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Aligning itself next to an existing elementary school, the building location provides good way-finding and queuing space for both facilities.
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Gathering spaces like gym, dining, and the learning commons occupy the center of the building.
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Double height gathering spaces help natural light filter into interior support rooms and collaboration areas.
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The building shape, massing, and orientation respond to site conditions and best practices for energy management.
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Classrooms, collaborations areas, and support spaces surround the interior gathering spaces.
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The expansive front facade is punctuated by a soaring canopy along a spacious entry promenade.
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Exterior learning areas are tucked around the sides (shown) and rear of the building for visual privacy and
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The Learning Commons houses small, medium, and large collaboration areas adjacent to an open library.
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The entry flows into the tall, light-filled dining space. Teacher planning rooms, wrapped in glass and wood,
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The stage at the end of the gym opens on both sides for a variety of presentation options and a view through the length of the school, if desired.
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Classrooms feature wall-to-wall glazing for a constant connection to and supervision of activities in the Learning Commons.
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A popular location, students take advantage of all areas and frunishings within the Learning Commons (including the library) as a collaborative and flexible work zone.
As a sister school to Socastee Elementary, St. James Intermediate School is part of a larger story of strategic implementation of contemporary learning and sustainable facilities in Horry County, South Carolina, a county the size of the state of Delaware. Following a county-wide facility assessment, Horry County Schools understood that they needed 8 replacement schools to provide 21st Century educational adequacy for its population. After analyzing construction cost escalation and long-term operating costs, the district invested tactically by building 5 of the 8 schools at once (3 Middle Schools, 1 Intermediate, and 1 Elementary School). As an additional long-term investment, Horry County decided to make the buildings energy-positive (exceeding net-zero energy goals). The resulting designs for “flexible-prototypes” is an innovative solution to replacement schools – a prototype which can be tailored to fit specific sites and neighborhoods as desired by the community.
In addition to a smart and flexible prototype, Horry County desired to create collaborative and innovative learning spaces that could support a multiplicity of modalities and differentiated instruction. The design team saw an opportunity to combine the compactness needed to conserve energy with an open and flexible central area, the Learning Commons, which can be adapted daily to the needs of the teaching and learning and as the curriculum changes over the years.
Other energy conservation measures include an east-west longitudinal solar orientation, daylight control and harvesting, geo-thermal heating and cooling, full-roof solar array, and a Thermally Active Building System (TABS) that stores latent heating or cooling energy in its concrete construction (a benefit over traditional steel-framed structures). The resulting spatial experience – a two story building in which classrooms and student support surround a double-height Learning Commons – supports a move towards student-centered and self-directed learning within the confines of a supervised, supportive, and protected environment.
St. James Intermediate School
Category
Middle School
Description
Grand Prize
Project Location:
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Architecture Firm
Stantec
Charlottesville, Virginia
stantec.com/education
Photography By:
@2017 Tom Holdsworth Photography
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