Page 46 - spaces4learning, Spring 2023

spaces4learning BUILDING BLUEPRINTS
RETROFITTING AN OLD
TARGET STORE INTO
A NEW SCHOOL CAMPUS
Lincoln School - Independent School District 544 Fergus Falls, Minn.
By Neall Digert
STUDIES SHOW THAT retrofitting existing school buildings is both cheaper and greener, but what happens when
a school district runs out of space for a growing student body?
This was the challenge the Independent School District 544 in Fergus Falls, Minn., faced when it needed a new campus for the Lincoln School. The Lincoln School needed to provide the community with a new early childhood education facility and a home for the Otter Preschool and Children’s Corner.
Newly constructed educational facilities average $250–$350 per square foot, but the district wanted to refrain from raising taxes on local citizens. This led them to a 90,000-square-foot former Target retail store. Their plan was to convert the former big box store into
a healthy, energy-efficient, and vibrant learning facility.
There were several challenges for the design team when planning this
transformation, including compliance to building and fire codes, as well as a lack of windows and overall access to natural daylighting.
With research, case studies, and design guides magnifying the importance of daylight—a source of interior illumination that drives human health, productivity and happiness, as well as overall student performance—the design team knew it needed an adaptive and effective daylighting solution.
Lead architect on the project,
Scott DeMartelaere of Design Intent Architects, commented, “The teachers wanted natural light in all of the classrooms. Because this is a big box, the inner classrooms would not have exterior walls and windows that would allow the introduction of natural light.”
By prioritizing the incorporation
of natural daylight using tubular daylighting solutions, the district was able to make the big box facility highly
functional and full of natural light — breathing new life into a building that was sitting vacant.
Forty-nine Solatube SolaMaster units were used to capture daylight at the rooftop and transfer natural light deep into the interior of the building on both sunny and cloudy days.
46 SPRING 2023 | spaces4learning.com