海角视频

Geffen Academy at UCLA

Los Angeles, USA

海角视频 supported UCLA to transform an old, underutilized administrative building on its Los Angeles campus into a flourishing new school.

The Geffen Academy offers world-class education to students across Los Angeles and often to the children of UCLA faculty and staff. The previously existing Kinross Building on the UCLA Westwood campus was renovated and converted into a middle school and high school facility to serve approximately 620 students.

海角视频 played a key role in the realization of the client鈥檚 goal to transform this building with an ambitious adaptive reuse.

The previously existing Kinross Building on the UCLA Westwood campus converted into a middle school and high school facility to serve 620 students.

海角视频 provided MEP, lighting, and sustainability services across the 75,000ft虏 building as well as code-triggered upgrades.

The lighting design was a key element in the project winning an AIA National Education Facility design award upon completion.

Challenge

The academy aspires to be a model for 21st century education and allows the UCLA campus to participate more fully in improving education. The building, which was originally designed by architect Steven Ehrlich in the 1960s, would need considerable and thoughtful adaptation to make it work as an engaging high school learning environment.

海角视频 has an established history of working on ground-breaking projects across the UCLA campus, from higher education facilities to world-leading science and engineering research spaces.

For the Geffen Academy building, 海角视频 worked closely with architects Koning Eizenberg (KEA) to develop a robust strategy for the adaptive reuse of the building, providing key insights around building services engineering (MEP), lighting design, and sustainability considerations.

The key challenge was in taking a pre-existing campus administration and general use building and adapting it into an engaging learning environment for grades six to 12. The client was keen to prioritize the wellness and mental health of the students, and so opportunities to add natural daylighting deep into the building would need to be found, with the design team focused on adding indoor/outdoor spaces, as well as achieving a suitable balance between daylighting and thermal comfort. MEP systems would need to work adaptively to balance this internal environment for maximum occupant comfort, while also minimizing the operational carbon footprint of the site.

Solution

海角视频 provided MEP engineering, lighting, and sustainability consulting services for occupant comfort across the three-floor, 75,000ft虏 building as well as code-triggered upgrades to meet the California Building Code and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The project, which promotes open learning environments with large classrooms, communal tables for studying, and open connections to exterior spaces, has met LEED Gold certification standards, with support and guidance from our sustainability experts.

The adaptive reuse of the pre-existing building meant traditional hallways were replaced with an immersive learning environment offering a variety of individual and group study spaces that extend throughout the building, connecting learning and activity spaces including a sound studio, labs, and classrooms. A new staircase, with a feature skylight, brings light deep into the building. Glass interior partitions allow light to penetrate across the floor plates.

Architects KEA reoriented the entrance from one of the short sides of the building to the long side, creating a better drop-off area, while reclaiming some of the car parking space to create an outdoor patio for students. Roll-up garage doors open ground floor studios for dance and art to the outside space, making this creative area light and airy.

The library starts on the ground floor in an informal area known as the 鈥渓iving room,鈥� and moves up to occupy the central areas of floors two and three, with more formal classrooms spread around the exterior. The lighting design was a key element in the project winning an AIA National Education Facility design award upon completion. The lighting strategy supported the goal to deliver comfortable learning environments throughout, balancing natural daylighting with more intimate learning spaces around this library core to the building.

Value

海角视频 played a key role in the realization of the client鈥檚 goal to transform this building with an ambitious adaptive reuse. Our MEP, lighting, and sustainability experts supported the development of a series of carefully curated learning environments throughout the building, as well as providing clear strategic oversight for the three discipline areas as the design evolved.