Drayton Mills Elementary School, Spartanburg School District 7
When designing Drayton Mills Elementary School, educating children, protecting their welfare, and acting as a community ambassador were the primary design priorities of the district. The team was able to combine those important goals while also incorporating energy-efficient design elements.
Drayton Mills Elementary was planned by the district to consolidate two outdated schools into a new, walkable, “neighborhood” school. The new facility is built on a previously developed site close to numerous amenities at the redeveloped Drayton Mill. By utilizing a two-story floor plan, the team was able to minimize the building’s footprint on a compact site.
Designed to follow the best practices of 21st century educators, Drayton Mills’ open-play classroom neighborhoods encourage significant use of daylighting. High efficiency LED lighting is used throughout the school, and in courtyard and parking lot poles. Local dimming, group switching, and occupancy sensors are all key components of the building’s light reduction strategy.
Overall, the facility scored 63% of the available assessment points in the Energy Category for the innovative approach to HVAC, including extra attention to the building envelope’s thermal properties and the addition of reflective roofing. Water consumption is carefully mitigated throughout the system, including strategies like well water for irrigation.
Additional sustainable design practices include a trail at the back of the property, a vendor contract for composting kitchen food waste, and a holistic integration of native landscaping elements throughout the property.
Certified: 1 Green Globes® by the Green Building Initiative® (GBI)
Awarded:
- Learning By Design, Outstanding Project Award
- Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), Excellence in Design Merit Award
