Eco Factor: Sustainable school building harvests solar energy.
Pugh + Scarpa Architects have unveiled the designs of a new school building for Animo Leadership High School that targets to get LEED or CHPS certification. Due to the site’s location near Los Angeles International Airport and within a quarter mile of the 105 Freeway, the school building had to cater to noise and air quality concerns.
The designers found solutions in designing the daily activity places on one site by grouping classrooms and administrative offices, leaving the other side to accommodate large assembly spaces like a gymnasium and a large studio space for music and dance. The building’s south façade houses about 650 solar panels which will reduce carbon emissions by over 3 million pounds.
Faceted and ribbed screens appear as a façade motif that visually connect the school with the community and modulate light to protect the building from unwanted solar heat gain. Solar panels form the screen system on the longest façade of the building, which are augmented by additional panels on the roof.
