Agenda - Planning Commission - 09/15/2003 - Special Meeting

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on the south, west and east facades. The project economics require that a cost effective material be used for the building envelope. The design team chose architectural precast concrete panels for two reasons - their installed cost and the ability to be erected in cold weather. Precast concrete panels are irfi2erently cost effective due to the tact that they already have the exterior finish, have rigid insulation cast into the panels, are paint~ready on the interior, have electrical conduits embedded within the panels, and have door and window' openings already in place. The panels can be erected in the coldest of conditions, allowing the building to be shelled-in in a very short time flame without incmTing winter condition costs. The exterior finish of the precast panels is to be a buffcolor. The panels will have a 16- inch by 16 inch scoring pattern to emphasize the base, an exposed aggregate finish for the middle section of the panels, and more 16 inch by 16 inch scoring towards the top of the panels. The north side of the building faces East Ramsey Parkway and Ramsey Boulevard. The residentiai district also lies to the north of the school. The north fac, adc serves as ;'il'ont door" to the school. However,. the school has ,four entrance doors (depending on time oI' day, ~'our doors may be used tbr ingress and egress purposes), and the north elevation conveys the sense of the main entrance that this facility must have ~:br visitors to the school, and the residents of Ramsey Town Center. The intersection of Ramsey Boulevard and East Ramsey Parkway serves as a major access point for Ramsey Town Center. Given the impot'tance stated abc. ye, the design team wished to enhance the north fa,cade by incorporating brick, split face concrete block and glass into the elevation. Four split face concrete block pier walls that extend northward from the precast walls flame the north elevation. The split face concrete block, when viewed from Ramsey Boulevard, East Ramsey Parkway, the parking lots and sidewalks simulates the look of natural limestone or Kasota stone, which is a native Minnesota material. The split face concrete block walls serve as bookends for the two glass stair towers. Since the school has numerous evening functions and will serve the community's need tbr large assembly space and indoor athletic facility, the design team expressed the stair towers with internal lighting, thereby highlighting the building entrances and providing safe and secure vestibules for students to wait for their rides. Between the glass stair towers is the administration and special education fimctions on the first floor. The programmatic requirements of the administration and special education areas necessitated that individual windows be incorporated into the design of the fa,cade's first floor. However, directly above the administration and special education fztnctions are the media and att rooms. Here, the design team incorporated continuous windows from sill height to the roof structure to allow as much natural daylighting as possible. Two types of glazing are proposed - a clear glass curtainwall ~br the stair towers; administration and special education areas, and a slightly tinted glass for the balance of the windows, which are predominantly classroom functions. 3O