Grimm + Parker Architects

Grimm + Parker Architects

Reprinted from the book Educational Environments No.5

11720 Beltsville Drive, Suite 600 • Calverton, MD 20705 • 301.595.1000 • 301.595.0089 (Fax)

www.gparch.com

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Traditional notions about libraries as temples of knowledge will not prepare you for the new, one-story, 17,000-square-foot Burke Centre Library, in Burke, Virginia, designed by Grimm + Parker Architects. This award-winning facility clearly caters to the fast-paced and mobile lifestyle of its affluent suburban Washington community of some 60,000 residents. Located beside a busy, high-speed thoroughfare, the modern glass, brick and steel-clad structure faces a clearing of hardwood trees, buzzes with the activities of people young and old, and maintains a drive-thru window for time-pressed commuters. Its design reflects the public’s desire for an informal learning environment that acknowledges nature. Patrons and staff using its reading rooms, stacks, children’s area, teen area, staff workrooms, drive-thru, and community multi-purpose rooms, all conveniently organized along a central spine, enjoy an attractive, comfortable and open

A: Children’s Area B: Exterior at entrance C: Exterior showing side elevation D: Central SpinePhotography: Eric Taylor Photography

Burke Centre Library | Burke, VirginiaGrimm + Parker Architects

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A: New Arrivals B: Teen Fiction C: Looking to entrance along Central Spine


environment of wood, tile, carpet, contemporary furnishings and north-facing glass that captures daylight and outdoor views. The connection to nature is more than skin deep. Because of a sustainable design incorporating high-efficiency mechanical and electrical systems, low-E glass, daylight sensor-controlled lighting, recycled and reclaimed materials, and a site location that screens out traffic sights and sounds, the library has won the coveted LEED Silver certification.

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Although the University of Maryland’s respected Philip Merrill College of Journalism operated largely within the original journalism building on its 1,250-acre campus in College Park, between Washington and Baltimore that opened in 1957, it is only now that Merrill shelters every academic and professional program under one roof. Merrill’s new home is the award-winning, three-story, 53,444-square-foot Knight Hall, designed by Grimm +

Parker Architects. A contemporary structure of brick, metal panels and aluminum-and-glass curtainwall, Knight Hall follows four “guiding principles” in its design: “transparency,” using multiple layers of visual connectivity to promote collegiality and celebrate a core value of journalism, “interaction,” facilitating conversations among faculty, students, staff and visitors, “student-centric,” supporting and inspiring students, and “of its time, of its place,”

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University of Maryland, College Park | Knight Hall for Philip Merrill College of Journalism | College Park, Maryland

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A: Great Hall B: Library C: Exterior seen at hillcrestPhotography: Ken Wyner, Alain Jaramillo


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A: Exterior as viewed at base of site B: Exterior revealing Great Hall C: Classroom D: News Bubble E: Mezzanine view of Great Hall


respecting university tradition (founded in 1856) without mimicking it. Accordingly, among its instructional spaces, faculty offices and professional outreach centers, clustered around the two-story Great Hall, are such signature spaces as the News Bubble, a multi-media laboratory for media experimentation, Richard Eaton Broadcast Theater, a 70-seat, state-of-the-art theater, and Studio C, an open, production-quality laboratory space. Despite modest initial goals for green design, sustainability was so intrinsic to

Knight Hall that it attained the campus’s first LEED certification—LEED Gold.

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The oldest high school in Virginia’s Arlington County Public SchoolDistrict, Washington-Lee High School (founded in 1925) is also the youngest. Its 1,550 students, faculty and staff recently received a new, four-story, 378,000-square-foot home, designed by Grimm + Parker Architects, that showcases the benefits of community participation and sustainable design. The building features outstanding classrooms, a library, a cyber café and facilities available for community use, including an 840-seat auditorium, 10-lane swimming pool, 2,250-square-foot flexible instruction/gallery, cafeteria, gymnasium, alumni conference room and 12 additional classrooms. It also extends a welcoming gesture to school and community through a gracious, versatile and user-friendly architecture of brick, concrete masonry and glass that simultaneously honors Arlington’s Art Deco tradition and optimizes environmental impact. Interestingly, the determination that

Washington–Lee High School | Arlington, Virginia

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A: Exterior at main entrance B: Main Street C: Swimming PoolPhotography: Ken Wyner, Paul Burk


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A: Exterior facing athletic fields B: Library C: Cyber Café D: Auditorium E: Plaza/Amphitheater


produced LEED Gold certification was present at the start. Sincethe new school replaced an existing one on the same site throughphased construction, it began with strategies to divert over 97percent of demolition from landfills. Today, Washington–Lee enhances superb educational facilities with a green roof, expanded green space, and numerous other sustainable features, prompting Paul Jamelske, assistant principal, to declare, “There are so many aspects of the new Washington–Lee that we’re proud of.”

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More students are enrolled in community colleges than in all other institutions of higher education combined, placing two-year colleges in the mainstream of America’s economic and cultural life. For the College of Southern Maryland, founded in 1958 as Charles County Community College, its mission extends beyond preparing over 22,500 students for bachelor’s degree programs or workforce qualifications to include engaging residents of suburban Washington in lifestyle enrichment programs. How popular these programs can be is demonstrated daily at the 62-acre Leonardtown, Maryland campus, where the new, one-story, 32,500-square-foot Leonardtown Wellness and Aquatics Center, designed by Grimm + Parker Architects, attracts crowds of all ages. The Center features a fitness studio, exercise rooms, two swimming pools (competition and therapy), a variety of classrooms for aerobics and other fitness activities, locker rooms, library, offices and specialized fitness assessment rooms. Its contemporary architecture of steel, brick, glass, porcelain and wood invites users into a sunny, open

College of Southern Maryland | Leonardtown Wellness and Aquatics Center | Leonardtown, Maryland

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A: Main Hall B: Competition Pool with Therapy Pool at rear C: Exterior Photography: Ken Wyner


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A: Wellness Studio B: Perspective along Main HallC: Competition Pool showing bleacher seating


and contemporary environment that embodies numerous sustainable design principles efficiency while respecting the traditional architecture of southern Maryland. Noting how many Collegefacilities serve senior citizens along with younger constituents, Mary Krug, chair of the College’s board of trustees, calls the Center “the jewel in the crown.”

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Grimm + Parker Architects