The design and efficiency of Penn Hills High School was recognized this month in a national publication.
Penton's American School & University 2015 Architectural Portfolio for Outstanding Design selected the high school as one of 112 featured buildings from across the country.
Having been a principal at the former high school building, Penn Hills Superintendent Nancy Hines said she appreciates both the aesthetics and academic possibilities of the new facility.
“I know the students value the ‘new' building,” she said, “because they have openly expressed their appreciation of the facility as well as their pride in it by working with us to keep it in good shape.”
The 300,000-square-foot high school on Collins Drive was completed in 2013 and cost $58 million. Architectural Innovations, based in McCandless, designed the building.
The interior of the building features a 1,000-seat auditorium, wide hallways, a skylight over the library, and windows high on interior classroom walls that allow natural light to come in from skylights in the main corridors.
But Jan Brimmeier, owner and president of Architectural Innovations, said that what caught the attention of the judges was the efficiency of the building.
Brimmeier said the district originally planned to construct a LEED-certified building, but budget constraints ultimately prevented the certification.
She said that though it's not LEED-certified, the building still has sustainable elements like an ice storage system that cools the building and a centralized control system that makes maintenance easier.
She said the building also stood out because of its low cost per square foot and high utilization factor, which measures how many square inches of the building have been used to the fullest.
“It's very competitive and it's one of the things that most architects like to try to achieve in their career,” Brimmeier said. “It was very much a success in many ways.”
Kelsey Shea is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. She can be reached at 412-320-7845 or kshea@tribweb.com.
