Congratulations to DLR Group and special thanks to project manager Lindsey Paint Perez, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, on this award for the Zellwood Elementary comprehensive renovation.  Zellwood is the first OCPS LEED school largely due to Lindsey’s dedication to sustainable architecture as much of the certification work was a collaboration between volunteers, design and construction team members utilizing a Central Florida Chapter USGBC grant to LEED certify the building and provide pro-bono expertise for energy modeling, commissioning and perform construction indoor air quality best practices.  The collaboration documented and reported to Central Florida Schools to promote sustainable building design and practices, Zellwood Elementary boasts a 35% better energy performance than comparably sized schools.

Building Area:  90,000 sq. ft. 73,000 new construction and 17,000 renovated

For the past 50 years, Zellwood Elementary School has been a focal point of the local community.  Nestled within a small rural neighborhood, the sloping site sits at the end of a quaint country road with vistas to the west overlooking Lake Maggiore.  This “School on the Lake” setting and its designation as a bilingual center make Zellwood Elementary School a place of pride for local residents.

DLR’s design process successfully dealt with several major challenges from project inception:

  1. providing way finding and security on campus
  2. creating safe avenues for bus, car and pedestrian traffic
  3. minimizing disruption of education during construction.

The process to transform this campus began with a design charrette which generated guiding design principals.  The design team married new construction seamlessly within the existing campus.  The program required approximately 600 student stations, a centralized media center, cafeteria and administration – all accomplished in 90,000 square feet of new and renovated space.

To reinforce the building massing as well as code architectural elements, the design team used a combination of color and texture.  A pair of neutral colors anchors the building at the base, creating a dialogue with the ground plane.  Various shades of aqua green were used to add dignity and emphasis to significant moments such as the building entrances.  A yellow-green color accents the upper floors only coming to grade as part of exterior stair elements.  This contrast between upper and lower levels reinforces the buildings relationship with the site by expressing those portions of the building that engage the ground plane and those that float freely above it.  Nothing exemplifies this more than the media center as the large bay windows framed in the aqua green accent hover over the program below.

A view from the southwest clearly shows the success of all design elements working in harmony to create a dynamic, playful and respectful solution to the renovated elementary school campus.

Zellwood is a great project and Ramski & Company was proud to participate on the team for the interior design.

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