USM Child and Family Care Center

Location: Gorham, Maine

Overview

LEED Standing

Silver

Project Team

Architect: TFH Architects
Builder: Ganneston Construction
Engineer: Bartlett Design - Electrical
Engineer: Petersen Engineering - Mechanical
Engineer: Deluca Hoffman - Civil

The Child & Family Center on the Gorham campus of The University of Southern Maine has received a Silver Rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project is the latest demonstration of the University’s goal of creating a greener community as well as becoming a national leader in environmental science and policy studies. It is the third project at USM to be LEED certified, the fourth building in Maine to achieve the Silver award and the first childcare center in the state to be so designated.

The project, designed by TFH Architects of Portland, and built by Ganneston Construction, is owned by the University of Southern Maine and operated by both USM and the Peoples Regional Opportunity Program (RPOP). Located on the west side of USM’s Gorham campus, the Center was created to provide infants to five-year-old children with a learning environment that is stimulating, healthy, light-filled, comfortable and attentive to their youthful needs. Spaces take advantage of natural light and natural ventilation, and construction materials are non-toxic and friendly to the environment.

The design solution carved the Center into the campus landscape, embedding the north wall into the adjacent hillside.

Among the unique features of the building are:

Outdoor playscapes constructed of natural materials, boulders, earth berms, wood planters designed and arranged to fit the scale and motor functions of toddlers and pre-schoolers, designed by Landscape Architect Anthony Muench.
A fully-glazed south wall, allowing views from all activity spaces and direct access to the outdoor play areas, as well as passive solar gain.
An underfloor radiant heating system connected to solar collectors mounted on the roof, supplemented by a high-efficiency condensing gas boiler.
A “light-harvesting screen” that bounces sunlight as far as 20 feet into the space, eliminating the need for electric lighting throughout most of the day.
Two north-facing “Sky Monitors” which bring light to the innermost spaces and provide energy-free ventilation.
Gravity turbine ventilators, “Whirligigs,” which move through the building, greatly reducing the need for mechanical cooling.
An interactive touch screen monitor in the Lobby that describes many of the building’s energy-saving and high-performing features.

“From the outset we tried to be mindful of the age of the primary user of the building, their physiological needs and their resulting intellectual growth. Our objective being, to create a rich learning environment where the building itself would reinforce early childhood development for years to come.”

T. Scott Teas, NCARB, AIA
Principal, TFH Architects

Architect: TFH Architects
tst@tfharchitects.com
207-775-6141

Builder: Ganneston Construction
207-621-8505

Engineer: Bartlett Design – Electrical
bartdes@gwi.net
(207) 443-5447

Engineer: Petersen Engineering – Mechanical
(603) 436-4233

Engineer: Deluca Hoffman – Civil
(207) 775-1121