Commercial Architecture November 2017 - 28

PROJECT

interiors

Sammamish High School, Bellevue, WA, is
ornamental as well as functional, and features Rockfon stone-wool acoustic ceiling
systems throughout the high-profile facility.
Photos: Lara Swimmer Photography

High-Profile Ceilings
School features ornamental and functional Rockfon systems.

S

ammamish High School's new Bellevue, WA,

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

campus replaced an existing one-story building

According to the Integrus team, the school's replacement

computer access for engineering and drawing, as well as

with a three-story, state-of-the-art educational

and modernization project involved multiple phases

"dirty" spaces for active, creative fabrication. PBL also

facility spanning 320,000 sq. ft. and serving almost 1,000

through four years. The new high school integrated an

places high demand on spaces for teamwork and collabo-

students in grades 9 to 12. Designed by Integrus Archi-

existing performing-arts facility into the first phase of

ration, as well as areas for performance and work display.

tecture, Seattle, the school is the last of Bellevue School

construction. In addition, a new two-story athletic build-

According to McLeod, "Flexibility is still really one of

District's high schools to be modernized. According to

ing, glass-arts facility, and concession/ticket booth are

the key elements." The building is designed with the fu-

Jack McLeod, director of facilities and operations for the

sited to work with existing fields.

ture in mind. The idea is for the building to be able to

school district, "Sammamish will be the crown jewel."

Central to the school's design is a curriculum empha-

Assignments include a need for "clean" spaces, with

adapt to teaching needs as the years pass.

Ornamental and functional, the high school features

sizing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and STEM pro-

Partnering with Integrus Architecture, the school's

Rockfon, Chicago, stone-wool acoustic ceiling systems

grams. STEM is the educational acronym for science,

design team helped determine the vision and must-haves

throughout the high-profile facility. In total, distributor

technology, engineering, and math. Sammamish also

for the new building. "The amount of collaboration that

Valhalla Construction Products, Silverdale, WA, provid-

adds arts and robotics to the curriculum. Students are

went into the project was unprecedented. The architect,

ed more than 250,000 sq. ft. of Rockfon ceiling systems

taught to develop critical-thinking skills in PBL assign-

school district, principal, teachers, and students collabo-

to installing contractor Forrest Sound Products, Red-

ments by identifying the problem, then designing, engi-

rated to create a school that focused on making a positive

mond, WA.

neering, and fabricating appropriate solutions.

impact for the natural environment and student learning

28

COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE

NOVEMBER 2017

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Architecture November 2017
