning experiences. Teachers are assigned classrooms based on the specific class size and learning platform of the day.

Classroom sizes vary from Suite to Suite: focused classrooms are 600 sf, enlarged classrooms are 980 sf, and X-tra large classrooms are 1400 sf. Learning suites can be automatically locked down in an emergency, and the students evacuated.

The prominent icon of the Library, bookended by the 2-story Learning Suites, indicates to visitors where to enter Farmington High School. This south-facing façade is shaded by large overhangs; the glazing at the Library is programmable “smart glass”. The client specifically asked for a building that looked like a place for the future of learning, and not a traditional school.

The exterior colors of the project were inspired by the natural beauty of nearby Farmington Bay, a mecca for bird life. Window mullion patterns, and the recurring vertical rectangular motifs were drawn from the pattern made by ripples on the Bay shore.

At the ribbon cutting, new students discovered the LED color-changing lights that line the main path through the Commons. During construction, even the contractors loved seeing the light show and would turn them on each day.

Golden portals serve as cues for entrance into the building; on the west façade, this Events Entry leads into the shared lobby between the Main Gymnasium and the Auditorium, and out to the football field and track on the east side of the school.

Bus Canopies with Photovoltaic array at the south east corner of the site will provide the energy to power this exceptionally low energy use building, which was designed with the same systems used for the District’s 3 Zero-energy elementary schools, including geothermal heating and cooling.

Students lounging on the Learning Stairs located in the Commons. The stairs are wired to allow devices to be charged and face a large 9-monitor screen used for presentations and to showcase student work. The wall with the graphic conceals thermal displacement ventilation delivery for the space.

Inside one of the Learning Suites. Floor-to-ceiling glazing into the Collaboration Spaces floods the classrooms with natural daylight, while limiting glare and heat gain into the classrooms themselves.

All classroom spaces include three walls of whiteboard paint and a fourth wall of writable full height glass, allowing instructors to supervise when students are working in the Collaborative area, beyond. Classrooms have fully mobile flexible furnishings to allow for quick and easy configuration based on the learning activity taking place.

Inside one of the Learning Suites. Students enjoy a variety of seating options for their small group or individualized learning. The school utilizes the blended learning model and one-to-one technology.

Learning Suites are color coded for ease of wayfinding, and to provide variety and identity for occupants. In this self-directed model of instruction, students are given trust in where and how they learn, as long as they achieve their mastery goals.

Inside one of the “focused” classrooms. All tabletops are whiteboard material. A thermal displacement louver is located behind the instructor; this type of ventilation is quiet, more comfortable than traditional air delivery methods, saves a significant amount of energy, and results in 9% lower absenteeism rates.

The Main Gym rarely needs the lights on – skylights provide an even and healthy daylighting of over 50 foot candles on a sunny day. The Auxiliary Gym is visually connected to the Main Gym at the track level, and is also daylit. 7.6 laps around the track is a mile run. The Auditorium seats 1240 and features an orchestra pit and a full fly loft.

Paul Richer

Paul Rivera Photography

Paul Rivera Photography