Page 49 - Winter_2018

ArchDC Winter 2018.qxp_Winter 2018 11/27/18 9:36 AM Page 47

New annex of Mundo Verde.

Given that its name translates literally to “green world,” one might and the new structure, then modified that volume to be more in
expect a heavy-handed approach to sustainability at Mundo Verde harmony with its residential neighbors—specifically, by articulating
Public Charter School, which is also bilingual in Spanish and English. it to align with divisions in the row houses adjacent to the school
In fact, having earned LEED Gold and Platinum credentials for its property. Additional modulations produced an entry overhang
two buildings, the school takes a sustainable approach that is both and a roof terrace atop the annex.
overtly displayed and more subtly integrated into daily life, starting Within the old Cook building, the former auditorium has been
with a mission of molding its students into global stewards. transformed into a zócalo, the Spanish term for a town square. A
Mundo Verde had shifted between temporary locations several multi-purpose space with wood flooring and a proscenium stage
times in its first few years of existence. In 2011, the District ceded serves as the heart of the campus. Enlarged window apertures bring
to it the John F. Cook Elementary School in the Truxton Circle ample daylight into the classrooms, and over-scaled hallways have
neighborhood, fifteen blocks north of the Capitol. Recognizing the become home to banks of storage and coat hooks that add vibrant
significant opportunity afforded in creating a space unique to its color while reducing the scale of the space to be more child-friendly.
program, Mundo Verde sent out a request for proposals seeking a Between the two buildings, a once uninterrupted (and
design team with the strongest sustainability credentials: “Our impervious) asphalt groundcover has been replaced by edible
architects should be committed to environmentally responsible teaching gardens with porous surfaces designed to channel rain-
solutions and be willing to articulate and defend our sustainable water into an underground cistern. The cistern holds up to 25,000
design goals to our financial and construction partners.” gallons of rainwater, which can be recycled to irrigate the landscape
Studio Twenty Seven Architecture won the commission, and and to flush toilets, saving about 300,000 gallons of potable water
was tasked with updating the nearly century-old facility for first- per year.
through fifth-graders, renovating it to LEED Gold standards. In addition to a sustainability-oriented curriculum, which
Studio Twenty Seven also added an annex to house pre-K and emphasizes plant-learning from the earliest ages and expands to
kindergarten children. energy and water consumption studies in upper grades, Mundo
The annex draws its form from one of the bays of the original Verde also embraces a long-term outlook that will allow for
Cook school building, which Mundo Verde affectionately terms “la additional sustainable measures as the school grows. When funding
Casa”—the annex is thus “la Casita.” The original building was enables expansion, the school’s architecture will support installation
designed by DC municipal architect Albert L. Harris in 1925. of rooftop wind generators and solar arrays to further reduce the
Studio Twenty Seven replicated the volume of that bay module, school’s energy consumption, which is already about half of the
offset it from the main building to create a courtyard in between it baseline for such buildings.

SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT 47