{"id":5831,"date":"2019-06-03T08:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T08:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/?p=5831"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:28:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:28:33","slug":"schools-natural-color-palette-of-alucobond-plus-cladding-addresses-sensory-needs-of-special-education-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/schools-natural-color-palette-of-alucobond-plus-cladding-addresses-sensory-needs-of-special-education-students\/","title":{"rendered":"School’s Natural Color Palette of ALUCOBOND\u00ae Plus Cladding Addresses Sensory Needs of Special Education Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The new Quora Education Center in Little Canada, Minn., celebrated its grand opening in August 2018 as the latest educational facility in Minnesota’s Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School District designed specifically to address the sensory needs of students receiving special education services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u2022 LSE Architects led a two-year study to determine the best design “to meet the needs of students who learn best in a safe environment free from the auditory and visual distractions found in the original school”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Incorporating ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels in the Spectra color-shifting finishing system in the center’s design fulfilled one of the owner’s primary wishes that “this new building not be overbearingly, painfully institutional in a depressing, sad way,” according to Davidson, LSE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The new $43-million Quora Education Center is home to five schools \u2013 including Quora High School \u2013 and serves 300 students in grades 5-12 enrolled in both general education and special education programs. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Project:<\/strong> Quora Education Center

Location: <\/strong>Little Canada, MN

ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS:<\/strong> Rusted Metal, Chestnut, Ocean, Amazon

Architect:<\/strong> Lawal Scott Erickson (LSE)

General Contractor: <\/strong>Kraus-Anderson Construction Co.

Fabricator\/Installer:<\/strong> Atomic Architectural Sheet Metal, Inc.

Photography:<\/strong> \u00a9Mark Kempf<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The Project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Quora Education Center was designed by Minneapolis-based Lawal Scott Erickson (LSE) Architects, Inc.<\/a>, as a replacement for and on the same property as the district’s Capitol View Center \u2013 a 1950s-era traditional brick school building with poor acoustics and a lack of private learning spaces for students receiving special education services. LSE Architects led a two-year study to determine the best design “to meet the needs of students who learn best in a safe environment free from the auditory and visual distractions found in the original school,” according to an architect’s statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To address these issues, LSE Architects designed\nthe new center with flexible learning spaces for small groups and one-on-one\ninstruction as well as with more sensory rooms and natural lighting. Interior\ndecor includes soft, movable teen friendly furniture. Attention to students’\nneeds also is reflected in the selection of a sensory friendly natural color\npalette for the school’s exterior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Quora Education Center is clad in a total of 24,300 square feet of 4mm ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS<\/a> aluminum composite material (ACM) by 3A Composites USA<\/a> in the company’s ALUCOBOND\u00ae Natural and Spectra color lines, including: 12,500 square feet of Natural Rusted Metal, 9,600 square feet of Natural Chestnut, 1,400 square feet of Spectra Ocean and 800 square feet of Spectra Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(ALUCOBOND\u00ae Plus consists of two sheets of\n0.020″ aluminum thermobonded to a proprietary fire-resistant core and is\nmanufactured in the standard 4mm thickness. ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS provides\nextraordinary flatness and rigidity, excellent formability, low weight and\noutstanding weather resistance. ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS wall panels have a flame-spread\nindex of less than 25 and a smoke-developed index of less than 450 when tested\nin accordance with ASTM E 84, and have a Class A interior finish\nclassification.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The new $43-million Quora Education Center is home\nto five schools \u2013 including Quora High School \u2013 and serves 300 students in\ngrades 5-12 enrolled in both general education and special education programs. The\nthree-level 157,000 square-foot Quora Education Center also provides\nadministrative offices for more than 200 staff members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The White Bear Lake, Minn.-headquartered Northeast\nMetro 916 Intermediate School District \u2013 a cooperative program of suburban\nschool districts located outside St. Paul, Minn. \u2013 provides intensive special\neducation services that would be too costly for individual member districts to\nafford. Quora’s special education programs serve students with autism spectrum\ndisorders, developmental cognitive disabilities, emotional\/behavioral disorders\nand other health disabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The selection of a natural color palette of ALUCOBOND\u00ae\nPLUS installed as building cladding helped to fulfill a critical design goal\nthat “the building should not be flashy or overly colorful” to avoid\ndistressing students with special needs, according to Guy Davidson, AIA, senior\ndesigner, LSE Architects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Given the former building’s inadequate site and play areas, I began to think about maximizing the children’s experience in their new play areas and how to make the building reflect that feeling,” said Davidson. “The Chestnut wood-finish and Rusted Metal ALUCOBOND\u00ae panels were an easy, natural fit into the natural landscape idea. Those colors became the unifying overall body of the building. The building’s separate programs came to be signified by the use of the ALUCOBOND\u00ae Spectra Amazon and Ocean panels \u2013 especially at the separate entries for these programs. I wanted kids looking from the playground to the building to see the sparkle of the Ocean blue and Amazon green panels and be uplifted but not distressed. The new site is delightfully expansive and natural. I think that natural feeling was also delivered in our building design.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS Natural and Spectra colored ACM panels were juxtaposed with red brick on the building\u2019s fa\u00e7ade. \u201cThe owner loves the brick because the iron spot elements within each brick give the walls life with a scattered sparkle rather than the wall becoming a large singular element,\u201d said Davidson. \u201cThe color is warm but stays a bit in the background to allow the other materials equal play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Manufacturer’s representative Environmental Building Products, LLC<\/a>, of Excelsior, Minn., introduced the new ALUCOBOND\u00ae Natural Wood Series to LSE Architects as well as had presented the ALUCOBOND\u00ae Spectra color-shifting finishing system to Davidson for his previous design of the Jumer’s Casino & Hotel<\/a> in Rock Island, Ill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(ALUCOBOND\u00ae Natural panels feature finely textured aluminum surfaces that scatter light for a close-up visual effect while retaining the luster of smooth aluminum from afar. ALUCOBOND\u00ae Natural surfaces amplify the inherent beauty and character of brushed aluminum and other natural elements \u2013 including wood, rusted metal, graphite, stainless steel, zinc and mirrored glass \u2013 while providing the durability, light weight and ease of maintenance of modern ALUCOBOND\u00ae ACM. The ALUCOBOND\u00ae Spectra color-shifting finishing system allows architects to incorporate a unique, ever-changing color spectrum in the cladding of sophisticated building designs. ALUCOBOND\u00ae Spectra panels change colors as different wavelengths of light are reflected back to the audience, depending on the viewing angle.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“We reviewed many, many color schemes,” said Davidson. “Some had much more of the Spectra colors and less of the Natural colors. The schemes with a predominance of Spectra were viewed as too dramatic; whereas, the schemes with predominant Natural colors with some Spectra were more calming and ‘just right’ in the end. The idea was to amplify the building entries to create individual identities into a building where seven separate programs co-existed. Students would know: ‘That’s my entry.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The sky-like blue of the Spectra Ocean and the\nflora-like green of the Spectra Amazon panels were a “perfect fit” with\nthe Rusted Metal and Chestnut in the building’s overall natural color scheme,\naccording to Davidson, who said he thought students “would enjoy that\nflash of color as well as the ability to recognize their individual entry from\nthe large play fields in front of the building.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Davidson said the selection of the Rusted Metal and\nChestnut ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels will keep the building from becoming\n“dated” and provide ease of maintenance for the school district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The fact that I could get the timeless look of wood and rusted metal in long-lasting ALUCOBOND\u00ae material \u2013 instead of actual wood, for example \u2013 is great,” said Davidson. “This building was the third constructed by this owner within three years, so they are very sophisticated about what materials work and last.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Incorporating ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels in the Spectra\ncolor-shifting finishing system in the center’s design fulfilled one of the\nowner’s primary wishes that “this new building not be overbearingly,\npainfully institutional in a depressing, sad way,” according to Davidson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“My experience with the Spectra Cuprol colored panels on the Jumer’s Casino & Hotel showed me that Spectra is an exciting, fun material,” said Davidson. “And, per the natural color scheme selection process, we found the right balance of Spectra and Natural colors for Quora.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Davidson brought the exterior natural color theme\nindoors by incorporating Rusted Metal panels as an interior accent in the\ncenter’s main vestibule. He described this interior design choice as\n“sometimes fun to put a piece of material at touch level to make the rest\nof the material that’s not touchable that much more familiar.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LSE Architects began the design study for Quora Education Center in 2015 and partnered with general contractor Kraus-Anderson Construction Co.<\/a>, of Minneapolis, on building construction, which was begun in June 2016 and was completed in August 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fabrication and Installation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Atomic Architectural Sheet Metal, Inc.<\/a>, of Vadnais Heights, Minn., fabricated and installed the ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS ACM and worked with LSE Architects on the color palette selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“This is not a ‘plain jane’ brown building,\u201d\nsaid Rick Schmidberger, vice president, sales, Atomic Architectural Sheet\nMetal. \u201cThe amount of the Chestnut wood-grain and Rusted Metal panels installed\non this project is unique compared to the other projects we work on. Adding the\nSpectra finishes at the entries helps to create a pleasing contrast without\ntaking away from the overall feel of the exterior. This building has character\nbut a natural look. We’re proud to have been a part of this project.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Atomic Architectural Sheet Metal began fabrication\nof a total of 1,250 ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels in June 2017 and completed\ninstallation with a dry-joint system in April 2018. The ALUCOBOND\u00ae PLUS panels\nranged in size from 6-inches by 12-inches up to 4-feet by 8-feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The new Quora Education Center was constructed on\nthe property’s old football field within approximately 30 feet of the in-use\nCapitol View Center, which was scheduled for later demolition. In order to minimize\ndistractions for students during construction, murals were installed around the\nconstruction site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The old building really was an attempt to\nshoehorn very distinct and, in many ways, incompatible school programs into an\nold junior high school building from the 1950s,” said Davidson. “To\nsay that the new center works better is like saying that I like light bulbs\nbetter than candles. The old building wasn’t bulldozed until after the new\nbuilding opened, which required extraordinary logistics during construction.\nAccomplishing what we did was an amazing feat.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Introduced in 1969, ALUCOBOND\u00ae is the original and\nworld’s best-known aluminum composite material. ALUCOBOND\u00ae is manufactured in\nthe United States in the Benton, Ky., plant of 3A Composites. The 3A Composites\nUSA headquarters are based in Davidson, N.C. For more information\nabout ALUCOBOND\u00ae ACM, call 1-800-626-3365,\nemail info.usa@3AComposites.com<\/a>\nor visit www.3ACompositesUSA.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The new Quora Education Center in Little Canada, Minn., celebrated its grand opening in August 2018 as the latest educational facility in Minnesota’s Northeast Metro 916 Intermediate School District designed specifically to address the sensory needs of students receiving special education services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[221,67,37,234,169,114,223,470,327,469,414,294],"class_list":["post-5831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies","tag-alucobond-natural","tag-aluminum-cladding","tag-aluminum-composite-material","tag-educational-building","tag-exterior-design","tag-interior-design","tag-metal-architecture","tag-natural-chesnut","tag-natural-metals","tag-spectra-amazon","tag-spectra-ocean","tag-wood-grain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5831"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8719,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5831\/revisions\/8719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alucobondusa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}