CASE STUDY: Denver School of Science & Technology, Denver
Owner: Denver Public Schools
Architect: klipp—Brian Klipp, FAIA, design principal; Greg Cromer, AIA, managing principal; Sam Miller, AIA, project architect; Keat Tan, AIA, design architect; Jason Finnegan, Job Captain; Dionne Koehler, Interior Designer
Conultants: Swanson Rink (mep); JVA Consulting Engineers (structural); Olsson Associates (civil); Nuszer Kopatz Urban Design Associates (landscape); D.L. Adams Associates (acoustical); M.A. Mortenson Company (design-build contractor)
SOURCES
Masonry: Endicott Brick
Glazing: Viracon
Plastic laminate: Wilsonart
Product Profiles
A Learning Community
Dynamic and adaptable spaces serve hands-on education at a charter school with a science, math, and technology focus
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On the second floor, overlooking the galleria, are seminar rooms, additional faculty offices, and project rooms. Throughout the school, bright colors and materials that deviate from the district’s standard specifications, such as carpeting and drywall, contribute to the warm, almost domestic feel.
The cafeteria and the gymnasium have a dedicated entrance, allowing use of the facilities after hours and on weekends. Photo © James H. Berchert.
The school uses about 50 percent of the energy of a similar code-compliant building, according to Kris Leaf, senior project manager for the Weidt Group. Weidt performed energy modeling for the project as part of a utility-sponsored design assistance program.
A number of strategies helped the building achieve these savings. The building’s east-west orientation minimizes solar gain. Because use of daylight is maximized, little lighting is needed during regular school hours in spaces such as the galleria. Features like a high-performance building envelope and a carbon dioxide monitoring system reduce the need for heating and cooling, explains Leaf.
The building itself serves as a learning tool. Dropped ceilings are eliminated wherever possible to reveal structure and ducts. Polycarbonate is substituted for drywall in some places to reveal normally hidden components. “The studs, the steel deck, the bracing—everything is exposed,” says Miller.
The school’s designers and planners were a little ahead of their time in some respects. For example, the school first opened without lockers because they had envisioned that all textbooks would be digital, making storage space unnecessary. However, all the required educational material is still not available online, and lockers have since been installed.
On the whole, however, the building seems perfectly suited to its purpose. It provides a safe, comfortable, and even inspiring environment where kids of all backgrounds can focus on academics. The Head of School, Bill Kurtz, points to to DSST’s very rare incidence of vandalism as one measure of students’ appreciation for their building. “Great school cultures take care of buildings, and great buildings take care of school cultures,” he says.