The renovation and additions to Nottingham Elementary School were designed by Samaha Associates, PC of Fairfax, VA. With its past history and location within an established Fairfax, VA neighborhood, Nottingham Elementary represents the small neighborhood schools of our past. Although the facility is designed for 430 students, its sense of scale belies its size of approximately 71,000 square feet. Originally constructed in 1951, the central administration offices were buried in the middle of the school, hampering supervision of the school entrance and approaches. The new administration suite, lobby, and main entrance provide visual supervision over the entire front of the site including the main entrance, parking, student drop-off, and bus loading area.
The spaces are designed to the scale of the child and all access points to the school are controlled by electronic locks and card readers to enhance security. The facility has also been designed as a center for the community containing outdoor and indoor activity spaces.
Environmentally, the building is designed to exceed ASHRAE 91 standards for energy efficiency, ventilation and natural day light. VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) off-gassing is minimized by using water based solvents and materials with re-cycled content. The prominent location of the bio-retention pond stresses the importance of protecting our waterways. Although the building is not LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, many “green” technologies were included in the design to make it a sustainable facility. In addition to the bio-retention pond and low V.O.C adhesives and finishes, the school uses low-flow plumbing fixtures, waterless urinals, high performance low-E glazing, high reflectance (cool) roofing materials and fresh air heat recovery wheels. The building has been fully commissioned so that systems are operating as designed in the most energy efficient manner possible.
The facility is fully (ADA) accessible.
