HILL FARM ROAD ELEMENTARY
LEED Silver Certified
The Hill Farm Elementary School is a cutting edge school pursuing LEED certification, and is designed to accommodate kindergarten through 5th grade education. Great attention was given to site planning, security, way-finding, student accessibility, and sustainability.
The facility is located in a developing area on the south side of town on an old cattle farm. The site was master planned to support a middle school in addition to the elementary. All pedestrian, vehicular, bus, and service/delivery traffic was designed to accommodate both facilities.
The entry points are designed to be locked during school hours, only allowing access into the reception area for check-in. The facility has a pedestrian boulevard with an open design, thus allowing faculty to monitor the space from a single point. The open concept design also provides simple way-finding for the students and guests. The classroom wings segregate the children into similar age groups, which makes it conducive to faculty and teaching materials synergies.
The common use spaces are also located off the main boulevard, allowing easy access for all grade levels. The spaces include a media center, computer labs, administration, health and guidance suites, dining, and a large gymnasium for PE and assemblies.
Sustainable features include natural lighting, low maintenance materials, low VOC materials, and high efficiency mechanical systems. Project Architect, H.F. Bunny Brown, IV, AIA, LEED AP, stated “Each sustainable strategy was studied not only for its energy and maintainability, but also for its capital and life cycle cost.”
All of these strategies were considered and integrated into the design of this facility to create the best learning environment for the students of the Bryant School District.