Florida Firm Wins Two Design Awards

ORLANDO — SchenkelShultz Architecture recently won two first-place awards for its design of a high school and an elementary school from the Florida Educational Facilities Planners’ Association at its winter 2012 conference.

SchenkelShultz Architecture, a leading green design firm based in Orlando, Fla., won for its completion of Hernando County School Board’s Weeki Wachee High School in Weeki Wachee, Fla. They also took first place for Lake County Schools’ Sorrento Elementary School in Sorrento, Fla.

Weeki Wachee High School’s design made it the first high school to earn LEED silver certification in Florida. The two-story structure has an extended learning community and features two academic neighborhoods with a town center for athletics, dining and performing arts around a central courtyard.

Built for $48.5 million, the building is the first green school in the Hernando County School District.
More than 20 percent of the materials used for the project were sourced locally. The project installed a central plant with thermal ice storage to provide energy efficient heating and cooling for the high school. Daylight sensors were used in classrooms to reduce energy usage.

The school also implemented renewable energy methods, including roof-mounted solar water collectors that provide heating for the school’s kitchen, and water-efficiency features like fixtures and drip irrigation that reduce potable water use.

“SchenkelShultz utilized our knowledge of 21st century educational trends and understanding of how students learn to create the new space for the district,” said Brook Sherrard of SchenkelShultz Architecture. “Utilizing a ‘school within a school’ concept, the design provides a variety of ways to enhance educational flexibility.”

Sorrento Elementary School had similar design features, plus a high-efficiency central chiller system. Since it and WWHS opened in 2010, they have been recognized for their unique designs that emphasize flexibility and energy efficiency.

One unique space in the high school is the “Auditeria,” which serves as the main dining facility but can convert to a 500-seat theater. The school even has operable partitions that allow for “flex classrooms” dedicated to teaching and testing.

“The school features spaces for a child’s mind to explore, such as art, computer labs, band room and a TV production studio,” said Daniel Tarczynski of SchenkelShultz Architecture about the elementary school. “The classrooms are organized in small-scale communities to enhance identifiable neighborhoods, which reduce the scale of the school to a smaller feeling.”