BNIM led a national sustainability team that provided sustainable design assistance to an Austin A-E team for the J.J. Pickle Elementary School and the St. John’s Community Center in Austin, Texas. The building serves the Austin Independent School District (AISD) and the City of Austin and houses an 800-student elementary school, public library, offices for three City departments and a recreation facility for the residents of the St. John’s neighborhood. The work of the national sustainability team was funded by a grant to the school district by the State Energy Conservation Office’s Texas Sustainable Schools Project with the goal of producing a prototypical sustainable benchmark building.

Austin, Texas
116,000 square feet
Completion: August 2001

The partnership between the school district and the City enabled the design team to incorporate many sustainable building technologies specifically designed to save water and energy, as well as lower operation and maintenance costs. For example, the building was properly oriented to maximize daylighting in the gym, cafeteria, branch library and all of the classrooms. The daylighting, in conjunction with direct and indirect light fixtures, reduces cooling loads and peak energy demand by up to 40% and provides high quality light in the learning environment. Rainwater, collected from the metal roof and stored in cisterns, is used to replace water that evaporates out of the air conditioner's cooling tower. A life cycle cost analysis indicated that this facility will save in excess of $12 million at the 50th year of operation over a conventional school.

The facility was designed to serve as a “one-stop center” for the area. The design also focused on creating a building that would be a model for sustainable design and for integrating educational and municipal functions in one building.