Faced with a quickly growing population and already overcrowded schools, the Grant County Board of Education opted to develop a new 76-acre campus that would eventually accommodate three new schools for the district. Sherman Elementary is the first school to be designed and constructed on this new campus.
This new single-story facility was designed for preschool through fifth grade and includes many notable design features including a large central courtyard to provide ample space for outdoor learning. The school’s circular design provides a continuous circulation pattern through the facility to enable easy access to all areas of the building. Sherman Elementary School also includes a number of high-performance features including a mechanical mezzanine, geothermal heating and cooling, and increased insulation for both the roof and the walls.
The owner sought a design for the new school that would respond to a historic tavern located on the site and complement the rural setting of the new campus. To accomplish this, the design team broke up the building into a series of smaller, interconnected masses, thereby lessening the overall impression of the building’s scale. Materials like Ashlar-patterned, split-face block and dimensional asphalt shingles were carefully selected to complement the rural landscape.
Sherman Elementary's energy efficient design earned the school the distinction of being identified as "designed to earn ENERGY STAR" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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