Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

  • 03/01/16

Project Snapshot

PROJECT: Healthy Sustainable Classrooms
INSTITUTION: Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA
COMPANY NAME: Mohawk Industries
WEBSITE: www.mohawkind.com

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

SEEDclassrooms are a healthy and sustainable alternative to standard portable classrooms. These modular, hands-on learning spaces conform to Living Building Challenge standards, and their exposed systems make them the ultimate teaching tools. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA, recently completed a SEEDclassroom with red list-free carpet tile by Mohawk Group. Not only is the carpet a highly sustainable product, but students even helped design the flooring layout as part of learning about healthy spaces. Mohawk Group flooring offers multiple solutions in the SEEDclassroom, calling attention to the importance of healthy learning environments.

THE CHALLENGE

Standard portable classrooms provide quick solutions for expansion but rarely offer adequate natural light or ventilation and may contain materials with high levels of toxins. “SEEDclassrooms are a space solution with a positive learning impact,” says Stacy H. Smedley, co-founder of the SEEDcollaborative and preconstruction manager and sustainable initiative lead for Skanska USA Building. “We want to find ways to educate and inspire students to see the importance of sustainability and the role buildings can play in our lives, while also providing the classroom space needed.”

THE SOLUTION

The SEEDclassroom at Phipps and one under construction in DC use flooring by Mohawk Group, which has dedicated the last decade to leading the building product manufacturing sector in sustainability and transparency. “Mohawk’s vast inventory of red list-free products is why we were selected to be part of this important and exciting initiative,” says Rochelle Routman, Mohawk’s vice president of sustainability. The International Living Future Institute compiles the “red list” of harmful chemicals as part of the Living Building Challenge, a rigorous building certification program to which SEEDclassrooms adhere.

Healthy Sustainable Classrooms

IMPACT ON LEARNING

According to Routman, “The carpet tile used in the Phipps SEEDclassroom — Lees Sequences II Collection — is one of more than 490 Mohawk products that are red list-free. Sequences II also features EcoFlex NXT, which is a PVC-free backing that is lighter than similar PVC products. This makes the tile easier to install and reduces the carbon footprint in shipping.”

The Phipps SEEDclassroom shows students what a healthy space looks like. Students even helped design the floor — they wanted it to look like water, explains Smedley, “So we used carpet tiles with the colors of water to create a beautiful landscape on the floor. With Mohawk, we have a custom carpet that we know is healthy for students.”

Editor’s Review

Research indicates that collaborative learning environments that incorporate peer-to-peer interaction and group exchanges — that allow students to be actively engaged in the learning process — are finding success on campus. Combining that interactive learning process with today’s students’ demand for a sustainable focus at all levels of campus functions contributes to noteworthy installations such as the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

    Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

  • Montclair State University Starts Construction on $120M STEM Building

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $120-million Interdisciplinary Science Building, according to university news. The university partnered with HoK Architects for the project’s design, and it’s scheduled to open in time for the 2028–29 academic year.

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Minnesota District Converts Middle School into Community Hub

    White Bear Lake Area Schools in White Bear Lake, Minn., recently announced the end of a major renovation project that converted a former middle school into a new centralized district and community hub, according to a news release.