Santa Monica High School is currently undergoing a multi-year, multi-phase campus redevelopment and renovation plan that will touch almost every building on the Malibu campus. One of the new buildings that was added to the campus is the Discovery Building, a three-story, open-plan building which features more than 35 classrooms, including state-of-the-art computer and science labs, offices, common areas, seminar rooms, a full Olympic-size swimming pool, indoor and outdoor dining facilities and raised access floors with Underfloor Service Distribution.
The educational building was built utilizing the open building model, which requires a high level of flexibility. In this instance, the educational spaces are built on raised access floors with Underfloor Service Distribution to promote flexibility. By placing electric, plumbing, heating and air conditioning under the floor, you create a more flexible space that can be easily reconfigured to accommodate future changes in classroom layout and technology. Additionally, none of the classroom walls are structure supporting, which means they can be removed or relocated to reconfigure the space easily. John Dale, principal of HED Design, spoke of the ways raised floors contributed to the building's flexibility.
"Employing a raised floor system in all instructional spaces in the new Discovery Building was a critical aspect of designing for ongoing/future change," Dale said. "The raised floor has facilitated a displacement ventilation approach to heating and cooling, using the space below as a giant plenum which can provide air wherever it is needed, even as spaces get reconfigured. Providing power and data through a raised floor system also facilitates change. It has already proven possible to make changes in the way teachers want to use their spaces, even during construction."
In addition to the flexibility the raised floors provide to the building and its occupants, the Underfloor Air Distribution brings an added element of sustainability and improved indoor air quality to the space, which can increase occupant comfort and encourage a safe and healthy learning environment. During the Green California Schools Annual Summit, Santa Monica High School was awarded the designation of Best School for its sustainability and flexibility initiatives. The Discovery Building is built to withstand both the known and unforeseen challenges of 21st century educational environments and will be beneficial to the building's students, teachers and staff for years to come.