‘Sustainability’ buzzword for new school wing

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Plans are under way for improvements to the Bainbridge High School campus.

Crowded and bulging, Bainbridge High School is the educational equivalent of a clown car.

Designed for 900 students, home to some 1,500, there is no such thing as wiggle room at the aging school.

Fortunately for students and faculty, taxpayers have swooped in to free their tingling limbs from the proverbial Pinto, and with plans for a renovation finally taking shape, people at the school are excited about the opportunity to move into something a bit roomier.

“This will give us the classrooms we’re so desperately in need of,” said BHS principal Brent Peterson, of an early design for the school that includes a new, bigger, environmentally-conscious building, outdoor garden space and traffic reconfiguration.

The renovation will come courtesy of a $45 million construction bond passed by voters in March.

A new two-story, 70,000-square-foot 200 building will house classroom space, student services, administrative offices, library and commons. The current 200 building is 35,000 square feet.

Construction is expected to get under way in mid-2007, with the building ready for occupancy in 2008.

An outdoor garden space is planned for the south end of campus.

Improved access and parking are also priorities for the district, which is looking to ease congestion during busy loading times when buses, bikes, cars and pedestrians converge simultaneously on the school.

Plans for the renovation have been percolating since March 2005.

The schematic design will be presented to the school board June 29 and the district will begin taking bids for the project sometime next year, but a Thursday meeting at City Hall offered a preview of the school’s new look.

About 25 people attended the meeting, most of them directly involved in the project, but some residents made suggestions and raised concerns, mostly about traffic.

Architects gave a short presentation that included drawings and a three-dimensional model of the renovated school grounds.

“The core facilities are drastically undersized,” said architect Butch Reifert of the school, which was built in several phases.

Reifert said the renovation will mesh with the established character of the school, citing the inclusion of barreled roofs that are found on some of the current buildings.

The design team, which consulted extensively with staff, faculty and Edmonds and Lake Washington school districts, will also incorporate elements of the natural landscape.

The new commons will accommodate up to 700 people for events and performances, with step-down seating to be built atop the naturally sloping hillside.

Reifert said the new, glassy entrance to the 200 building will be clearly-marked and should reduce confusion among visitors who sometimes get lost looking for the office.

Several plans for parking and traffic management were introduced, all of which aim to separate different modes of transportation for safety and efficiency.

All options include bus, student and staff entry from High School Road in the southwest corner of the school property. Buses could potentially exit on Madison Avenue or High School Road, with several suggestions for routing bus traffic through the school grounds still under consideration.

A plan suggesting buses be funneled through neighboring Commodore Lane drew concerns from a few residents at the meeting, who worried about noise, traffic and exhaust on the street.

Vegetation buffers along the southwest edge of the property that would keep students from encroaching on neighboring properties were also discussed, as was the configuration of new tennis courts in the same area.

Parking, a contentious issue for non-motorized activists, will likely be consolidated to one area on the property, though the exact number of available spaces is still undetermined.

The concept of “sustainability” is being stressed by architects.

The new building will incorporate natural ventilation and lighting as well as environmentally-friendly drainage.

The majority of the natural daylight exposure at the new 200 building will come from the north and south, which Reifert said is the easiest light to control. The use of natural light will help the school cut down on energy costs.

Part of the roof will be planted with sedum, a water-retaining plant that reduces runoff and extends the life of most roofs.

“We tried to think about all the ways the building itself can teach students,” said Reifert. “We want it to be an example of how to live in a more delicate way.”

Construction of a separate project began Monday at the high school’s 300 building, where four classrooms will be converted to three science labs. The new rooms will be ready for the start of next school year.

In the meantime, the district is moving ahead with the overall design.

BHS principal Brent Peterson encouraged the community to remain involved, particularly by attending the meeting next week.

“Public input is critical,” Peterson said. “It’s always best to identify potential problems or concerns early on, before it gets too far into the design and becomes problematic. We want to hear ideas and alternatives.”

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The west wing

The schematic design for the Bainbridge High School renovation will be presented at the regular school board meeting at 5:30 p.m. June 29 at the BHS library. The plan includes a new 200 building, outdoor garden space and traffic and parking reconfiguration. A $45 million, voter-approved bond will pay for the project.