Page 99 - Fall 2019

Main entrance of the Ron Brown College Photo © Sarah Mechling—Perkins Eastman
Preparatory High School.

Citation for Sustainable Design of many steps being undertaken to re-establish a heart of
the community, and improve its neighborhood connections
Ron Brown College and livability.”
Preparatory High School The project involved fully renovating a 1960s-era
middle school that was closed in 2013 due to declining
Washington, DC
enrollment. The renovation was designed to meet the
Architecture 2030 Challenge, an AIA-supported effort
Perkins Eastman DC that calls for all new buildings, developments, and major
renovations to be designed to achieve steeply reduced
Structural Engineers: SK&A Structural Engineers
fossil fuel use, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas
MEP Engineers: Interface Engineering Inc.
emissions, with a goal of being carbon-neutral by 2030.
Civil Engineers/Landscape Architects: A. Morton
The school’s roof is equipped with a 533-kilowatt
Thomas & Associates
rooftop photovoltaic array. For any electrical power that
General Contractor: Gilbane Building Company
the school takes from the grid, the District has committed
to purchasing offsetting renewable energy certificates for
Ron Brown College Preparatory High School (RBCPHS) is
wind energy. The school also incorporates numerous
Washington’s first all-male public high school. Designed
features for reducing water use, capturing and managing
by Perkins Eastman DC (PEDC), an affiliate of the global
rainwater, and improving indoor air quality.
architecture firm Perkins Eastman Architects, the 600-
“The school is dedicated to using the building as a
student school is located at 4800 Meade Street, NE, in
teaching tool for both students and the larger community,”
Washington’s Deanwood neighborhood, where it forms
PEDC said. Educational signage throughout the building
part of a campus that also includes the Deanwood
alerts occupants to sustainable-design features, and a
Community Center.
community garden serves the school and community as a
RBCPHS “provides a student-centered, college
teaching tool for local, sustainable agriculture. With these
preparatory curriculum that develops and enhances
features and others, the firm said, the RBCPHS “provides
character, academic curiosity, and service with a focus on
not only the best individual instructional spaces, but also
serving young males of color,” PEDC said. The school
complementary places for positive school community
“was designed to serve as both an educational and
interaction outside of class.”
community asset. The rehabilitation of RBCPHS is one
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