Duranes Elementary School / Baker Architecture + Design

Architect: Baker Architecture + Design
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Project Year: 2008
Client: Albuquerque Public Schools
Building Area: 10,000 SqFt
Contractor: FAMCO Inc.
Mechanical & Plumbing Engineer: CME Inc.
Structural Engineer: MacCornack Engineering
Civil Engineer: High Mesa Consulting
Photography: Richard Nunez

The new kindergarten & classroom building designed by Baker Architecture + Design has been designed to be an exciting and functional facility which will promote creativity and facilitate great teaching and student achievement. Since the Duranes campus has limited area, it was especially important that the building was integrated into the site in a non-intrusive way. The building footprint strengthens an existing circulation artery, and maintains a low profile on the north side to allow solar access to this path. Furthermore, the building has numerous sustainable amenities and a real design focus on indoor environmental quality.

Energy and Environmental Design strategies which have been utilized include the following:

Indoor Environmental Quality
- Natural daylighting. Recessed south facing clerestories with steel baffles to diffuse direct heat gain in warmer months while still providing natural daylighting throughout the year and direct heat gain in the winter.
- Reduction of VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds)
- Acoustic design. Tectum roof panels provide 20% better noise reduction compared to standard lay-in tile ceilings.

Energy
- Multiple lighting levels in each classroom will facilitate conservation.
- Efficient HVAC systems
- Cooling: Central Air Washer
- Heating: Radiant Base Board
- Locally produced building materials reduce the embodied energies of the building.

Water
- Rainwater harvesting with underground cistern. 85% of the roof drains to a group of 3 downspouts that
direct the rainwater to a 1700 gallon cistern which provides water the community garden.
- Xeric landscaping
- Efficient plumbing fixtures