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ALDER CREEK MIDDLE SCHOOL
TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA
Photography: John Swain
Photography
CMACN 2005 Awards Edition, “CMU Profiles in Architecture”
Jury Comments: This building incorporates a lot of simple things that together result in an exceptional example of high performance and sustainable school design. The daylighting system is simple, but effective, with large windows that extend to the ceiling. Integral sunshades control glare and function as mini-light shelves. Indirect fluorescent luminaires are controlled by photocells to provide uniform auxiliary lighting. Materials are selected that have a combination of recycled content, low chemical emissions, and durability. The masonry construction is complimented by polished concrete floors. The earth is used as a source for heating and a sink for heat rejection, reducing energy use. Over all, the building has many important sustainable design lessons for other schools and is a model to emulate.
The Alder Creek Middle School, in Truckee, California, is
situated at a 6,000 foot elevation with high annual snowfall
and one of the coldest climates in the country. Located in
the Lake Tahoe region, there is a community culture of
environmental awareness and protection. This culture is
embraced in the Alder Creek Middle School – selected as
a demonstration school for California’s Collaborative
for High Performance Schools (CHPS) program. The 85,000
square foot facility was constructed with a holistic
approach to creating the best learning environment for its
students.
In spite of the site’s slope to the east the building is oriented on an east-west axis to take advantage of optimum daylight and to create a large south facing student plaza – a sunny gathering place in the cold Truckee climate. The two story building is cut into the hillside, using its concrete masonry exterior to provide insulation against extreme temperatures, while minimizing the visual impact of the building within a scenic corridor and maintaining the mature trees so valued in the community. Concrete masonry units in varied forms, textures and colors become the major structural and finish material, as well as an exposed durable interior finish throughout the project.
Layered against the concrete block masses of the school’s exterior are scale lending forms – the “little red school houses” - that compliment historic Truckee and that evoke the memory of school buildings past.
ARCHITECT:
Lionakis
Beaumont Design Group, Inc.
1919 19th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Rob
Samish, AIA, LEED
Associate
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER:
Lionakis Beaumont Design Group, Inc.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
Clark and Sullivan
MASONRY CONTRACTOR:
TMC, Inc., Masonry Contractors
BLOCK PRODUCER:
Basalite Concrete Products, LLC
Northfield Block Company
OWNER:
Tahoe Truckee Unified School District
