BACK TO SCHOOL
FROM CLOSED LANDFILL TO RECREATION COMPLEX
A LOOK AHEAD
Here is a quick glimpse into projects in the works across the country. Watch for more on them in our blog( AyresAssociates. com / blog /) and in future TRENDS issues.
BACK TO SCHOOL
When the first bell rings after the holiday next January, students at the Ellsworth Elementary School in Wisconsin may hardly recognize their old school. Ayres Associates’ architects collaborated with consultant Ted Rozeboom and Healy | Bender on the design of a new 108,000-square-foot, five-section elementary school for 750 students. The design for the Ellsworth School District’ s new elementary school is based on a collaborative teaching model, with large common learning areas in each classroom wing to provide a variety of teaching and learning configurations. The cafeteria, media center, and gym are in the core of the building, well-suited for after-hours use by the school and community. State-of-the-art building technologies were also planned for, including LED lighting, a displacement ventilation system, and a multi-level security system.
Ayres’ interior design team introduced a neutral color palette with several pops of bright colors throughout the common circulation area. Materials were reviewed and assessed with the environmental staff to provide lowmaintenance, highly durable, quality products to ensure the longevity of the building’ s interior. Coordination and selection of furniture was an essential part of the design to maximize the use of each space and provide flexible learning environments intended to grow with the students.
Ayres also provided site / civil and landscape architecture services. Improvements include two new playgrounds to separate the older and younger students, a full-size practice football field, and an event plaza with an outdoor classroom.
Two new parking lots will provide ample parking. Site circulation has been designed to improve student movement and ensure that all students will be safe as they arrive at and depart from school.
FROM CLOSED LANDFILL TO RECREATION COMPLEX
Communities are coming up with creative ways to reuse once-undesirable sites, and the City of Glendale, Wisconsin, is proud of its latest endeavor – creating a large recreational complex on top of its closed landfill.
The City just finished Phases 2 and 3 of construction for the complex, which included a parking lot, playground, memorial amphitheater, and recreation / community center. Earlier construction phases included a new road and sewer / water lines, gas venting system, and a vapor venting system for buildings. A fourth phase, which the City is coordinating
with the Glendale-River Hills School District, will include baseball and softball diamonds.
Ayres Associates has been working with the City on the project since 2015, providing two years of groundwater and methane gas monitoring for the closed 15-acre Bender Road Landfill. The municipal waste landfill ceased operations in 1976 and was capped with at least 5 feet of soil. Ayres provided plan modifications to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for the landfill’ s design for each phase to accommodate the proposed development and provided construction oversight in coordination with the City and contractor. This contract followed three years of previous monitoring Ayres provided for the landfill.
Rettler Corporation of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, is providing the planning and design for the development.
18│TRENDS