Awards Northern New England People

PDT Architects Wins Award for Mt. Blue Campus

Mt. Blue

Mt. Blue

Farmington ME – PDT Architects has been awarded a 2015 Lee J. Brockway Award for school renovation/addition projects by the Association for Learning Environments (formerly CEFPI, the Council for Educational Facility Planning International). The association’s annual competition and exhibition of international school architectural design is described as “The world’s largest juried exhibit recognizing exceptional planning and inspired architectural design of high quality learning environments.” Lyndon D. Keck, AIA, LEED AP, founding principal of PDT Architects, was the principal-in-charge; Alan G. Kuniholm, AIA, LEED AP, also a principal with PDT, was the design principal.

Mt. Blue Campus in Farmington is a combined academic and career technical high school for 950 students that underwent a 3-year renovation/addition makeover that opened in 2013. The design integrates academic and technical disciplines in 3 learning communities in one building, giving students flexibility to follow broad interests through the curriculum. Under the leadership of PDT, Superintendent Michael Cormier, and consultant Frank Locker, the Futures Team developed an educational vision with 3 cornerstones: an interdisciplinary organizational model, real-world educational experiences, and attention to individual students. Dr. Cormier was succeeded by Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ward shortly before construction was completed.

The school district of 10 towns participated actively in planning and fundraising for the project, which was conceived as a community hub for civic meetings, performances, continuing education, displays, training, and athletic events. Public spaces in the school, including the Bjorn Auditorium, the Forum, the food court, the library, and the café, open off of a central “Main Street.” The LEED for Schools-Certified building is extremely energy-efficient and takes advantage of its beautiful hilltop site to power solar and photovoltaic panels and 2 wind turbines. It is heated and cooled with a combination of geothermal heat pump and biomass boiler systems.

Consultants on the project include Frank Locker Educational Planning, Lincoln/Haney Engineering Associates, Bennett Engineering, TabbTech, Cavanaugh-Tocci Associates, J & M Lighting Design, TJM Consulting, and then-DeLuca-Hoffman Associates (then FST, now Stantec). The building was built by Wright-Ryan Construction of Portland.