Overview

Having completed the construction of Phase l of the new Cook Residential Village in the summer, the college elected to release two more housing units for a total of six in their graduate student living environment.

The emphasis on these two new units revolved around Hope College’s commitment toward improving accessibility and inclusion for enhancing the quality of experience for those students needing additional assistance in a residential environment.

The new units have full mobility and are ADA accessible. Design features include low-slope exterior sidewalks; ADA compliant appliances and removal of base cabinets at the sink and adjacent to the stove for ease of use; countertops reduced in height to 34 inches; zero transition shower entry; increased door widths; and snowmelt on the patio and sidewalk to ensure ease of access at all times.

The two new buildings have a similar architectural style as the existing buildings in the village and feature a residential-style look with exterior brick masonry. Both buildings are approximately 3,800 sf and house eight students.

Each townhouse has two floors: the first floor includes a bedroom, kitchen, full bathroom, laundry room and living room and is fully accessible for those with mobility requirements; the upper floor contains three bedrooms.

Overview

Lakewood has had an ongoing relationship with Caledonia Community Schools since 2006 when the community passed a $30.5 million bond issue for construction. We were back onboard with them in 2014 for a $41 million bond issue divided into four key areas, one of which included the new South Campus High School.

The new South Campus building was designed with collaborative learning in mind by creating unique spaces for staff and students to practice and learn new instructional strategies. The entire school has the feel and resembles groups of young professionals from Google or Steelcase, as students work on projects both individually and as teams compliments of tech tools and mobile, flexible furniture.

The two-story building highlights include:

Science and Art Wings
23 Classrooms
Modern Media Center with Flexible Furniture
Auxiliary Gymnasium
Mini Auditorium
Black Box Theater
Cafeteria
Two Large Project Rooms Bordered by Smaller Break-out Spaces for Small Group Work
Lots of Collaborative Space Building-wide
The South Campus building also alleviates crowding at the main campus with room for 600 students and land for expansion.

Overview

Considered the key component to the Zeeland Public Schools 2010 $20.3 million bond issue proposal, the district’s new Adams Elementary School was designed and constructed to serve up to 300 K-5 students in the southern reaches of this rapidly growing school district.

Referred to as the “footprint,” close attention was paid to the layout of the site and the building in Phase 1 to accommodate growth before construction had even started on this $7.27 million school. Based upon a prototype previously constructed by the district, this single-story, brick and block construction with sloped joists and deck and shingled roof hosts 12 classrooms, a media center, multi-purpose room, administrative offices, mechanical rooms, and several other ancillary spaces. Phase II will incorporate additional classrooms and a gymnasium.

The building materials selected pays tribute to the area’s deep family farming heritage, the surrounding residential neighborhood, and provides a healthy and familiar learning environment. Salvaged wood from an old barn and the masonry from an old silo was repurposed and used throughout the school.

Particular focus was placed on the state-of-the art mechanical and electrical systems–closed-loop geothermal and chilled-beam technology. The building is equipped with ceiling-mounted, active induction beams; central dual wheel energy recovery units; and heat pumps. A central horizontal geothermal field with over five miles of underground pipe is the source for earth-coupled energy, creating a system approximately 55% more efficient than current state energy code base building systems.

This building was designated to be the district’s first pursuit of Silver certification in the US Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program.