Wando Center for Advanced Studies Wins CEFPI Honor Award
March 18, 2015
MOUNT PLEASANT, SC – The Council for Educational Facilities Planners International (CEFPI) SC presented architecture firm LS3P with an honor award last week for the design of Wando Center for Advanced Studies in Mt Pleasant, SC. The award was presented at the 2015 CEFPI SC annual chapter conference, which was held in Columbia, SC on March 12-13.
The goal of this new leading-edge educational facility for Charleston County School District is to provide technical skills and training beyond the high school level with a unique curriculum that bridges the gap between high school and college, technical college, and the workforce. As such, the building feels more like a university building than a high school. Programs include biomedical science, film, multi-media and visual arts, cosmetology, childcare, health science engineering, horticulture, public safety, and EMS technology. Additional facilities include a 6,100 SF automotive technology building, a greenhouse, and an equipment storage building.
LS3P’s David Burt, AIA, CDT, LEED AP BD+C, served as Project Manager for the endeavor, and worked to tailor each educational space to the particular needs of the innovative curriculum. “There were very few standard school guidelines that applied to the design of this building,” Burt recalls. In addition to the technology component woven into every aspect of the curriculum and design, notable features include sustainable strategies such as daylighting, passive solar technologies, LED fixtures with light sensors, a high-efficiency HVAC system, and ventilation systems designed for excellent indoor air quality. The school is designed to LEED Silver specifications.
Wando Center for Advanced Studies opened to students in the fall of 2014.
Photo credit: Matt Silk
LS3P
Founded in 1963, LS3P was named Southeast Design Firm of the Year for 2014 by Engineering News Record (ENR). A design firm with regional roots and a national reach, LS3P operates from its 6 offices in Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville, SC and Charlotte, Raleigh and Wilmington, NC, providing architecture, interior architecture, and planning services. LS3P is deeply committed to the communities in which it serves, with over 425 design awards in diverse practice areas. For more information on LS3P, visit www.ls3p.com.
