Nueva School at Bay Meadows
The Nueva School at Bay Meadows reconsiders the traditional suburban high school. It presents a series of innovative educational environments woven together to form an integrated “ecology of learning” designed to inspire the 21st century student. Reflecting Nueva’s values as a private school with public purpose, these environments are intended to offer a replicable new model for all schools, using economical and durable construction materials deployed in new ways.
Located in a new transit-oriented mixed-use development in San Mateo, California, the LEED Gold certified project optimizes community connection, reduces energy and water use, and limits automobile use. Flexible learning spaces are generalized and distributed to create social / educational territories that de-emphasize association with particular knowledge domains; they “break down the silos” of learning. Designed to use 65% less energy and 50% less water than a typical high school, the campus is conceived as a living laboratory that inspires student research into low-carbon, resource-efficient learning and living.
“Learning more about how everything [in the building] works was empowering... it’s a good way for our new community to begin thinking about our effect on the environment and how we can make that more positive.”
