Nueva School Science and Environmental Center

The new Science and Environmental Center supports the school’s evolving mission of sustainability and environmental stewardship as a foundation of 21st century education.

The new Science and Environmental Center supports the school’s evolving mission of sustainability and environmental stewardship as a foundation of 21st century education. Surrounded by a restored oak woodland ecology, eight science classrooms bring together pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students to explore the interconnectedness of humans and the natural environment.

Owner

The Nueva School

Location

Hillsborough, CA

Size

11,600 sq. ft.

Stats

LEED Gold / Net Zero Energy

Image Credit

Richard Barnes and Bruce Damonte for Drone

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The Environmental Center is an extension of the Hillside Learning Complex, woven into the striking, forested campus, and is designed to be LEED Gold certified. Linked indoor and outdoor learning spaces serve as a living lab, where students practice sustainability, conduct environmental and social studies, and debate solutions to a range of environmental challenges. The project is 100% electric and is designed to be zero net energy, modeling a low carbon and socially equitable future. This project represents an exciting next step in the Nueva School’s national leadership in innovative, sustainable education.

Awards
AIA COTE Top Ten Green Buildings, 2023
AIA National - Committee on Architecture for Education, Education Facility Design Award, 2022
Architect's Newspaper Best of Design 2023
Chicago Athenaeum Green Good Design Award: Green Architecture 2024
with
LJ Bryant, Alice Kao