A Life’s Work

Famed Educator Susie RayosMarmon’s Namesake School Reborn

This $17.7-million project builds a bright, modern and sustainable elementary school that could educate children for as long as its namesake.

By Neal Singer

Located in northwest Albuquerque, the new $17.7-million Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary School opened its doors to students on August 12th. (Photo courtesy DWL Architects & Planners)

Laguna Indian educator Susie Rayos Marmon lived 111 years and taught school for nearly 50 of them. Now a $17.7-million showcase school named in her honor is being erected by the Albuquerque Public School system.

Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary, in the city’s northwest region, began life in 1988 as an array of modular and portable classrooms and a tiny permanent gymnasium, but the temporary structures deteriorated over the years, says architect Ron Burton of Albuquerque-based DWL Architects and Planners Inc. of New Mexico, whose company was selected by APS to design the new version.

First-phase construction began June 2008, and the grand opening for phase one was Aug. 12.

The project’s builders expect to earn LEED silver.

The new 56,000-sq-ft first phase building houses classroom space, administration, computer labs, cafeteria, special education services and a kindergarten. The second phase will add 30,000 sq ft for a media center, more classrooms and a teachers’ lounge. (Photo courtesy DWL Architects & Planners)

The project utilizes large-scale skylights with motorized shades throughout the school to bring a high level of natural light in to enhance learning in the classrooms, while the cafeteria features a 30-ft-long skylight. (Photo courtesy DWL Architects & Planners)

Project manager Larry Perry II of Albuquerque-based HB Construction says the building’s shape is unique. He says it resembles a half-moon or, perhaps more accurately, a piece of string bent into a half-circle that resembles the letter “C.” Each grades’ classrooms will occupy their own separate areas along the string.

Perry says a special education class for each grade sits “like a knuckle” at the end of each section, slightly changing the direction of the next section so that it conforms to the circular design.

“I made fun of the plan when I first saw it from an above view,” Perry adds. “I called it ‘the denture plan.’”

But he says he was won over by its innovative construction and educational features.

An elevation drop of approximately 1.5 ft at the end of each grade’s section allows for drainage and for the building to conform to the gently sloping landscape.

The “C” shape, with the gym as its capstone, creates an enclosed play space that shelters children from the mesa’s high winds.

Each grade has its own stucco color.

advertisement

Massive skylights between 13 to 20 ft in length bring light into north-facingclassrooms, Perry says. Motorized skylight shades reduce incoming light when it’s too intense. A 30-ft-long skylight brightens the cafeteria.

“It’s well-known that a high level of natural daylight enhances a student’s learning ability, yet too much direct sunlight causes fatigue,” Burton says. Translucent panels in the skylights and upper ‘daylight’ section in classroom windows allows subdued, indirect daylight.

“They are better insulated than ordinary panes of glass by using ceramic fiberglass panels on the outside and inside of each window and in the middle, a light–colored insulation that lets light in,” he adds.

The window openings themselves “are carefully considered,” Burton says. They are recessed in the walls so that the high summer sun doesn’t hit the glazing, he says. Low-e glass keeps light coming in but heat gain low.

In addition to the usual attempts at earning LEED status through use of recycled or local materials, light-reflective roofing material and improved indoor acoustical materials, the building’s heating and cooling will be made more energy efficient by reliance on a group of 200 geothermal wells. Water will be pumped from the wells in a loop system designed to maintain a constant temperature of roughly 55 degrees. “In summer, that means less energy to cool water, and in winter, less energy to heat it,” Burton says.

The 56,000-sq-ft first phase, which is 600 ft long and built on stem-wall footings, was completed just in time for the upcoming school year. In addition to providing space for administration services, computer classrooms, a cafeteria and special education services, it houses kindergarten, first and second grades.

The school’s half-moon shape creates an enclosed play area that shelters students from the elements. Children can easily identify their grade levels by the use of a different bright color for the stucco in each section. (Photo courtesy DWL Architects & Planners)

Each kindergarten class has its own bathroom sinks, oven, refrigerator and storage spaces.

The school’s original ‘temporary’ buildings can now be demolished to make room for the 30,000-sq-ft second phase, which has a target completion date of June. The second phase will include a media center; teachers’ lounge and workroom; and third-, fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms.

“There’s also a wonderful raised courtyard that faces east,” Burton says. “Hornos (adobe ovens used by indigenous people to bake food) will be built there. There’ll be a day each year when Mrs. Marmon’s life will be celebrated, and young Native Americans will come to dance and sing as an extension of honoring her and further educating students.”

Key Players

Owner: Albuquerque Public Schools
Architect: DWL Architects + Planners of New Mexico
Engineer: RME ABQ; Miller Engineering Consultants
General Contractor: HB Construction
Subcontractors: Donner Plumbing and Heating; Lynx Electric Co.; Mayan Construction; Daylight Solutions; Structural Services; Beaty Construction; S.A.F.E.; RKS Painting