Charging forward into the new Academic Building
The new building on Providence Day’s campus will soon be open to students and faculty. There is an array of mixed emotions, some ready for the new building, and some feeling hesitant to welcome its presence. Maybe after learning about some of the building’s features, such as sustainability efforts, appearance, and effect on students, provided by Tom Beggs, the Director of Facilities at Providence Day, you will then be able to put your mind at ease.
Environmental Sustainability
Concerned with the new building’s environmentally friendly efforts, Beggs said that the architect and the school are working with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Program to make the building sustainable. The LEED Program is a green building rating system that evaluates different aspects of a building such as water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and sustainable sites. Gaining a LEED Certification for a building is a symbol of sustainability achievement.
There are three different levels of certification that a building can receive from the LEED Program, depending on how many different aspects of sustainability your building achieves. The three different certifications are Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Beggs says that the school and architect are aspiring to achieve a Silver Certification for the new building. In order to achieve this, they already have implemented bike racks outside the building to try and encourage green transportation to school. There is also going to be a white roof on the building so it will not absorb heat and the building will stay cool. This aspect combined with the fact that the Academic Building will have energy-efficient LED lights, instead of fluorescent lighting, will result in a decrease in air-conditioning costs. Beggs also revealed that there will be waterless urinals, saying “waterless urinals don’t flush so we don’t use a lot of water in the restrooms. The sinks have automatic on-off sensors. There’s lots of things built in.” Although these are just a few of the five-page list of things being done to achieve the Silver Certification, you can already start to see a big improvement in sustainability efforts, compared to the other buildings on campus.
Appearance
You can also expect the new building to be very decorative, containing different aspects on the inside and outside to make it stand out. A wide variety of flowers and trees will be present at the entrance of the new admissions office and along the walkways. There will be a mix of perennial plants that will provide color throughout the year. Inside the building, there will be several picture decals on the walls, along with “white boards all around that you can write on” inside the classrooms. Beggs also informed me that each floor will have a different color scheme, hinting at the possibilities, saying “There’s blues and greens and yellows.” If you ever look through the windows of the new building at night when the lights inside the building are on, you will be able to see this color scheme already developing.
Effect on Students
The building will affect student life by allowing students to always be located at the center of campus, no longer needing to “trudge over to the West Wing.” Classes will now be located in either the Fine Arts, Tech Building, Academic Building, Library, or Mac. Beggs mentioned that the first floor will be the upper school math department, second floor will be middle school English and history, third floor will be upper school English and history, and fourth floor will be middle and upper school world languages. Although the new parking deck is only going to be open to faculty and staff, parking rows throughout campus will be relieved, allowing for easier parking in the mornings, and less stress on the juniors and seniors who may be running late. In the outside public space, there is planning to be a ping-pong table for seniors to practice their table tennis skills during their free time. The Academic Building will also contain a theater with retractable seating, holding 175 people, providing another space to hold class meetings.
Coming Soon
Finally, the question that people are most desperate to know the answer to, is when the building will be open for use. According to Beggs, they are hoping to have “a Certificate of Occupancy from the Code Compliance folks sometime in November.” This means that construction of the building will be complete, and teachers will be allowed to start moving in. With teachers coming from both the West Wing and downstairs Tech Building, they want to allow teachers the most amount of time possible to move in so they can be ready for the influx of students on the first day of second semester. This means that there is little time left to wait for its opening, and seniors can look forward to sharing their last semester as a student at PD with the new Academic Building.
Photo Courtesy of OxBlue Construction
Site on May 4th, 2017. Photo Courtesy of OxBlue Construction
Current site of the new Academic Building as seen on June 2nd, 2016
Site of new building on June 30th, 2016. Photo Courtesy of OxBlue Construction
Site on September 1st, 2016. Photo Courtesy of OxBlue Construction
Site on December 1st, 2016. Photo Courtesy of OxBlue Construction
Site on April 6th, 2017. Photo Courtesy of OxBlue Construction
Site on July 1st, 2017. Photo Courtesy of OxBlue Construction
By Ashley Kropf
COMMUNITY
"... the school and the architect are aspiring to achieve a Silver Certification... in order to achieve this, they already have implemented.... a white roof on the building so it will not absorb heat and the building will stay cool. "
"The first floor will be the upper school math department, second floor will be middle school English and history, third floor will be upper school English and history, and fourth floor will be middle and upper school world languages. " -Tom Beggs, Director of Facilities at PD
The Charger, December 2017
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