Our Largest Safe Room!

Posted By bsapp – Aug 11 | 2015

On, Monday August 10th 2015 Neosho opened a new addition to it’s high schools that solves multiple needs by blending, safety, aesthetics and space needs into a 14,000 sf FEMA tornado safe room. This space features 18 new classrooms with FEMA rated windows that are able take impacts up too 200 mph, while providing natural light into the classrooms. Safety being the key this structure will withstand a tornado with winds up to 250 mph and protect up to 2366 occupants!

A side benefit of the addition is a new entrance and two story facade giving the building a modern look, one that the community and students can be proud of.

2015 Solar Decathlon

Posted By bsapp – Aug 3 | 2015

This past weekend, Sapp Design Architects decided to put our muscle where our mouth is regarding energy efficiency and cutting-edge, high-tech design. The firm volunteered to help out on the Crowder College and Drury University’s Design-Build Solar Decathlon House. Our own summer intern, Jonas Gassmann, a Drury University Architecture student, leads the volunteer efforts and is also one of the Designers of this amazing project. Once completed, the house will be deconstructed and shipped to Irvine, California. Once in California the house will be reconstructed and monitored for its energy efficiency under real-world conditions. The Crowder/Drury team will then be judged against other teams from across the U.S.

A full look at the project can be seen here and here.

About the Competition:

This national competition by the U.S. Department of Energy challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

A School for Burkina Faso

Posted By bsapp – Dec 22 | 2014

This holiday season we all have many things to be thankful for. At Sapp Design Architects we are thankful for another great and successful year after the completion of several new schools. We are thankful to live in a community that places such a large emphasis on public education, and for all of the dedicated teachers and administrators who hold our schools to the highest standards in the state of Missouri. We often take for granted the public education systems we have in place and forget that about 57 million primary school age children do not have access to schools. That is why this year we at Sapp Design Architects are thankful to have a team member taking action by designing a primary school for one of Africa’s poorest countries, Burkina Faso.

With his passion for designing schools driving him, Benjamin Hall has co-founded the non-profit For Burkina, and is working with Hammons School of Architecture students to design socially oriented architecture for the country of Burkina Faso, Africa. The group’s mission is, “to create sustainable, economical, and dignifying architectural designs that improve the well-being and livelihood of inhabitants.” Working in collaboration with the non-profit BuildOn, the group is designing what will become BuildOn’s prototype school for both Burkina Faso and Mali, Africa. With the the design of the school complete, the group is now raising the necessary $32,000 to construct it. In March of 2015, members of the group will travel to Burkina Faso to work with the selected community in building the first school using their design.

Donate Now

“We view this process as a way to give back through our talents as designers and organizers,” says Benjamin, “Our goal is to continue to build off this experience, and to continue providing access to education in Burkina Faso. We believe the best ideas for shaping our future will stem from places of scarcity, and eventually we’d like to find a way to use the lessons we’ve learned in Burkina Faso to serve the local community.”

The design of the school is the result of months of research into the climate and culture of Burkina Faso. It is simple yet elegant, and it takes into account local construction methods. With the exception of a welder, the school will be constructed using non-electric hand tools for a cost of about $13.50 per square foot. For a comparison, a low cost school in Missouri is about $150 per square foot.

It’s been exciting to witness Benjamin using the skills and lessons learned while working at SDA to give back to those most in need while still maintaining his commitment to the firm. To learn more about For Burkina and to contribute to their fund-raising campaign, check them out at ForBurkinaFaso.com.

Groundbreaking Sherwood Elementary School

Posted By bsapp – Jul 17 | 2014

July 16, 2014 Springfield Public Schools broke ground on the New Sherwood Elementary School. This new innovative school designed by Sapp Design Associates Architects will feature many firsts for the district and state of Missouri, including a unique partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. This will be the first school in the state of Missouri that has a dedicated BGC as part of the school building. This will allow students to easily attend the Boys and Girls Club after school without having to be bussed to a different location and provides additional funding for the school district creating a true win/win for everyone.

The school will feature many collaboration spaces or “learning Parks” that promote an active learning environment along with brain friendly color schemes. The goal of the design is to create as much flexibility as possible so that no matter how educations changes over the years the school will be able to quickly adapt.

Safety

The gymnasium of the new school will be designed to meet the structural requirements of a FEMA 361 Safe Room. The project is not receiving FEMA funding, but the school is committed to providing the safe room for the security of the kids and staff.

Net Zero (capable)

The most cutting edge feature of this project is that it is Net Zero capable. A Net Zero building is one that uses very little energy and is powered completely by solar panels and or wind turbines. This project will not initially include solar nor wind power, but will be a very low energy consumer, so the future addition of solar and wind power will make it Net Zero and completely off the utility grid.

2014 AIA Springfield Design Awards

Posted By bsapp – May 5 | 2014

On May 2, 2014, Sapp Design Associates Architects, P.C. was presented with three American Institute of Architects (AIA) Springfield Design Awards given at the DA 2014 Awards Ceremony. Each submission was judged by both a Public and a Professional Jury. Sapp Design is very grateful for its two Public Recognition Awards and one Honorable Mention Award. This year’s awards were given to Mid-Continent Public Library’s Woodneath Library Center, Joplin School’s Irving Elementary, and Baxter County’s Donald W. Reynolds Library.

Every two years the Springfield Chapter of the AIA holds a reception and design awards program to recognize exceptional architecture in our community. Projects are judged by a jury of architectural professionals and a separate public jury. This year’s professional jury was headed by Carlos Jiménez, a distinguished Architect and Professor at Rice University, and the public jury consisted of Nancy Chickaraishi – Hammons School of Architecture, Jonathan Gano – City of Springfield Public Works, Nick Nelson – Springfield Art Museum, Chris Rozier – Chamber of Commerce, Ryan Allison – Convention Visitor Bureau, and Jason Graf – Crowdit.

Thank you to the juries for all their gracious comments, and a very special thanks to our clients, because great projects can’t happen without great Clients!

Joplin Schools: Building Back Stronger

Posted By bsapp – Jan 8 | 2014

On May 22, 2011, one of the nation’s most destructive tornados tore through Joplin, Missouri, destroying two elementary schools, one middle school, the high school and the Franklin Technology Center. This week marks a great milestone for Joplin, Missouri, one that we are proud, yet humble to be apart of.

Our journey started with a promise Superintendent CJ Huff made to the Joplin community: “School will start on time next August”, just days after the tornado. Our team was brought on to rebuild The Franklin Technology Center. This was the district’s most complicated project, because it was more than just school with classroom walls and smart boards. It was essentially 8 small businesses that would have to be retrofitted inside an existing 50,000 S.F warehouse. This retro fit was massive undertaking, considering the 90 day schedule to design, bid and construct the project.

The Franklin Technology Center program included Nursing, Auto Tech, HVAC, Welding, Culinary Arts, Drafting, Construction Tech, Computer Tech and also housed administrative staff. These complicated spaces paired with fast paced schedule, made for some late nights as plans were being drawn in many cases dayst before the contractor would start construction. Our team, along with many hard-working dedicated consultants, suppliers, contractors, & owners representatives, were able to complete the project in under 80 days, adhering to Joplin’s promise that school would start on time.

Pam Haldiman, Architect and Project Manager at Sapp Design was awarded a National Association of Woman in Construction “Vesta Award” for her outstanding dedication to this project.

[heading]Moving Forward | Irving Elementary [/heading]

After several rounds of interviews, Sapp Design was selected for the Irving and Emerson Elementary project. The new elementary school combines both Irving and Emerson into one new 21st Century Elementary School. The idea was not to just build back, but to build back stronger. Irving Elementary features two integrated FEMA safe rooms that will provide near absolute protection during an EF5 tornado. These FEMA safe rooms can house the school’s whole student population and over 800 people from the surrounding community, while serving a duel purpose as specialized classroom spaces and the school’s main gymnasium.

21st Century Learning

As part of the design process the kids were directly involved in picking many of the colors and shapes that can be seen in the new building. The school features adaptive learning spaces that promote collaboration and flexibility. The collaborative learning spaces or “learning parks” at Irving are wide hallways that help teachers to share resources or teach in large groups. Each learning park is themed, with lots of color and natural light to enhance the overall learning experience.

Environmental Health

– Large windows and skylights capture daylight to minimize artificial lighting
– A building management system controls fresh air, temperature and lighting
– Strong thermal envelope reduces heating and cooling cost
– Low-flow plumbing fixtures reduce water consumption and waste
– Recycling stations and water bottle refill stations decrease waste and teach students responsibility
– 70% of the materials are regional or Joplin specific

Kathy Allee is Retiring

Posted By bsapp – Dec 31 | 2013

After 17 years our beloved Executive Secretary is retiring. Over the years Kathy has represented our company with grace, professionalism and a welcoming face as you walk through the front door. We are all happy for her to start this exciting new phase of her life, but are going to miss the amazing custom cakes and treats she would take the time to make for each persons birthday.

Congratulations Kathy and Happy Retirement!

Tornado Safe Rooms | Building Safer Schools

Posted By bsapp – Nov 18 | 2013

Tornado Safe Rooms can Protect Schools and Communities while serving a dual purposes as multipurpose gyms, classrooms, cafeterias and community rooms.

The Midwest is no stranger to tornados but unfortunately when most people think of a tornado shelter they typically think of an underground bunker used only during a storm. While underground safe rooms do provide a safe place it is hard to effectively make the space serve a duel purpose and can actually cost more than an above ground structure.

Since 2006 Sapp Design Associates Architects has taken a different approach by helping dozen of school districts and communities design their safe room as a multifunctional space that is incorporated into the daily functions of a school or community. Our design team has designed safe rooms that serve as multipurpose gyms, classroom, cafeterias and community rooms.

Recently we have been working with Joplin, Missouri school district’s new Irving Elementary School, which was destroyed by the devastating May 22, 2011 tornado. The new elementary school features 2safe room that can house the entire school population as well as anyone within a min walk to the schools. The schools main Safe Room can hold well over 1000 people in event of a tornado, but on daily basis functions as the school main gym space featuring bright colors and even FEMA rated windows to provide natural light into the space.

When it comes to building these structures there is a premium in the cost, However FEMA has grants programs that can help pay for the construction of these safe rooms. Through the Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) or the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program (PDM), FEMA funding for safe rooms can cover up to 75% of the cost of construction for a facility that will provide near absolute protection during an EF-5 tornado.

Kfor TV out of Oklahoma City did a great story on Joplin Schools and the new Irving Elementary School designed by Sapp Design Associates Architects.

SDA Presents at Library Journal’s Design Institute in St. Louis

Posted By bsapp – Nov 13 | 2013

Last week Sapp Design Associates’s Library Design team was invited to St. Louis to participate in the Library Journal’s “Design Institute”. This highly acclaimed library design event brought together leading architectural firms in library design and over 100 library directors from across the country. The Design Institute’s focus was to address the challenges libraries face in reconfiguring their spaces to accommodate changing user needs such as ebooks and other digital resources expand and lifelong learning and literacy, which is ever more critical today. Designers Jim Stufflebeam, Eric Street, and Lisa Drew-Alton from SDA were part of several panel discussions, as well as design workshops.

A key feature of the Design Institute allows for library directors to submit specific design challenges. These challenges are then narrowed down and paired with an architectural firm by the Library Journal. Each architectural team works collaboratively with their group through various interactive exercises to explore, solve, and present new ideas on the challenge given.

Our Design Challenge: Brentwood Public Library

SDA was partnered with Vicki Woods, Director of the Brentwood Public Library, which is part of the Municipal Library Consortium that serves portions of St. Louis County, Missouri. Brentwood is a small, well used suburban library, nestled in the basement of the City Hall, which is a dilapidated 75-year old building that is partially vacant. The building has several grade changes, but only three stories. It has too many stacks and not enough collaboration space (meeting & study rooms), seating areas, and office / workroom space. The library is trying to decide whether to renovate the existing structure or build a new facility.

The design challenge focused on the process of how to make this kind of decision. SDA led discussions looking at the library’s requirements for space and programming, the needs of the community, demographics of the city and the patron’s. The discussions then explored limitations of the existing building and site as well as various funding options that are available. It also weighed the advantages and disadvantages of renovating verse building a new structure and how those decisions might affect the ability to provide 21^st century destination library services.

At the end of the session, participants left with tools and ideas on how to make the necessary decisions that will engage their communities to better serve their library districts.

Bonnie Crawford Wins Rosebud Award!

Posted By bsapp – Nov 8 | 2013

This year at the 2013 Springfield Missouri Contractors Association Dinner, NAWIC (The National Association of Women in Construction ) Southwest Missouri Chapter presented SDA’s Bonnie Crawford, AIA , LEED AP with this year’s Rosebud Award. NAWIC’s prestigious Rosebud award celebrates outstanding woman in construction who have 10 years or less experience in the field of construction. To win this prestigious award many letters of recommendation must be submitted and is reviewed by a group not associated with the construction industry.

Bonnie Joined SDA in 2005 after graduating from Drury University’s Hammons School of Architecture. Since that time Bonnie has completed her Architectural Registration exams and is now a Licensed Architect and has participated in several landmark projects in our community. Bonnie excels at each challenge and responsibility she is given with a positive “let’s get it done” attitude and always with a meticulous eye for detail. Bonnie is not only a valuable member of our Team, but also to the Design and Construction Industry as a whole by investing her time and energy into educating students at various career activities and through the Springfield Contractors Association Scholarship Committee.

Client Quotes,

“Bonnie Crawford is the best listener I have ever known and she then causes that listening to become buildings; buildings that are beautiful, functional, and that the children of this district love.”

Richard L. Henson, Ed.D. – Superintendent of Clever R-V Schools