Manifesting Potential

Since 1983, Chartwell School in Seaside, CA, has been helping students with learning differences (primarily dyslexia and ADD) develop skills to learn successfully and return to mainstream education. When Chartwell decided to construct a new school campus, its vision was to create a learning environment where the students’ natural environment was a visible part of their education; where the building would inspire the community about the possibilities of sustainable design. 7group facilitated an integrative process that helped the Chartwell family design their program and align around project performance goals to enmesh setting, curriculum and environment while remediating a former abandoned military base overlooking the Monterey Bay.

Having outgrown their existing office, King+King Architects chose to return to Syracuse, NY, where the firm originated in 1868. After hearing about the Near West-Side Initiative, King+King joined the movement to restore the downtown Syracuse community to its former glory as a business and social hub. An expanded 1913 farm equipment assembly plant and furniture warehouse in a marginalized neighborhood was chosen for renovation. From the start, the firm endeavored to create a legacy of sustainable design and contribute to community vitality with their new headquarters which earned LEED (NC v2.2) Platinum certification in April 2011.

The Syracuse Center of Excellence (CoE) in Environmental and Energy Systems engages collaborators from over 200 institutions to address worldwide challenges in clean and renewable energy, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and water resources. CoE members conduct targeted research, exhibit new technologies, commercialize innovations and provide education.

Originally founded in 1980, the Yestermorrow Design/Build School is devoted to hands-on education integrating design and building principles with a core understanding of sustainable and regenerative practices. The school operated using rented space in Vermont’s Mad River Valley until 1990 when the dilapidated Alpen Inn property in Waitsfield was purchased. Yestermorrow’s students, faculty and staff worked together to renovate the Inn, transforming the structure into the school’s first permanent teaching, living and dining facility.

The School of Music and Performing Arts Center (SOMPAC) at West Chester University was designed and constructed as a larger and more sustainable performance center replacing the 1950s era Swope Hall.7group served as the LEED, energy, and daylighting design consultant for this new performing arts and academic building, which attained LEED Silver certification in July 2010. SOMPAC is a musical, theatrical and dance facility for students, and the local and regional community, and is becoming known as a major public performance venue for the area.

Constructed in 1958, the original Arthur W. Ferguson Elementary School was meant to be a temporary facility until a new school could be built. The modular facility lasted more than 50 years until it was possible for the School District of the City of York to build the new 90,250 sf school. Having secured a $500,000 Energy Harvest grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the project focused not only on making a healthy learning environment for its anticipated 750 students, but also on maximizing energy efficiency.

As one of the first Consumer Package Goods facilities to take a holistic approach to developing a manufacturing facility and distribution center, the Davies Facility in York, PA continues Church & Dwight’s sustainable legacy earning LEED Silver certification in December 2009. The project team for this new facility focused on upholding sustainable practices while considering workplace conditions for the anticipated 300 employees. With Church & Dwight’s need to address its current facilities’ inefficiencies and expand to accommodate future growth, a new strategic location in close proximity to major highways and railways was essential.