The U.S. Green Building Council awarded the Fairfax County Dolley Madison Library LEED® Gold Certification on Friday. The facility, designed by Bowie Gridley Architects, has several green features to allow it to blend into the surrounding parkland. BGA’s design takes advantage of a heavily wooded site with large glass windows providing views of the adjacent forest at McLean Central Park. These windows also allow for maximum natural lighting.

Notable sustainability features include the use of recycled materials in construction, pervious pavement and lower HVAC and water usage. The building also features rain gardens in the parking lot which serve as natural stormwater management systems. This is the first library in Fairfax County to utilize a green roof, which helps absorb air pollution and carbon dioxide around the building and keeps the building cool.

The original goals of the project include a major expansion to enlarge the reading room and circulation desk and add a large staff workroom, new community meeting rooms, and children’s reading area, all to improve the public experience.

“As a resident of McLean and library patron, I am proud of the legacy of this building,” Project Manager Richard S. Salopek, AIA, said. “I hope it serves as a visible example of how ‘green’ architecture can provide real, tangible benefits to our community’s quality of life.”

This is the third BGA project to receive LEED Gold Certification this year. Current library projects for Fairfax County include the Woodrow Wilson and John Marshall libraries.

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Savoy Elementary School has been selected by the President’s Committee of the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) as one of eight beneficiaries for its two-year Turnaround Arts (TAI) program. Bowie Gridley Architects provided design services for renovations completed on Savoy in 2009, setting the stage for a modern, forward-thinking academic facility.

The pilot arts program will provide $14.7 million in federal school improvement grants to the eight selected schools over three years. Additional resources provided will include several foundation grants, totaling $1 million in the first year, $10,000 per school of art supplies provided by Crayola, $10,000 per school in musical instruments provided by the NAMM Foundation, teacher training, partnerships with community arts education and cultural organizations and ongoing community engagement events. An independent study of the program’s effectiveness will be conducted by the consulting firm, Booz Allen.

As part of the program, several accomplished and well-known actors, actresses and artists, including Sara Jessica Parker, Alfre Woodard, Forest Whitaker, Chuck Close, Yo-Yo-Ma and Damien Woetzel, will serve as mentors for each school. Kerry Washington, seen in popular films such as Ray, the Fantastic Four, and Save the Last Dance, is currently starring as the lead in the new television series, Scandal, and will serve as Savoy’s mentor.

To qualify for the prestigious and highly competitive program, Savoy had to demonstrate strong school leadership, district support and an established commitment to arts education.

Savoy Elementary School is a public school serving grades PreK-5 located in Washington DC.

Bowie Gridley Architects / Perkins + Will – a joint venture, in association with PGN Architects of Washington, DC, has been selected by the District of Columbia Department of General Services (DC-DGS) to design the replacement facility for Ballou Senior High School, located at 3401 4th Street, S.E., in Ward 8, Washington, DC.

The project award was based upon selection of a design concept submitted by the joint venture team in late 2011, which calls for the replacement of the existing 271,300 sf high school serving 2,012 students with a new facility suited to the needs of the community.

George Washington University’s recently renovated Lafayette Hall dormitory, designed by Bowie Gridley Architects (BGA), received LEED Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in recognition of its many energy conserving features. The recognition is especially notable due to the challenges of renovating a tall, narrow, 1920’s-vintage building into a modern residence hall.

An original feasibility study by BGA considered renovation options ranging from minimal code-required upgrades to a complete interior renovation and addition to the 8-story building. Alternative floor plans compared designs and bed counts geared towards freshmen students with layouts that would accommodate older students, including kitchenettes. The University chose to complete the “gut renovation” with a focus on energy improvements.

Energy use was reduced by replacing old windows with new energy-efficient windows that replicated historic profiles. High-performance insulation in the building’s exterior walls added comfort while maximizing interior space. The architecture team, under the leadership of Leslie W. Louden, AIA, LEED® AP, worked closely with GWU Facilities Management to implement newly-emerging campus standards for fixtures and finishes, reducing water consumption and using materials with low VOC and high recycled content. The main building entrance on Eye Street was redesigned to reflect its classical revival style.

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

The U.S. Green Building Council awarded LEED Gold Certification to the new St. Anne’s Belfield Lower/Middle School building in Charlottesville, Va, designed by Bowie Gridley Architects. The award acknowledges the sustainability accomplishments of  the design team for this 104,000 square-foot facility.

The ‘learning village’ houses kindergarten through eighth grade students, featuring full academic and administrative spaces, a library, dining hall and a 425-seat theater. Movable platforms and draperies allow for a multi-purpose theater, accommodating all-school assemblies, studio productions and small ensemble performances. The building also features pavilions and indoor and outdoor shared spaces for student gatherings.

BGA’s design implemented several sustainability measures, including reducing water use by over 40%. The construction phase of the project minimized environmental impact using recycled and cradle-to-cradle materials. Over 20% of the materials in the building were extracted, processed and manufactured regionally.  An insulated building envelope and geothermal HVAC system significantly save  energy. Roof terraces provide outdoor spaces for students while also helping to control storm water .

St. Anne’s-Belfield School commissioned the project after a restructuring of the school’s divisional system, which grouped the middle school with the elementary school. Construction was completed ahead of the School’s opening in the fall of 2010.