Heartwood Annex (Core Green Building)

Ecology of Place

 

The Heartwood Annex is located in an ecologically diverse and environmentally important area of the United States. Situated in Pittsburgh, PA, the Ecoregion is the Appalachian Mixed Mesophytic Forests Ecoregion, which is one of the most biodiverse temperate regions in the world, consisting of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome. The Bioregion is identified as Appalachia & Allegheny Interior Forests.

 

While this region has historically supported strong biodiversity, the exact site of the Classroom within Pittsburgh was largely hardscape and lacking in biodiversity, with its pre-development condition as a parking lot and drive. The surface condition was predominantly gravel and crushed limestone fines and there was no vegetation on the site. By building the new Heartwood Annex classroom and associated landscape design, the School enhances the ecological performance of the site, providing more areas for wildlife and pollinator habitat, and providing more opportunity for the users to connect with nature.

​

Human Scaled Living

 

The Waldorf School is committed to supporting, promoting, and working toward the creation of walkable, pedestrian-oriented communities through a number of measures. The School promotes and supports POGOH whose mission is to “provide Pittsburgh with a joyful, sustainable, and affordable mobility service for all residents and visitors.” by posting notices on campus and encouraging our community.

 

Cycling is a favored pastime for many of the families and staff. As such, the classroom prioritized access to a custom-made covered bike rack near the main building courtyard entrance. Use of a shower and changing area on the 2nd floor of the Main Building is available to employees before and after school. 

 

The School has also enhanced the gardens along the sidewalk and has a team of parent volunteers who work together to create and care for a beautiful butterfly garden made entirely of native plants.

 

Finally, School employees have always offered to carpool with one another, but this year we formalized the opportunity to participate in a ride sharing sign up. Located where all employees sign-in and out of the building each day, employees can communicate with one another by signing up to give a ride or request a ride from another employee. The sign up sheet is managed by the Front Office and Family Communication Manager. Parking is challenging to find, so ride sharing is a benefit when employees are able to coordinate their schedules.

 

Responsible Water Use

 

The School uses native and naturalized, drought resistant vegetation for the landscaping, and as such does not require potable water for irrigation. Student-maintained garden beds are served with rainwater harvested from the roof of the Classroom, stored in an on-site rain barrel.

 

Inside the building, the School uses metered and low-flow restroom fixtures. The Classroom is separately metered amongst the campus buildings, using a whole-building water meter.

 

The holistic stormwater management design strategy addresses both quality and quantity control of stormwater that falls on site. High runoff temperatures are an ecological disruption particularly from hot parking lots and roofs. The facility captures all stormwater and pipes it to a subsurface stormwater detention basin, called a rock sump. The rock sump, being subsurface with a consistent and lower temperature than the air or exposed surfaces, will cool the runoff.

 

The rock sump is also composed of limestone associated with its calcium carbonate content, which greatly reduces the acidity of the runoff. So in the context of our ecological conditions we are improving the stormwater runoff conditions and quality by reducing the rate, volume, temperature and pollutant loading of the runoff.

 

As the project is on a Combined Sewer system, the project is designed to address up to and including the 100-year storm event. All the stormwater is retained and infiltrated on site. There is zero discharge, which equates to zero effluents, which equates to zero pollutants and 100% pollutant Removal Rate. Therefore the Rate Control, Volume Control and Water Quality all are met with the stone retention system on-site.

​

Energy + Carbon Reduction

 

The building massing is simple and elegant, with the main classroom space and support spaces all under a single sloped roof, pitched to the south. This massing design was developed iteratively, with future PV (photovoltaic) installation in mind. The team decided to forego initial concepts that included a stepped roof design that would not be able to maximize space for the PVs. The structural design for the sloped roof and wall support accommodates the weight of future PVs and maintenance personnel, in addition to supporting the live and dead load requirements of the roof in this climate.

 

Due to the project budgeting, the project was not able to include photovoltaics as a renewable energy source to offset energy consumption. Therefore, to meet this imperative, the building was strategically designed to be zero-ready to accommodate future PVs, from the overall massing to the structural design.

​

Healthy Interior Environment

​

Views and daylighting are provided to all of the building occupants.The west facade of the building incorporates a series of translucent glazing panels. These panels were strategically located and designed within the facade to provide ample ambient daylighting into the space, while also allowing for security of the students and staff during emergency or lockdown situations.

 

The project generates no noxious emissions and is designed in its massing such that it will not block sunlight access for adjacent residential and commercial neighbors, empowering existing and future neighbors to generate their own energy on-site.

​

Responsible Materials

​

Waldorf education encourages students to honor and respect the natural world, a guiding principle that has informed the design process and approach to designing a Net Zero-ready building that could serve as a teaching tool for students, a healthy learning environment, and a tactile example of sustainable design. Throughout the design process, we found opportunities to integrate salvaged, repurposed, or locally sourced materials, including a slate chalkboard from the main school building and wood from a storm-damaged oak felled onsite, which we used for the sheltered window seat in the classroom. The layered application of untreated hemlock along the curved classroom exterior, sustainably sourced plywood and milk paint used in the interior, as well as plentiful natural light and ventilation from operable windows throughout, create tactile opportunities for learning about sustainable design while creating a warm, supportive environment for student learning.

​

Universal Access

​

Waldorf School of Pittsburgh is committed to fostering positive and mutually respectful relationships with our neighbors and visitors. We strive to bring health and beauty to all aspects of our shared environment. During the 2020–21 school year, WSP students and families made Neighborhood Heart Messages that hung on the school’s iron fence for passersby to take. These were handmade wooden messages of love and encouragement that could be carried in one’s pocket or brought home to brighten one’s living space in the winter.

 

In this same vein, the Class of 2017 made a Mending Library which was also installed along the fence and open to neighbors and friends who might need materials to mend an article of clothing that needed to be repaired. Mending kits included a needle, thread, and simple mending instructions. Over time, neighbors also began to use the space as a Lending Library by leaving books there to share with others. The library receive a significant activity and promotes a spirit of support in the neighborhood.

 

All visitors to the campus are granted entrance from the main building. Pedestrian access from the main building to the classroom is provided via two routes. The route to the north of the building is the primary accessible pedestrian route. Vehicular site access is provided to and around the east and south of the building.The building is a one-story structure, with two means of egress from the main occupied classroom space. The primary means of egress is through the vestibule, the secondary means is a single door directly out. Egress is provided to an exterior concrete semi-covered porch. The porch can be exited by a series of shallow concrete steps to the SW, or from the accessible sloped walkway to the North.

​

Inclusion

​

The Waldorf School of Pittsburgh has donated .01% of the project construction cost to two local non-profit organizations.

​

Beauty + Biophilia

​

Based on Waldorf principles, the educational development of eighth grade students is focused on strengthening independence and thinking beyond themselves as they explore the outside world. Therefore, the building is intentionally situated away from the main schoolhouse. The massing of the classroom is simple, with the support spaces lining the south edge and the teaching space opening to the north. A gently arced wall delineates the perimeter of the interior teaching space, yet physiologically connects the students to the outdoors. Playing off the shape of the exterior pathway, this wall forms a gesture of embrace around the beloved outdoor green space, which doubles as an amphitheater during large school events.

 

The design process for the Heartwood Annex was a holistic effort incorporating biophilic design strategies from the outset. The biophilic design potential was explored with WSP students and staff in multiple ways. Through presentations and workshops, students learned the elements of biophilic design and were able to offer input on the most critical elements for them in a learning space such as sunlight, natural ventilation, plants, natural materials, inside and outside spaces, sensory variability, etc. They envisioned a classroom where they could grow, learn, and be inspired; a place where there were a lot of windows and natural light that would allow plants and animals to thrive; a place that felt airy, open and refreshing while still making one feel held and comfortable while inside; a place where they could see the sky; a place that had areas within and around it to hang out in small groups or to be together as a class; a place with a ladder or a tree to climb; a place where they could hear and see water; a place where they would be able to display their work; and a place that made them feel excited about coming to school everyday.

​

Inspiration + Education

​

Heartwood Annex has quickly become the most widely used gathering and performance space for the entire school community at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh. As weather permits, middle school students gather in the amphitheater for morning activities. Class plays, student monologues, music performances, the Rising Ceremony, the Rose Ceremony, and Commencement all take place on the stage with an audience of teachers, students, parents, special friends, administrators, and board members.

 

From the outset, the project made a significant impression upon the students. On their first day in Heartwood Annex, the eighth grade students noticed the inlay design of leaves in the ceiling. With quiet reverence, they looked up and were amazed at this detail. In the days that followed, the window seat became a most popular spot to sit and read or watch the clouds as part of their meteorology studies. Students love to sit in it and feel they are outdoors while indoors. It also serves as the perfect display place for their handmade platonic solids, clay sculptures, and other artistic works during open houses.

 

While this space offers the opportunity to make a mark and communicate a sense of what they find delightful in the world around them, this space also inspires the students to be mindful of each other and their environment, which their teachers find truly delightful. 

 

A former eighth grade student, with support from his classmates, was empowered to take a lead role in creating the educational signage for Heartwood Annex. Based on information shared with the class about core certification, they chose the areas on which to focus, the student designer took photos and kept the signage design simple and easy to understand for children and adults alike. The class worked together to determine the orientation of the sign and where to place it in relation to the building. The signage was tested with students before being finalized. We are proud to have had the involvement of our students from start to finish in this project!