New Napa Valley school to be first verified “green” school – designed using BIM program ArchiCAD

The American Canyon High School will be a model of education architectural innovation when complete. The school, designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects is organized around an elliptical campus green flanked by four Small Learning Communities, each with its own smaller courtyard.

The small learning communities will ensure that students have a stronger sense of belonging, while teachers and administrators are better able to offer personalized academic and emotional support.

Across the campus green will be an elliptical library and administration building, flanked by a theater and gymnasium, which make up the public front to the campus.

Green School – Using BIM Tool ArchiCAD

This new Napa Valley high school will incorporate numerous sustainable design (“green”) design elements including a 500 Kw photo-voltaic solar array that will power more than 40 percent of the campus’ electricity.

QKA used Graphisoft’s industry-leading ArchiCAD BIM software throughout the length of the project to design and produce the construction documents of the school, coordinating with engineers and consultants and creating numerous presentations. ArchiCAD was also used to help perform energy and day lighting analysis, according to Aaron Jobson, an architect at QKA.

“American Canyon High School was designed to incorporate state of the art technology and educational philosophy. The 3D capabilities of ArchiCAD were essential to the successful realization of this design,” he said. “The school was also designed to embrace sustainability. QKA used ArchiCAD to synthesize these ideas into a dynamic campus that will be an excellent example of sustainable design.”

Webcast

You can register today for free to attend a BIM Technology in Practice live webcast with Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, scheduled for May 7, 2008, 3:00pm – 4:30pm EST (USA). You will learn about how QKA used the BIM process with ArchiCAD to:

• coordinate the design with the engineers and consultants
• create presentation renderings and drawings
• perform energy and day lighting analysis

To register for this webcast visit here.

[Ed. Note: we experienced the above link as not working. We will attempt to resolve this matter with Graphisoft and address this error.]