SMMA Project Wins Rhode Island AIA Honor Award
PROVIDENCE, R.I.–()–Symmes
Maini McKee Associates (SMMA) has been given an Honor Award by
the Rhode
Island Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the
design of the Archie
R. Cole Middle School in East Greenwich, RI. It is one of only two
awards given in the chapter’s educational/institutional category.
“We are pleased to win this award, and especially that AIA Rhode Island
cited the contextual nature of the project”
“We are pleased to win this award, and especially that AIA Rhode Island
cited the contextual nature of the project,” said SMMA’s Edward
Frenette, AIA, design architect for Cole Middle School. “We were
challenged to put a 110,000 square-foot building in an established
residential neighborhood. We also had to keep the existing school
operational as construction proceeded.”
To avoid the appearance of being out of scale for the neighborhood, SMMA
created a stepped design that integrates with the residential community
by locating the highest point of the building central to the site and
stepping the building down to the residential street. The plan of the
school is a long, narrow configuration organized along an east/west axis
that optimizes solar orientation and allows rainwater to be harvested
from the long, sloping roofs. Other sustainable features of the building
include high-performance glazing to optimize daylight harvesting,
skylights and clerestory windows with daylight sensors, sunshades on the
southern façade to control sunlight, high performance lighting with
energy performance 30% above code, demand control ventilation that
lessens the need for air conditioning and a 50kw photovoltaic system.
The Cole
Middle School, which accommodates 573 students in 6th, 7th
Article source: PRNewswire
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