Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS) sought to continue its vision to provide academic excellence within the context of unprecedented growth from 22 to more than 1,000 students in just ten years. CISS required the expertise of a planning and design firm to sequentially phase the redevelopment of the existing campus—the once adequate facilities had been significantly outgrown and no longer able to adapt to quickly evolving curricular, programmatic, and technological needs.
CISS had been well-accommodated within the original campus buildings, constructed as part of a 1998 master plan. Although the original master plan included additional land for expansion, the school only acquired half of the anticipated amount, challenging Perkins Eastman to accommodate the program while creating a sense of campus community. Program needs dictated construction of a new 64,500 sf (6,000 sm) elementary school and 24,000 sf (2,250 sm) fine arts center as well as a 135,000 sf (12,500 sm) addition to the existing high school which was also renovated.
Located on three corners of the campus, the elementary school, David F. Rittmann Fine Arts Center, and high school addition serve as bookends, framing two sides of the ten-acre (four-hectare) campus. The planning of the additions helps to foster each student’s progression through the grades, while also nurturing the academic and social connections of the entire campus community.
CISS viewed the final phase of their campus development—the new high school—as an opportunity to redesign the entire campus’ heating and cooling system with highly efficient geothermal technology. In order to accommodate all five buildings on campus, the system employs 905 vertical heat exchange wells in nine heat exchange areas with wells 260 feet (80 meters) deep into what will be the future natural grass soccer field. The state-of-the-art green technology allows 25-30 percent savings on the school’s energy costs. The resulting campus additions not only met the outlined goals and mission of the CISS master plan, but exceeded expectations for increased community presence with a reduction in overall environmental impact.
