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also: OFFICE SPACE IS GREEN MANUFACTURING POSSIBLE? HOW TO KEEP CLOUD COMPUTING GROUNDED NORCO COLLEGE’S CENTER FOR STUDENT SUCCESS BECOMES A REALITY NO LOOKING BACK: Fall 2011 a publication of

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Page 1: NEXT+Fall+2011+for+ISSUU Single+Pages

also:

office space

is green manufacturing possible?

How to keep cloud computing grounded

norco college’s center for student success becomes a reality

no looking back:

Fall 2011

a publication of

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NEXT ®

Editor: Gary L. Skog, FAIA, LEED APManaging Editor: Judy LittleArt Director: Scott A. Withers, AIGAAdvisor: J. Peter Devereaux, FAIA, LEED AP Advisor: Ralph J. Mocerino, AIA Contributors: Michael F. Cooper, PE, LEED AP; Rachael V. Cooper; John R. Dale, FAIA, LEED AP; Dr. Brenda Davis; C. Richard Hall, FAIA, ACHA, LEED AP, EDAC; James F. Meredith, AIA, LEED AP; Brent T. Miller, AIA, LEED AP; R. Craig Rutherford, FCPSM; Tania Van Herle, AIA, LEED AP

NEXT is a publication ofHarley Ellis Devereaux Corporation© 2011Send comments and suggestions to:[email protected]

In this issue:

What’s nEXT?

Dr. Brenda Davis, now retired from Norco College, talks about the changing dynamics of the community college and the impact it has on her students’ success.

no looking back

Norco College opens their Center for Student Success and gives their students an exciting new experience.

Healthcare Reform and the Design industry

Now that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is well underway, Rick Hall, Healthcare Studio Leader for Harley Ellis Devereaux, gives us his opinion about the state of healthcare design.

Platforms and Pathways

Why is the place in which we work so important? Read how technology, social networks, and a new generation are affecting our working lives.

it Takes a Village ... an Urban Village

Stephen Wise Temple’s new Saperstein Middle School was designed to express the school’s motto of “developing students with sharp minds, generous hearts, and kind souls.”

Driving Sustainable Manufacturing

Is green manufacturing possible? You bet it is.

Data Dilemma

Cloud computing is not pie in the sky and data center engineers are starting to think differently about how to keep it all grounded and secure.

nEXT: Viewpoint

Tania Van Herle, AIA, Managing Principal with Harley Ellis Devereaux in Los Angeles, talks about life’s choices.

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Printed in the USA on environmentally responsible and sustainable paper with 100% of the fiber from independently certified, well-managed forests, or controlled wood manufactured with electricity in the form of renewable energy (wind, hydro, and biogas) and includes a minimum of 10% post-consumer recovered fiber.

Design: Harley Ellis Devereaux Communications

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What’s NEXT?Dr. BrENDa DavIs, PhDPrEsIDENT (rETIrED)Norco collEgE, rIvErsIDE (ca) commuNITy collEgE DIsTrIcT

Norco College recently put out the welcome mat for our new Center for Student Success, and our students could not be happier. They now have a place to “hang” with their fellow students. To make the Center a success, we learned a lot along the way and are able to apply the lessons learned to what’s next for our district.

The most important lesson was to listen to our students. By doing so, we discovered our students wanted a place where they could be with their classmates outside of the classroom. We also had research data that showed the more time a student spends on campus engaged in intellectual conversations and activities with other students, the more likely it will be that the student will be successful in their academic coursework. Our students inherently knew something was missing; research told us they needed something. We needed to listen.

Today, community college may be the only alternative for students who want a college education. A large number of our students would have attended four-year colleges and universities prior to 2008 and the economic downturn. That dynamic change in student population made us focus even more on their college experience.

You cannot separate what happens inside the classroom from what is occurring outside the classroom. It is a very integrated process. The educational experience is greater than just the classroom experience. When I walk the campus, students tell me how much they enjoy having a true college experience. The Center gives them a sense of community and belonging.

When I stand in the Center for Student Success and see students using their laptops, chatting, reading, and doing what students do, it is so natural, so seamless. This new place supports them for where they are today and for where they are headed tomorrow.

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rIghT To ThE PoINT:The Center for Student Success

is the new gateway for Norco College

by Brent Miller, AIA, LEED APHigher Education Studio LeaderHarley Ellis Devereaux

norco college’scenter for student success becomes a reality

No lookINg Back

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ommunity colleges are not what they used to be. They are facing increasing pressure from the federal government to both report and increase student success rates. Recent reports indicate that at the nearly 1200 community colleges in the United States, more than half of the student population drops out before their second year. Because of this staggering statistic, last year President Obama set a national goal of increasing the number of community college graduates by five million by the year 2020. This reinforces the 2008 Higher Education Act which requires community colleges to track their success.

Add to this scenario the changing face of the community college student. As a result of the recent great recession, community college is now the only option for many students who would have traditionally gone to a four-year institution. The community college student is unique and many studies indicate that trying to provide an average profile is difficult at best. However, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement indicates that more than 60 percent of students are part-time students, work more than 20 hours per week, spend one to five hours commuting to and from class, and 53 percent care for a dependent.

These students are juggling an education with the rest of their life’s responsibilities, and all of these attributes indicate that time spent on campus needs to be as engaging and as efficient as possible. The campus environment needs to provide support for student success by offering basics such as food, a place to rest, a quiet place to study, and places to collaborate with other students. Research shows that students are successful in their academics if they spend time on campus engaged with college activities.

Lesson One: Listen

Norco college, part of the riverside community

college District in california, opened in 1991 and is currently in its third phase of development. It serves more than 10,000 students each semester and increased enrollment over the last five years has doubled the student population. Student support spaces were limited and sized for a much smaller student enrollment. For example, the food service on campus consisted of not much more than vending machines and some fixed tables. The library was the only option as an informal student gathering space, but because it was primarily a quiet place, it was not suitable for collaboration or casual interaction with fellow students. In addition, the college’s service programs, though well established and organized, were dispersed throughout the campus making them difficult to find and underutilized.

By listening to their students and focusing on the federal government’s mandate, Norco College opened their new state-of-the-art Center for Student Success in the fall of 2010. The Center is the culmination of years of planning and the desire to enhance the college experience for their students. S u p p o r t e d b y research data, campus administrat ion was c o n v i n c e d t h a t improving the quality o f t h e i r a c a d e m i c environment would help increase student success. harley Ellis

Devereaux was hired in 2008 to help develop the college’s vision for a facility that would meet the goals of the campus community.

It was important to develop the vision and goals for the building at the very start of the project. Harley Ellis Devereaux conducted extensive surveys and workshops with staff, faculty, and students to define the goals for the Center and gain consensus among all campus groups. Three guiding design strategies were developed to meet the campus vision: visibility, flexibility, and access. One of the critical goals was to enhance student learning outcomes by designing an environment where students could be with their classmates outside the classroom and simply “hang

out.” Also critical to the campus was improving student awareness of the student service programs available on campus.

On the Outside Looking In

Designing a facility that is prominent, visible, and uniquely student-focused was crucial. The building design needed to stand out among the other campus buildings in order for students to feel a special attachment and ownership. With the site occupying both the upper campus and the lower campus, the Center was the perfect opportunity to create a new gateway to the campus that the students could identify with and give them a true college experience. The circulation that connects the students from the lower campus to the upper campus is directed through the Center by a grand stair through the heart of the main open central space. This pedestrian street stitches together the student lounge, dining area, and the student services/support program and welcomes students to participate in all the activities offered.

sylvia Wallis, ra, lEED aP, designer with Harley Ellis Devereaux, describes the Center, “The exterior’s floor-to-ceiling glass invites students who are outside to see the activities going on inside. We placed the interior lounge furniture near the glass to put activities on display. By doing so, we created opportunities for serendipitous encounters by using ‘seeing and being seen’ strategies to engage students in collaboration and dialogue.”

So Many Choices

Many studies have shown that successful student-centered learning environments allow the student to make individual choices to support multiple learning

it is difficult to find an open seat

in the center. it is exactly what

we wanted.”Dr. Brenda Davis, PhD

President (retired)Norco College

lIghT aND aIry:The Center gives students spectacular views of

the campus and its surrounding landscape

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supported by research data, campus administration was convinced that improving the quality of their academic environment would

help increase student success.”styles. The environment must be flexible to support individual or group collaboration learning. This important goal is reflected in the building design in several ways.

The furniture in the Center is movable and reconfigurable into a variety of arrangements, from a single student to a group of 20. There is also a combination of soft seating and tables in the student lounge and surrounding spaces. In addition to the furniture, technology also supports flexibility goals. Wireless technology is provided throughout the entire environment including the exterior portion of the building for internet access. And because learning is supported by visual display of information and by the ability to collaborate and engage in the process, group learning “pods” are also peppered throughout the building to allow small groups of students to work together at a single display screen.

Front and Center

Very early in the design process, it was determined that access to the student services/support programs was extremely important for improving student success. The campus administration supported the District Subcommittee response to the District’s 2005-2010 Strategic Initiatives which noted that “increased student access” was the number one goal. The response expanded the need: “Our first priority is to increase human relationships and interactions with our students in order to facilitate increased student access.”

Norco’s students needed to be made aware of the student ser vices/suppor t opt ions

available to them in their pursuit of academic success. Previously, these functions were spread through the campus wherever space was available. Most students were not acquainted with the support system because they were tucked away and dispersed. The California State Chancellor’s Office describes the goal of student

services is to “ensure that all students have access to college courses needed to achieve the education objectives and the support to help them complete their goals.” Wallis explains, “The student services/support programs were consolidated and moved into the Center. Using a ‘retail concept’ design, the support programs are now along the Center’s ‘main street’ and are clearly

sTaIrWay To succEss:Dr. Brenda Davis, retired Norco College President, on the grand staircase of the new Center for Student Success

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visible to the students who pass by. Each program is a very open and inviting reminder to each student of the services which will help them in the pursuit of their academic success.”

The campus also recognized that the official hours of operation did not allow enough access for their student community to get together. The design challenge required student “hang out” spaces be available to students late into the evening, while the other traditional hours of operation spaces remained secure and closed. The challenge was addressed again with a borrowed retail approach which allows for support services spaces along the pedestrian street to be secured or opened independently of the main building.

Hang in There

Community college student success rates are becoming a focus of state and federal policies, and the colleges

must develop strategies to improve their results. The early development of a very clear vision guided the design of the Norco College Center for Student Success. Based simply on the overwhelming student use of the facility, it is a big success. As described by retired Norco College President, Dr. Brenda Davis,

PhD, “It is difficult to find an open seat in the Center. It is exactly what we wanted.” Student engagement and campus support for academic pursuits are the key to student success and Norco College has provided a significant advantage to their students by creating the Center for Student Success.

Brent Miller is a principal with Harley Ellis Devereaux and the firm’s higher education practice leader.

laTE NIghTs:The Center accommodates students needing access late into the evening

lEarNINg PoD:Students can work together in small group settings

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reformby C. Richard Hall, FAIA, AHCA, LEED GA, EDAC

healthcare

and the design industryWhat dOes the Future hOld?

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by C. Richard Hall, FAIA, AHCA, LEED GA, EDAC

many hospitals have lowered their

capital spending because they do not know

exactly how the pay mix between the government

program and private pay

program is going to affect their bottom line.”

y a vote of 219 to 212, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Health Care Reform Bill. While it seems that everyone has an opinion about healthcare reform, the effects of the new legislation go far beyond personal insur-ance coverage reform.

Even before the new legislation passed, many in the design and construction industry were sent to the sidelines to watch as healthcare systems across the country applied the proverbial brakes in anticipation of what might be. It was an unexpected holding pat-tern that left everyone involved wondering how this was going to affect them. The possibilities for change are huge, yet the outcomes are speculative and the end results for the industry remain unclear.

Adding to the situation was the recession that began in 2008 and brought a total collapse of capital lend-ing, halting most design and construction in virtually every industry. The housing bubble was the first to pop, with retail, hospitality, and manufacturing closely following. These markets were over-built with too many facilities during a time of declining demand. However, when healthcare construction came to an abrupt stop, there was no change in demand. If any-thing, the demand for more technology, more space, and more beds increased, putting the healthcare in-dustry in a very different position than other markets.

The first ripple of healthcare reform is how hospi-tals are approaching their delivery of services. Some healthcare institutions believe that there is safety in numbers causing many smaller community and re-gional hospitals to merge while larger healthcare systems across the country are merging into bigger systems. This leaves the design and construction in-dustry wondering about the bricks and mortar part of the equation.

Excellent Move

A silver lining to the current healthcare situation is the continued push by hospitals to form Centers of Excellence. These centers will change their busi-ness model by consolidating the services for which they are known. Most Centers of Excellence revolve around specialties such as cardiology, radiology, on-cology, orthopedics, and the like. The demand for Centers for Excellence will give many hospitals the opportunity to reconfigure and redesign their spaces as they go through the process to provide the services that differentiate themselves from their competitors... a positive development for healthcare architects.

Is There a Doctor in the School?

An increase in medical schools across the country is another factor potentially generating increased design services in the upcoming years. As the shortage of doctors becomes more acute, the country is realizing that it takes a long time for new medical staff to get through the educational pipeline. The addition of new medical schools provides for more academic medi-cal centers as hospitals become affiliated with these schools of medicine. In time, they will morph into true academic medical centers. Architects will have a vital role in helping create these medical centers.

The Bottom Line

There is one great variable in all of this. As demand and utilization rises, there is great pressure on hospital systems for facilities to grow, reorganize, and recon-nect. However, at this point in time, the issue is not if but when this is going to happen. Many hospitals have lowered their capital spending because they do not know exactly how the pay mix between the gov-ernment program and private pay program is going to affect their bottom line.

What this portends for healthcare architecture is the fact that once hospital administrators know how the financial situation is going to play out, they will then begin to feel more comfortable increasing spending for building projects. This may not happen until 2014 because the regulations enacted last year by the fed-eral government do not come into play all at once. There is a transition from 2010 to 2014 for the impact of these rules and the funding that goes with them to be realized. At some point there should be enough sense of the market for hospitals and medical centers to chart a course to redevelop their facilities.

Mapping the Future

In the meantime, as with past recessions, healthcare institutions are working on their facility master plans. This gives facility managers a road map to follow when funds start to be released. As these master plans are completed, we are finding that cost analysis is be-ing given greater weight than in the past. Facility man-agers want to know how much each of their facilities could expend per fiscal year, which will in turn drive the build-out time line of medical campuses.

Rick Hall is a principal with Harley Ellis Devereaux and the firm’s national healthcare studio leader.

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new directions in tHe emerging world of work

by James F. Meredith, LEED APWorkplace StrategiesHarley Ellis Devereaux

we’ve made great strides in workplace design over tHe past decade, but sometHing is missing. more ping-pong tables? no. more lounge seating? no. better coffee? maybe...

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nformed by increasingly enlightened management practices, augmented by mobile technology, supported by new developments in furniture and equipment design, and facilitating the significantly different work styles and working relationships of a new generation, the workspace is becoming more relevant to the emerging world of work.

As complexity and layers of facility standards were reduced, the workplace became more open, and the social nature of work advanced from the cafes and foosball tables of the dot.com model to more sophisticated understanding of the informal networks that are essential for good team work.

The best-in-class office now exhibits a significant shift of resources toward team work from the hierarchical management model of a generation before.

Despite these advances many of us are yearning for more.

Time Is On Our Side

A key factor in our discontent may be the quality of the environments in which we work.

As information, context, and opportunity grab more of our attention and time, we have come to place more

value in the nature and quality of our experiences. And as our time working in and out of conventional office environments becomes more fragmented, and the management of the relationships, networks, and information becomes more complex, we now seek a relationship with place that augments our identity, our image, and our effectiveness. Time has become more precious.

It is no longer important how much time we put in at the office, but how effective the time is that we do spend there. What makes that time more valuable are the experiences we have while we are there.

Back In The Day

Not long ago, the “high performance workplace” was the goal to be reached through new approaches to office design. But over the past decade, a key measure of workplace performance became the cost of its real estate. The less space dedicated per person meant increased financial performance.

This unintended performance metric was one with diminishing returns. Not only was there a finite limit to the amount and cost of space that could be cut, but signs emerged showing a reduction in the creative and productive output of organizations. As long as the workplace was measured as real estate, it was perceived as a cost, rather than as supporting groups of people working together.

Another significant issue is the experience of working. As space decreased, so did interactions, the engine of innovation and engagement. The office went from a place where people came to work together to a place where nobody wanted to work.

Times They Are a-Changin’

The emerging world of work demands a radically different approach to workspace planning and design. There has been a significant body of research done in recent years to understand the “information age,” “knowledge work,” and the characteristics of the “knowledge worker.”

Similarly, the radical shift in characteristics of the first generation emerging from the “information age” has shaped new ways of thinking about what work is, what it looks like, and the influence their work styles may have on everyone else.

Here are just a few of the projected characteristics of the emerging world of work: • An individual’s social networks and their ability to

capitalize on them mean that companies will hire those with higher “reputation capital”

• Increasing developments in mobile technology change everything about work, both where and how it is done

• The increasing importance of teaming, the power of social networks, and the potentials in communications technology enable the formation of “work swarms” connecting individuals to form teams quickly

• A generation immersed in gaming may use some of its organizational principles, like the formation of guilds, to form high performing teams, leading companies to hire not individuals but entire teams

• Successful individuals will have a different mind-set characterized by global thinking and cross-cultural power, social participation, openness to continuous learning, and speedy movement on identified opportunities

• The continuing merging of work and life will be accepted as a new normal, and the value of flexibility will replace the values of separation or balance

• Non-routine skills become more important, work becomes more informal and spontaneous, and skills in charrettes or sketch-ups become increasingly valuable

What is significant about these projections is the importance of time, a focus on purpose, the value of flexibility, the accommodation of the non-routine, the power in new but temporary operational forms, and the rising influence of externally-connected individuals and teams over internally-managed organizations.

We are at a point where neither the centrally-provided and regulated workplace of the past nor the anonymous and commercial “third place” workplace of the mobile worker satisfies. What guides our thinking for the next workplace?

Shifting Gears

As the value of knowledge has shifted from that which we hold unto ourselves to that which we share with others, we can see the power and potential in tacit knowledge.

it is no longer important how much time we put in at the office, but

how effective the time is that we do

spend there.”

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it is shocking that everything about work has changed, but very little of the workplace has.”

Organizational evolution and development takes place through a continuous interchange between two forms of knowledge. Explicit knowledge is formally codified and transferred, and is transmitted in easily accessible forms such as words, numbers, and formulas. Tacit knowledge is expressed in more than words and frequently without words, and involves both cognitive and technical skills – beliefs, images, intuition, craft, know-how. Tacit knowledge is difficult to develop and uncover, yet it is the most valuable form of knowledge for the evolution of organizations.

In an economy in which explicit knowledge is more easily and rapidly transferred, it carries the threat of diminishing value. Tacit knowledge, however, carries increasing value in today’s economy. Tacit knowledge is best transferred between individuals through socialization.

It is becoming clear that the surviving and thriving organizations of the future will be the ones who can uncover, access, augment, and accelerate the flows of knowledge.

Taking Aim

Unleashing the power of tacit knowledge changes from the attractiveness of place to the attraction of great experiences. “Experiential design” in the workplace moves us from a closed, process-oriented workplace to a more open collaborative place of creativity and innovation.

This initial focus on the social was aimed inaccurately. While supporting the kind of interaction that contributes to cultural development, this first wave

of workplace innovation brought socializing spaces – the Starbucks model – into the workplace.

However, it missed the more powerful purpose of socialization: to move tacit knowledge through an organization. The

innovators of workplace design focused on the thing rather the purpose.

After a decade of embedding “social” spaces in organizations, we are beginning to understand what the term socialization really means. We have learned that increasing the value of the experience means moving the organization from measuring the performance of place to measuring the potential of people. It means moving from you measuring them to them measuring you; moving from measuring things to measuring interactions.

This is why it is time for a new shift in what we’ve called “experiential design.”

Platforms & Pathways

John hagel and John seely Brown are leaders of the Deloitte center for the Edge and their most recent book, The Power of Pull, addresses technology innovation. Many of its principles are relevant to the role of the workspace.

Hagel calls the power of pull “the ability to draw out people and resources as needed to address opportunities and challenges...unleashing forces of attraction, influence, and serendipity.”

This “drawing out” means moving from the measurement of the performance of place and people, a diminishing return, to the potential of people supported by the right kinds of spaces, an increasing return.

A key tool in capturing this potential is experiential design. Hagel defines two environments to consider for the value of the experiences they host – platforms and pathways.

Platforms are teaming environments designed to attract and support “diverse providers and users of resources.” They are the foundations that provide the experiences that enable teams to be effective, to spawn new teams, and to create and capitalize on connections between them.

Pathways are the channels through which people participate in and contribute to flows of knowledge. Pathways include the networks we communicate with

and through, and the relationships with people and resources where we

find the information and experiences that enable us to learn, grow, develop, and evolve.

Let’s imagine the look-and-feel of a workspace designed as a “pull platform:”

• It has a “plug-and-play” nature designed for the convenience of its users, rather than its providers

• It is flexible, able to respond to otherwise unanticipated needs of its users and participants

• It is dynamic and adaptable, with features that allow it to support and capture increasing returns

• It is evolutionary and its value is enhanced by the improvisation, experimentation, and improvements generated by its users

• It is a rich environment, providing intrinsic rewards to its users who are committed to its use and contribute to its value

This concept is the next focus for leading workplaces. Planning in this way can increase interactions to uncover individual potential and drive organizational learning and improvement.

New discussions around the experience of work and how to generate tangible value from the workplace are

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greenpatH debt solutions’ new corporate HQ:tHe bridge to a new way of working

greener pastures

needed. Design professionals should help companies see that “workplace strategy” is no longer about real estate but is instead about generating new business opportunity.

Out With the Old

It is shocking that everything about work has changed, but very little of the workplace has. Old institutions are dying and we are now at the front edge of a great social revolution. The technologies we use, the global ecosystem we share with others, and the ethos that informs our behaviors all influence the seismic shift in ways that work is done.

New organizational and operational forms are emerging in response, and what we called “work” is now different in all of its dimensions.

Leading organizations will have a highly motivated, innovative, and focused workforce who uncovers the most effective places for them to achieve, learn, build networks, find opportunities, and build businesses.

These organizations will be the ones who “get” the experiences of working. They will understand that the emerging metric of performance, leadership, and success is the growth in people’s potential which is supported by environments that provide the experiences people seek. These organizations will be the ones who will discover what’s missing.

Jim Meredith is Harley Ellis Devereaux’s workplace strategiesexpert.

The new headquarters for GreenPath Inc. offers some insight into

the potentials of the platforms and pathways concept.

GreenPath is a non-profit organization that provides financial

advisory services including debt counseling, debt management,

and financial education to consumers in matters of credit card,

housing, and bankruptcy concerns.

Their new headquarters will be the home of up to 650 people

in diverse teams and environments, including its national data

center and central call center.

The building is composed of two large, loft-like spaces set at

angles to each other, and connected by a central wedge-shaped

bridge.

The two open areas, the “platforms,” house the team

environments. These are highly flexible and adaptable work

platforms and teaming environment for diverse functions, work

modes, work styles, team scales, and individual and collaborative

work areas. They provide:

• Diverse and alternative work mode settings

• Light, agile, and adaptable work stations

• Self-organizing team clusters

• Personally adjustable, individual comfort controls

• An open, accessible perimeter

• Numerous get-up and get-away settings

• High-volume spaces with more than 300 degrees of natural

light

The bridge is, essentially, a deconstructed core. Rather than act

as a separator, as service cores do in most office buildings, this

triangular space provides the “pathways,” that connect the teams

to each other, to advisors, to their national network, to customers

and clients, and to spaces that support their continuous learning,

growth, and development. They are augmented, amplified, and

activated spaces to accelerate individual and organizational

development. They provide spaces and place that support:

• Movement, accessibility, visibility of individuals and teams

• Socialization and community support

• Monitoring, development, and learning support

• Opportunity identification

• Idea generation and development

• Mid-term and long-term tasking and project development

• Health and fitness

• Nurture, refresh, and reframe activities

• Internal and external network connections and

communication

PlaTforms & PaThWays:Flexible, self-sustaining teaming platforms network inside and outside via real and virtual pathways

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eing in middle school is like being … well … in the middle. And the transition from elementary to middle school is tough. The build-ing is so big and so unfamiliar you can get lost. There are classes in different rooms with different teachers, all of whom give homework. New faces fill the halls. And then there are the endless rows of lockers. Will I remember where mine is, let alone the combination? Will I ever fit in here?

Many fears of middle schools students are eased in an environment that is safe, nurturing, and healthy. The stephen Wise Temple’s new David Saperstein Middle School was designed with the specific educational

needs of middle school students in mind. A school environment that says it’s okay to be in the middle.

The Middle Ground

The school’s motto of “developing students with sharp minds, generous hearts, and kind souls” is ex-pressed in a variety of ways throughout the school. Built around the urban village model, Saperstein Mid-dle School simultaneously stimulates and nurtures students at this most critical point in the intellectual development.

Jason l. ablin, Head of School, states, “Our claim on students is that, eventually, they express their under-standing, desire, and commitment to being part of a larger community … a larger global Jewish com-munity.” Thus the urban middle school village must be intimate, comfortable, have personalized learning

spaces, and provide opportunities for collaboration, partnering, and discovery.

It is obvious from the first point of arrival at the circular entry plaza that this is not a typical middle school. The stepping forms and varied textures recall a hill town rather than a school. The leadership of Stephen Wise Temple knew that, given the challeng-ing site, they would not be able to compete with near by independent schools on the basis of conventional classrooms and athletic fields. Rather, the focus was on the creation of a truly unique sense of place with an emphasis on quality, intimacy, and inspiration.

The interconnected chain of plazas, loggias, and ter-races becomes the common space that forms the main street of this urban village. Every classroom, assembly room, and support space have a front door

IT TAkES A

by John R. Dale, FAIA, LEED APWorkplace Strategies

Harley Ellis Devereaux

…An UrBAn VILLAGEtHe new david saperstein middle scHool was

designed for tHe uniQue needs of its’ students

VILLAGE

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“our new beautiful, state-of-the-art facility, built with such love by our community, needs to be a place where students feel safe and nurtured, challenged, and supported during these less than calm times in their lives.”

Jason L. AblinHead of School, Stephen Wise TempleDavid Saperstein Middle School

and window bays on the street, providing a strong connection between indoor and outdoor learning spaces and, most importantly, a natural place for so-cial interaction and small group learning. While indi-vidual lockers are provided under overhead canopies, the casually scattered backpacks attest to a sense of security and being “at home.” The inspirational He-brew and English sayings, etched into the walls along the walkways, add a sense of sacred purpose to the village feel.

The education program accommodates 240 students and includes eleven 750-square-foot classrooms, a technology/media lab, art center, student cafeteria, and a Beit Midrash, a circular room nestled among the classrooms. Technology is everywhere. Smart board technology and plasma screens within the classrooms and multi-purpose spaces throughout the

campus connect students through video conferencing to parallel classrooms in Israel to provide distance-learning experiences.

Versatile Spaces

Because of the highly compact and challenging site, every space in the urban village must take on multiple roles. A multi-purpose room can be used for lectures, dining, or special events. With a wall of folding glass doors, activities here can easily to spill outside into the adjacent crescent-shaped courtyard. The amphithe-ater doubles as a basketball and tennis court and its 35 foot retaining wall has been equipped as a profes-sional grade climbing wall. The Beit Midrash houses the school’s Ark of the Covenant and sacred texts. It includes a sweeping mosaic conceived of and execut-ed by the entire community. It is also equipped for multi-media presentations for assemblies and team teaching.

Meet Me in the Middle

Ablin concludes, “Learning for a middle school stu-dent is as much a social/emotional event as it is an in-tellectual one.” For this reason, the David Saperstein Middle School has been conceived as an urban vil-lage, providing both a secure home and a stimulating launching pad for the life journey of an exceptional group of middle school students. A place that makes it easy to be in the middle.

John Dale is a principal with Harley Ellis Devereaux and the firm’s K12 schools studio leader.

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by R. Craig Rutherford, FCPSMBusiness DevelopmentHarley Ellis Devereaux

How tHe automotive industry is leading tHe way in green manufacturing facilities

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onsumer demand for fuel efficient and eco-friendly ve-hicles has caused auto makers to rethink the manufacturing processes and factories of the past. The days of high-powered engines, tail fins, lots of chrome-plated trim, and smoky tail-pipes have long passed. Also missing are the scores of urban manufacturing plants tinted in grays and blacks from years of smokestack residue, dimly lit assembly buildings and stamping plants with oil-soaked floors, and in-plant environments charac-terized by inadequate ventilation. Then there was the noise: the cadence of heavy pounding from rows of stamping presses, the screech of metal cutting equipment, and the drone of process machinery. And all the while there is the clanking and clinking as monorail conveyors pass closely overhead.

Fortunately, those kinds of images are becoming a thing of the past as automotive companies work to optimize the value of each facility investment

dollar and create sustainable manufacturing envi-ronments. chrysler corporation’s new South Engine

Plant in Trenton, Michigan is a clear indication of the automotive industry’s new direction, and it is being done on

a grand scale. In a very short period of time, Chrysler’s Trenton facility has become an important showcase for manufacturing in-

novation, building technology, and sustainable design strategies. This change in automotive industry will have a positive and long-lasting impact

on the environment.

Someone Has To Be First

Clearly, automotive manufacturers are investing heavily in modern new facilities. They are doing as much to build “green” factories as they are to produce “green” cars. Chrysler’s Trenton South was designed for both efficient manufacturing and minimal environmental impact. It was built on a brownfield site and designed to embrace the highest environmental standards. The facility produces new fuel-efficient V6 automobile engines.

The new 830,000-square-foot Chrysler facility marks the first-time-ever that a large-scale manufacturing facility, including production processes and manufac-turing equipment, has earned the LEED Gold Certification (Leadership in En-

The days of high-powered engines, tail

fins, lots of chrome-plated trim, and

smoky tailpipes are

long passed.”

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ergy and Environmental Design) from the U.S. Green Building Council. Here are just a few of the many ways the project accomplished environmental and en-ergy objectives:

• Reduced CO2 emissions by more than 12,000 metric tons per year – the equivalent to the en-ergy use of nearly 1000 homes

• Lowered total energy use by 39%, resulting in a savings of $1.25 million per year

• Total water reduction was 1.5 million gallons per year when compared to previous manufacturing facilities – the equivalent to the volume found in 68 average-sized swimming pools

• Minimized heat-island effect on surrounding en-vironment by incorporating native grasses and trees

• Employed a “cool” white roof and light-colored hardscape materials throughout the facility

Designed jointly by BEI associates (architect of re-cord) and harley Ellis Devereaux, the large-scale in-dustrial facility clearly demonstrates that it is possible to economically build and operate a totally sustainable manufacturing plant.

That’s Impressive

honda of america Manufacturing’s Green Factory Initiatives are among the most impressive in the in-dustry. The Japanese automaker has eight “Zero Waste to Landfill” plants in North America. Honda actively encourages suppliers to reduce packaging waste, adopt more energy efficient processes, and ob-tain third-party ISO 14001 certification. Other note-worthy actions include:

• Installation of “intelligent paint booths,” which reduce natural gas consumption and related CO2 emissions by 25%

• Use of U.S. steel, which contains a minimum of 25% and, in some instances, as much 90% recy-cled content

• Provision of high-efficiency displacement venti-lation that moves cool air from rooftop-mounted air handlers to large, floor-level grills, where it displaces heat from the human body

A Manufacturing Plant With A Backyard?

The subaru of Indiana Automotive Plant near Lafay-ette, Indiana has taken the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra one step further by recycling 99 percent of waste from the plant and transforming the remaining one percent into electricity. It’s recycling on a large scale, and it’s clearly outside the norm. In one in-stance, the company salvaged and reused scrap mate-rials from nearly 11,000 tons of steel that would have typically been hauled to a junk yard. It has also been estimated that by recycling 1,000 tons of wooden pal-lets, the Japanese-based auto company has saved from harvesting more than 31,000 mature trees. Moreover, the Subaru facility may be the only factory in the U.S. that recycles leftover food from the cafeteria to fertil-ize plants on the campus that in-turn help generate building electricity.

Visitors to the Subaru campus are greeted by a natu-ral habitat that supports wildlife, such as deer, coy-otes, beavers, and blue herons. The 832-acre indus-trial campus is characterized by lush grass, ponds and heavily wooded areas and is designated as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.

More Power

There is no question that ford motor company was one of the early champions of the sustainable de-sign movement. Ford’s 3,000,000-square-foot Rouge Manufacturing Complex in Dearborn, Michigan was among the first industrial buildings (as early as 2002) to receive a living roof of natural sedum grass. The adjacent Ford Rouge Visitor Center also incorporated many sustainable innovations, including a photovol-taic array for electrical power. The LEED-Gold Cer-tified educational-type building was “on the boards” at Harley Ellis Devereaux in 2001.

Another first for the Dearborn-based auto manufac-turer occurred last year with the completion of one of the largest solar power generator systems in the Midwest. A 500-kilowatt photovoltaic panel system was added to the Wayne, Michigan Assembly Plant, along with a 750-kw energy storage facility with the capacity to store two million watt-hours of energy. That number is approximately equivalent to the pow-er necessary to run 100 homes annually.

The solar research installation will help Ford advance the knowledge base of smart grid technology and the development of electric-powered vehicles, such as the large SUVs presently produced at the Wayne As-sembly facility. Sustainability Is Substantial

Fortunately, domestic and foreign automotive manu-facturers were early to recognize the importance of sustainable design and the benefit of incorporating eco-friendly strategies in the planning and design new buildings. The savings in corporate dollars has been substantial, in terms of initial construction costs, as well as daily operating expenses. However, the long-term benefit to the environment and savings in natu-ral resources is much more important.

In recent months, several food, beverage, and phar-maceutical companies have announced plans to build new production facilities that will incorporate various sustainable strategies. Many of those green strategies were first showcased in today’s modern automotive manufacturing plant.

Craig Rutherford is a business development representative with Harley Ellis Devereaux.

lIvINg Proof:Ford Motor Company was one of the first to

use a green roof on one of their manufacturing facilities at the Rouge Complex

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grEEN shoWcasE:Chrysler’s new engine plant is an important showcase

for manufacturing innovation, building technology, and sustainable design strategies

oN ThE lINE:Chrysler’s new South Engine Plant is the first large-scale manufacturing facility to achieve LEED Gold Certification, including production processes and manufacturing equipment

the chrysler south engine plant is leed-gold rated and is certain to have an impact on the design of future manufacturing plants, not only in the automotive sector, but in other industries as well. the result will become more pronounced as manufacturing companies strive to maximize the value of short and long-term facility investments, particularly

Richard L. Torri, AIA, LEED AG, PrincipalScience and Technology Studio LeaderHarley Ellis Devereaux

as the value of the energy dollar shrinks."

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by Michael F. Cooper, PE, LEED AP Managing PrincipalHarley Ellis Devereaux

8 reasons wHy data center engineering needs to cHange

DILEMMADATA

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usiness often succeeds or fails based on the ability to effectively manage data. How can we integrate available information into the immediate decision-making process so that we make more informed decisions? Current data management challenges include globalization of technology re-sources, compartmentalization of information for security purposes, and exponentially increasing power and cooling demands.

“Think about where we go for information,” notes Jim kerrigan, Executive Vice President and Director of the National Data center group at grubb and Ellis

company. “We are much more likely to get our infor-mation from the web or social media than from TV or newspapers. Data is driving every aspect of our lives.” The data center engineering community has labored to design facilities that keep up with technology and its demands. Today, we are at a crossroads. We need to think differently about these critical facilities if we are to effectively support the next generation of busi-ness. Here’s why:

1. You Can’t Afford A Few Hours rest

Data center reliability is often articulated in terms of available uptime. The uptime Institute provides an in-dustry standard classification system that ranges from basic level (Tier 1) to fault tolerant (Tier 4). All data center levels enjoy available uptime of 99.6 percent or bet-ter. The difference between a Tier 1 and Tier 4 data center is slightly more than 28 hours per year. While this does not sound like much, it is not unusual for large institutions to value each hour of data center downtime at $1 million or more. There is a cost to improving your available uptime, but the cost of not doing it can sometimes be even larger.

2. Clouds need Walls

Cloud computing and co-loca-tion of resources are the cur-rent data center buzzwords. As organizations struggle internal-ly to keep up with their grow-ing data management demands, they are looking to the outside for help. Larger, multi-tenant data centers provide businesses with highly flexible information technology services, customized for individual requirements. Anytime there is co-location of digi-tal information, walls are required. Fre-quently, dedicated hardware is physically separated. Software and storage is often separated with digital walls providing se-curity not unlike that which protects our business networks from Internet hackers.

3. A Cool Breeze Can’t kill The Heat

Traditional perforated, raised floor cool-ing systems are effective for standard density technology racks (up to 10 kW). They may not be as effective, however, for the types of high density racks that are more commonplace today. The heat produced by this equipment may require a virtual wind tunnel for proper cooling. In-row or in-rack coolers provide localized, high capacity cooling right at the rack. With this system, heat is removed at the source before being released to the data center space itself. The proper climatic environment is attained by addressing heat at the rack, the most efficient way to do so.

4. negligible Losses Are Too Costly

Building power distribution systems are almost al-ways designed as alternating current (AC). Technol-ogy equipment, on the other hand, usually requires a direct current (DC) power supply. The traditional approach to converting the building AC power to DC results in power “losses” that tax the system and create electrical “noise” that can be harmful to the equipment. These losses were often deemed “negli-gible.” As power demands increase, so too do these

losses and the cost of accepting them as necessary.

5. Site Selection Drives Everything Else

The selection of your site sets the tone for system and energy performance. U.S. data

centers consume more than 62 billion kWh of electricity annually, at a cost of more than $4.5 billion. The major-ity of this cost addresses equipment

by Michael F. Cooper, PE, LEED AP Managing PrincipalHarley Ellis Devereaux

DATA“there are only a small handful of states that don’t charge personal

property tax on servers and they have the upper hand in attracting data

center business.”

Jim KerriganExecutive Vice President

Director of the National Data Center GroupGrubb and Ellis Company

power sup- ply and cooling. A data center site in a natu- rally cooler climate offers more opportunity for “free” cooling. A site with an avail-able, natural water source would again provide opportunity to utilize the wa-ter in lieu of mechanical refrigeration. A site with greater renewable energy potential (wind, solar, geothermal) allows for reduced dependence on the local power grid. Municipal incentives are often available for high demand

facilities, which can help fund the capital development.

6. Systems Must Adapt At The Speed Of Business

The typical building is designed and constructed to last decades, usually 20 years or longer. In stark contrast, information technol-ogy equipment will serve you two to four years, if you are lucky. This is made more challenging by technology rack density which has increased from 1-4 kW per rack (2005) to 15-25 kW (2010), and is anticipated to reach 60-80 kW per rack in 2012.

7. The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is not A

Straight Line

A traditional plan-design-construct process to provide a new data center can take two years or more to complete. Today’s business climate just does not allow for this much time. The linear design approach must be set aside in favor of a collaborative, integrated process. The design, construction and validation phases of a proj-ect must occur simultaneously. This not only takes two years down to one year or less, but it better integrates the team members for a higher quality facility.

8. Get Comfortable Being In The Dark

Data centers were once populated facilities with 24/7 activity. Now, more often than not, they are “dark,” meaning completely unoccupied. Reliability is driven by technology that monitors and controls building systems, and alerts appropriate personnel of inci-dents requiring immediate attention.

Electronic data has changed everything in our per-sonal and professional lives. The building design pro-cess, once dominated by blueprints and large scale drawings, now delivers three-dimensional computer models that permit us to “walk through” a building before the first shovel is ever put into the ground. What’s next? While there is no crystal ball, it’s a good bet that many of the advancements to come will be on the backs of technology and data management. They will drive our private lives and businesses to heights we previously could have only imagined.

Mike Cooper is managing principal of Harley Ellis Devereaux’s Detroit office and the firm’s engineering leader.

gloBal NETWork:Harley Ellis Devereaux’s expertise in data centers grew by working with global organizations to advance their businesses through effective data management

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NEXT: viewpointTaNIa vaN hErlE, aIamaNagINg PrINcIPalharlEy EllIs DEvErEauX | los aNgElEs

Life is all about choices.

The choices we are willing to make, the choices we have to make, and then there are the ones that ultimately define who we really are. It is these choices that some of us seem to let life determine for us, while others choose with conviction. It is these individuals who are defined by the extraordinary things they accomplish through a variety of challenges, all while keeping focused on the countless opportunities for passionate leadership.

As a first generation American, born of emigrated parents from Belgium and raised in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, HED’s new Managing Principal Tania Van Herle’s sense of enthusiasm is overwhelmingly contagious and often with the exclamation, “that’s fantastic!” As the photographer prepares for the shoot, Van Herle beams appropriately. Her sophisticated elegant presence is commanding, as if she was a part of a Burberry campaign photo shoot. But the truth is that there is so much more to who she really is.

An accomplished award-winning architect and structural engineer, with Master Degrees in each, and an Executive Board Member of HED, Van Herle is a force to be reckoned with. Beginning her 20 year climb up the design ladder, her dedication to the design profession has enabled Van Herle to stay true to what she believes in. “What’s important to me is being different, unique, focused, and truly living the notion that design matters, but always remembering the values that were instilled in me by my family,” she reflects. Her expression becomes much more intense as she continues to describe the beliefs that define who she is. “It’s really simple. Give back, make a difference in the communities where we work, collaborate, and innovate … and mean it. Our work, what we stand for, our people, the essence of who we are, has an impact on the places we create. It is our responsibility to continue to build our firm by providing innovative and fully integrated design solutions with a profound environmental responsibility that enhances the business of our clients.”

“We believe in the power of great design, it’s our only choice.”

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Photography Credits:

Cover: RMA Architectural Photography

p 1: Raffi Alexander, Spiderbox Photography

p 2-3: RMA Architectural Photography

p 4-5: Dr. Davis, Raffi Alexander, Spiderbox Photography;

Norco College, RMA Architectural Photography

p 6: Harley Ellis Devereaux

p 8: Getty Images

p 11: Harley Ellis Devereaux

p 12-13: RMA Architectural Photography

p 14-15: Flickr, Tom Gidden

p 16-17: Ford Visitor Center, Justin Machonochie

Photography; Chrysler Phoenix Engine Plant, Steve Maylone,

Maylone Photography

p 18: Morgue File

p 19: Justin Machonochie Photography

p 20: Raffi Alexander, Spiderbox Photography

Project Team Credits:

Norco college, riverside community college District

Project: New Center for Student Success

Architect: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Contractor: ProWest Constructors

Civil Engineer: Armstrong & Brooks Consulting Engineers

Structural Engineer: Saiful | Bouquet, Inc.

MEP Engineer: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Landscape Architect: Wilson Associates

Food Service Consultant: Webb Design

greenPath Debt solutions

Project: New Corporate Headquarters

Architect/Engineer: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Contractor: Walbridge-Ronnisch, Joint Venture

Security Consultant: ESS Consulting

Landscape Architect: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Irrigation Consultant: Graber Associates

stephen Wise Temple

Project: David Saperstein Middle School

Architect: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Contractor: Bernards

Civil Engineer: S.E.C. Civil Engineering, Inc.

Structural Engineer: Ismail & Associates

Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Harley Ellis Devereux

Landscape Architect: LRM Ltd.

chrysler corporation

Project: New Trenton Phoenix Engine Plant

Architect of Record: BEI Associates

Associate Architect: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Contractor: Walbridge

Structural Engineering: Gala & Associates

ford motor company

Client: Ford Motor Company

Architect: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Engineer: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Architectural and Sustainable Design Concepts: William

McDonough + Partners

Exhibit Design: BRC Imagination Arts

Contractor: Walbridge

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