Building for Change (1960s)

there's so much youth wants to know and the volume of material they must be taught is so far beyond the 3 RS and is increasing so rapidly that the educational facility the school building itself has got to provide for [Music] change we seem to be in a new era of having to find new Concepts new materials new performance for our buildings flexibility of being able to regroup people students and teachers from the old conventional patterns and groups of uh from one to almost any number to accommodate individual study to accommodate uh Audio Visual and other teaching media then the other flexibility to abandon this type of program and go to something is completely unpredictable at this time traditionally we were taught to build permanency now we're living in a more transient Society rapid Redevelopment of entire areas permanence uh somehow seems in many cases to get in the way of of what we're trying to do rather than be an asset these are the actual comments of Architects and Educators alike and they underline the fact that today the central Factor emerging in school design is flexibility the objective to build educational centers rather than School houses learning spaces instead of classrooms designers are looking beyond the traditional concepts of school construction are searching for new ways of doing things so one of the things we need to try to do is create the flexibility in the building for all types of uses flexibility uh the school administrator term flexibility I think is determined more about the creation of spaces which can be converted been used uh very rapidly as opposed to a major remodeling project one of the first new ways of creating building flexibility was California's School construction systems development program known as scsd it divided a Schoolhouse into four basic components structural mechanical energy lighting ceiling and interior partitions with specifications calling for physical compati ability between each of the four components the scsd or systems approach did and still does offer spatial flexibility rapidly and economically while all school districts are not able to adapt this new systems concept to their own particular building programs it has sparked a revolution in building construction and particularly in the manufacturing of individual building components for example one of the most important s CSD developments was the further refinement of the modern ceiling system the ceiling system appears to be a real key to this flexibility because nobody walks on it and nobody leans against it it's in a unique position to house various services for the building in a very flexible way so that they will be very readily available it needs to be changeable to any other point in the building it needs to be possible to move a partition anywhere and get any kind of service in the partition this requires a very special kind of ceiling system Schoolhouse ceilings very special indeed years ago they were just the tops of rooms rigid difficult to rearrange but today multi-functional ceiling systems like C60 lumire offer outstanding flexibility when you new methods new equipment or a new student populace demand spatial and ceiling rearrangement it can be done almost immediately partitions flat ceiling panels lighted modules Supply and return air Hardware all can be easily place to get new room shapes and sizes the right amount of acoustical control the right amount of light or air exactly where it's needed and these things are of vital importance for to enhance education and to improve learning today's Schoolhouse must create and provide the proper environment this ceiling system offers Quality Lighting that lets students see visual tasks quickly accurately and comfortably almost 70% of the light output reaches the working surface and the interchangeability of lighted modules and flat panels provides for the bright light level in virtually any schoolroom situation many years ago in the red brick Schoolhouse uh we needed High ceilings we needed uh very high windows in order to get light to the rear of the rooms and for ventilation uh technical progress has eliminated the need for natural daylight and eliminated the need for operable sash for ventilation of the of the rooms modern School design often creates windowless classrooms these spaces wouldn't be possible if warm weather Comfort depended on the distance a breeze could penetrate but that's no longer a problem ceiling systems like this can deliver conditioned air over the entire ceiling or at specific points without drafts they Supply Air and return air efficiently and quietly and a quiet learning environment is most desirable the library has acoustical ceiling it also has carpeting on the floor and uh we did this uh because we wanted it to be possible for small groups of students to be in various sections of the library and uh talk to each other without disturbing the rest of the room disturbances noise not only distractions but problems that get in the way of learning the C60 ceiling system can absorb 65 to 75% of all sound that strikes it makes open Planning possible and practical in areas like instructional material centers team teaching classrooms and libraries in most areas of a school noise control is a relatively simple job but kitchens locker rooms swimming pools present a unique problem but these high humidity areas can be quieted today with the development of a tough ceramic acoustical seiling material ceram guard a ceiling that makes environmental control possible in the problem areas of a school and where additional sound control is needed or where standard acoustical materials can't be used in gymnasiums language Laboratories and music rooms wall units can be used to soak up sound in addition to sound control special areas such as audiovisual centers and Laboratories call for still another form of flexibility to have a ceiling system that has a concealed suspension system that is completely accessible would be very desirable when a school district wants to keep Pace with new ideas total ceiling accessibility is critical new Concepts almost always mean new wiring and piping Services best placed above the ceiling plane labor costs make it impractical to break down and rebuild to accommodate new ideas or to repair existing facilities a completely accessible ceiling makes such Innovations [Music] possible products such as these have been designed to provide education with a building that can change a building designed for flexibility accessibility and environmental control but what about economy School budgets rarely allow for more than minimum materials economy is a matter of two factors initial cost and subsequent maintenance the key factor affecting these costs is efficiency for example a ceiling like this delivers about 15% more light than does a recessed trer system using the same number of lamps thus you need fewer fixtures to maintain a given light level fewer fixtures means a lower initial cost and because there are less tubes to replace and operate maintenance and operating costs are lower too then too since this ceiling provides UL rated fire protection there is no need for an intermediate fire barrier this alone can save 30 cents per square foot in material costs and up to 6 weeks in ceiling construction time what it all adds up to is a group of problem-solving money-saving ceiling products that are leading the way in providing more flexible more efficient school facilities today and tomorrow the accessible tile system providing ceiling wide accessibility ceram guard acoustical sealing material for problem areas both inside and out and C60 lumire a fully integrated ceiling in one complete assembly these are the Armstrong ceiling systems that are giving Educators the room they need when they need it and the environmental Comfort they need where they need it they are making possible building for change [Music]