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PROJECTS  
ALVARADO MIDDLE SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATION/MEDIA CENTER/SEVERELY DISABLED CLASSROOM BUILDINGS
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Alvaro Middle School view 1   Alvarado Middle School Administration/Media Center/Severely Disabled Classroom Buildings win an Award of Merit in the Project-in-Design Category of the 2008 CASH/AIACC Leroy F. Greene Design and Planning Awards Program. This project includes 3 diverse elements: a library, administrative offices and special education classrooms. A key challenge was to express the buildings’ sustainable practices in their exterior form in a visually compelling and exciting manner, while maintaining organizational clarity.

The project was divided into 3 separate buildings, each housing one of the 3 key program functions: the library on the north side, closer to the student quad; the administration building in the center, where its entrance is emphasized by flanking lower massing; and the special education building to the south, in a quieter zone. Walkways and landscaped areas occupy the spaces between buildings to provide multiple access points between the parking lot and the main part of the campus, as well as allow the buildings more exposure to natural light.

The massing of all 3 buildings is similar, with a single-pitch roof rising toward the north. A metal roof supporting photo-voltaic panels caps all the buildings with a large cantilever on the south and west to provide shade as well as cover for students waiting to be picked up on the parking lot side. The massing over the main entrance to the administration building deviates from this strategy, where a long, sloping cantilevered roof with translucent panels, rises toward the front to greet visitors.

Most of the north sides contain a high window wall to admit natural light, with the structural braced frames visible behind the glazing. The southern windows are low, protected by a deep overhang, while on the east and west, glazing is very limited, mostly as compositional elements.

Maximum transparency is provided on the interior of the library and administration building through window walls. The windows foster a feeling of openness, allow users to have visual contact with each other, provide good supervision and bring natural light from one space into another.

Visually, this project is a major departure from the existing campus, which consists mostly of portable classrooms, which will be replaced over time. The 3 buildings form an exciting and dynamic composition at the front of the school, setting the theme for subsequent construction.

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Alvaro Middle School view 2  
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Alvaro Middle School ariel view  
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EDUCATION
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SECONDARY


Angelo Rodriguez
High School

Burlingame High School

Dublin High School

Freemont High School

Half Moon Bay
High School

Logan High School

Los Gatos High School

San Benito High School


Alvarado Middle School

Dartmouth Middle School

Shirakawa K-8 School

Union Middle School