Museums Magnet Middle School
Wake County Public School System
Raleigh, NC
This is a new 650 student, 123,000 square foot, 4-story middle school. It is an urban setting school located to allow for collaboration and interaction with local downtown museum and cultural resources. This project was uniquely developed in that the entire school facility utilizes only the 4 acres available within a city block, as opposed to the 35+ acres typically utilized for middle schools. The compact building footprint required a well-coordinated engineering design effort. Plumbing, Fire Protection, HVAC and Electrical systems were successfully integrated accordingly. Specialty designs of this project include security system with cameras, lighting to complement the urban setting and engineered system infrastructure for technology and science learning. Regarding sustainable design, in 2003 this project was the first school in the nation to win the EPA Smart Growth Award which recognizes public development projects that help the environment.