Architecture can often become a product of its environment, responding to community needs while blending into an already established environment. In the case of Crosstown Elementary School, its creation was in response to Vancouver’s imminent need for more primary education facilities. The result is a four-story structure that blends seamlessly into the “urban fabric” of the Canadian cityscape.

The University of North Texas’ (UNT) Apogee Stadium – the first newly constructed collegiate football stadium in the nation to earn LEED Platinum certification – opened in Denton, Texas, in September 2011 as the new home of Mean Green football.

The new McAllen, Texas, Public Library – which opened on the site of a vacant Walmart in December 2011 – was envisioned by city officials from the start of architectural bidding to include environmentally friendly features. But, from the perspective of Boultinghouse Simpson Gates Architects in McAllen, no design could be more environmentally conscious than adaptively reusing the former “big box” retail store, saving approximately 130,000 square feet of building demolition debris from being sent to the local landfill.

The practical goal of the new $61-million 21-story Student Residence Hall at Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) in Boston may have been to provide 145,600 square feet of on-campus accommodations for 493 students when it opens in the fall of 2012.  But the unique design of the new Residence Hall – which is clad in 5,500 Alucobond® Plus aluminum composite panels in seven custom colors that are dimensionally positioned with glass to invoke Gustav Klimt’s 1909 “Tree of Life” painting – has met an aesthetic goal to set the building apart on the Boston skyline and, thereby, create an idiosyncratic image for MassArt.

As part of The State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook University on Long Island’s north shore, is part of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive state university system, which web site states “ is committed to providing quality education at an affordable price.”  So, when new residence halls recently were required to meet the needs of Stony Brook’s fast-growing student population, both budget and time constraints played important roles in the buildings’ architectural design.

SCHOOLS’ NEW WELCOMING, SECURE ENTRYWAYS FINISHED WITH ALUCOBOND® ACM

The Minnetonka, Minn., High School is considered the flagship of Minnetonka Public School District #276, which serves approximately 8,400 students in grades K-12 in this suburban community located just eight miles west of Minneapolis in Hennepin County.  As such, it was the first among the district’s schools to receive a facelift completed in January 2009 that included a secure entry and office space within a two-story beacon-like rotunda.