Alvin ISD, Houston ISD, McKinney ISD, and Northwest ISD have been selected to receive the Caudill Award, the highest honor in the annual Exhibit of School Architecture competition facilitated by TASA and TASB for projects that exemplify excellence in planning and design of the learning environment. The architectural projects will be on display in the exhibit hall and the winners will be recognized during the 2018 TASA Midwinter Conference in Austin January 28-31.
The four winning projects received at least four stars from six areas of distinction, making them eligible for the Caudill Award, which is named after Texas architect William Wayne Caudill (1914–1983), whose progressive concepts continue to influence school design.
Alvin ISD won for Shadow Creek High School, a new school serving 2,500 students in grades 9-12. The three-story building has 558,108 square feet of space and features an auditorium and natatorium. The project also included football, soccer, baseball, and softball fields, as well as a district maintenance building.
Houston ISD won for the replacement of Condit Elementary — a school that had served the community for more than 100 years. The interior and exterior design of the new compact, two-story transformational learning environment fulfills the desire of the community for a nontraditional school. The visually open facility provides students with a variety of choices for task focus or casual spaces.
McKinney ISD won for additions and renovations to the existing McKinney North High School to: expand fine arts; enhance the career and technical education programs in the fields of health science, robotics and aviation; improve the safety and security of students; and update the aesthetics of the building.
Northwest ISD won for its Outdoor Learning Center, a 193-acre facility that serves up to 650 students each day. The site has ponds, woodlands, and wetlands with trails designed to offer opportunities for teaching and learning. New facilities include the “Great Hall” and three pavilions that can hold up to 600 people. The Great Hall, as the main entry point, provides various sized indoor community, business, and district functions.
Stantec was the architect for the Alvin, McKinney, and Northwest ISD projects, and VLK Architects designed the Houston ISD project.
The Exhibit of School Architecture awards are given at the discretion of a 12-member jury (four school board members, four administrators, two representatives from the Texas Society of Architects and two representatives from the Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). The Caudill Award winners were chosen from among 27 projects awarded Stars of Distinction in the areas of community, planning, transformation, design, value and sustainability.
