Franklin High School Project Recognized for 2015 Starnet Commercial Flooring Grand Prize & Gold Award

Milwaukee, Wis. – Franklin High School was awarded the Gold Award in the Education category for Starnet’s 2015 Worldwide Commercial Flooring Design Awards. Additionally, the project captured the prestigious 2015 Grand Prize project award, recognized as the best project of all the submissions. As a result, Eppstein Uhen Architects (EUA) was awarded $5,000 to donate to a charity of choice. EUA has chosen to donate the prize money back to the Franklin Educational Foundation to support the high education standards of the district.

Franklin High School’s primary goal was to create transparent spaces that encouraged active learning separate from academic areas. A strong emphasis was placed upon designing a sense of flow and movement within the space to form a fluid environment for students. Throughout the school, each department had the opportunity to communicate their unique ideas, while contributing to the comprehensive brand and identity of the school. Incorporating the district’s idea of “learning anytime, anywhere,” classrooms were designed with advanced acoustics and the ability to support many flexible furniture arrangements.

The school is centered around a common hub for students that demonstrates the environments of higher education institutions and future workplaces. Carpet is used throughout the seating areas to cleanly integrate with the tile flooring and provide continuity in these open spaces. To break up the length of the long hallways, the design team integrated form and color to enhance the flooring visually and aesthetically. To display the strong school pride, the project was completed using an array of yellows, golds and the school colors.

“We are excited to be recognized for this National award, and it is made all better because we can give back to the district to help excel program initiatives” said Bob Vajgrt, Director of the Education Market for EUA. “I’d also like to commend Emily Thomas, for her high quality efforts with developing functional but innovative carpet patterns to excel the environment of this school, I believe that this aesthetic improvement will improve the student perception of the high school’s spaces.”

Featured

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • Moline-Coal Valley School District to Consolidate Two Schools into New Facility

    The Moline-Coal Valley School District in Moline, Ill., recently broke ground on a new elementary school that will consolidate the students and staff from two existing schools, according to local news. Robert Ontiveros Elementary School will serve as the new home for Lincoln-Irving Elementary School and Willard Elementary School.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Breaks Ground on New Classroom Building

    Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii, recently began construction on a new, $16-million classroom building for its campus, according to a news release. The 13,000-square-foot building will stand two stories and connect the existing upper and lower campuses.