Miller Hull

Award of Excellence & Hawaiʻi Energy Award
Institutional

Honouliuli Middle School
Firms: Ferraro Choi And Associates, Ltd with The Miller Hull Partnership
Client: State of Hawai‘i Department of Education
Contractor: Nan, Inc.
Location: East Kapolei, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi

Built on an 18 acre parcel previously used for sugarcane, Honouliuli Middle School’s design encompasses a mixed mode approach.

“Mixed mode means classrooms have been carefully designed so students will be comfortable in air conditioning during the warm season, and in natural ventilation during the cooler months,” says Bill Brooks, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Ferraro Choi and Associates. “It redefines ‘sense of place’ as architecture that is suited to the climate and culture of a specific place, capturing trade winds, providing shade, introducing daylight, utilizing native landscaping and maintaining views.”

Conversations with students, faculty, staff and community members “became the foundation of the organization of the campus that incorporated one front door, a series of buildings surrounding a shared commons and education on display,” says Ruth Baleiko, FAIA, Partner, The Miller Hull Partnership. “This organizational strategy recognizes that the middle schooler’s network of influence shifts from family to friends and supports the benefit of having space that they can treat as their own in this important stage of development.”

Honouliuli Middle School is the first whole public school project in the state to achieve Hawaii-Collaborative for High Performance Schools (HICHPS) Verified certification. HI-CHPS schools are defined as high-performance learning environments that are healthy, comfortable, conserve energy, water and resources, safe, adaptable and easy to operate and maintain. What began with a goal of creating a paradigm shift in Department of Education school design has resulted in a flexible, modern space that is considerate of its sense of place and will provide multifunctional learning for many years to come.

Read the full story at Hawaii Business Magazine