Kellam High School
Designing a new school to replace my alma mater where my wife Michele and I fell in love was an opportunity of a lifetime.
- Danny Speight, P.E., President
Served as Structural Engineer of Record and Agent 1 Special Inspector for this new, two-story, 336,410 square foot LEED Silver certified public school in Virginia Beach, VA. Groundbreaking for the 2,000-student capacity school took place on September 30, 2011, and staff and students occupied the new school in January 2014, 3 months ahead of schedule. Construction documents for this new facility were entirely produced using Revit® Building Information Management (BIM) software. In 2015 The Association for Learning Environments International bestowed their top award, the “Project of Distinction”, recognizing this spectacular school as one of the “Top Five New Schools in the World for 2015. Other awards include the 2014 Gold Design Award from VA Chapter of Association for Learning Environments and Virginia Department of Education, 2014 Silver Design Award from VSBA - Virginia School Board Association, 2014 Best Educational Building, Award of Excellence from Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate Award, 2014 Honor Award from City of Virginia Beach Planning Commission, 2015 Best Secondary School Design from Southeast Region of Association for Learning Environments, 2015 Merit Award from AIA Hampton Roads Chapter, and 2015 Merit Award from VA ASLA - Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Educational planning features include learning spaces designed to facilitate a 21st-century skills-based curriculum with six learning communities and a fully integrated curriculum. Includes a 2,000-seat gymnasium, an 800-seat auditorium, a 145-seat Black Box Theater, and an educational courtyard designed by Kellam HS AP Environmental Science students.
Building & site features include: Designed as a Category 2 Hurricane Shelter (event & post-event), 841 off-street parking spaces, 30 bus parking spaces, 4-lane widening of west neck road with turn lanes, 4,500 seat stadium with synthetic turf football/soccer field – lighted, 1 football practice field, 1 baseball field – lighted, 1 softball field – lighted, baseball & softball practice facilities and restrooms/concessions/press box facilities, synthetic surface track, 8 tennis courts – lighted, 1 band practice field, 3 general-purpose playfields, 2 outdoor basketball courts, and 2 outdoor sand volleyball courts.
Sustainable design features include: Roof rainwater harvesting for irrigation of playfields, the site retains and infiltrates rainwater thereby reducing the impact to municipal stormwater facilities, vegetated roof/art courtyard, courtyard benches made of site-reclaimed hardwood trees, reforestation buffer between KHS site and Victoria Park, bicycle storage, recycled content materials used, bamboo wood floor in the gym, low VOC emitting materials, cool roof to minimize solar heat gain, facilities planned for community use, provisions for recycling, water-use reduction with low-flow fixtures, energy-saving HVAC system with geothermal wells, HVAC system commissioning, indoor air quality building flush, light pollution reduction, daylight harvesting, and construction waste management.
Awards |
2015 Project of Distinction from Association for Learning Environments International-One of the Top Five New Schools in the World for 2015
2015 Merit Award from AIA Hampton Roads Chapter
2015 Merit Award from VA ASLA - Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
2014 Gold Design Award from VA Chapter of Association for Learning Environments and Virginia Department of Education
2014 Silver Design Award from VSBA - Virginia School Board Association, 2014 Best Educational Building, Award of Excellence from Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate Award
2014 Honor Award from City of Virginia Beach Planning Commission, 2015 Best Secondary School Design from Southeast Region of Association for Learning Environments