Freeport Middle School
This 150,000 square foot middle school is located in a rural north Florida panhandle county with a close adjacency to the Gulf of Mexico. The most memorable Architecture in the area is reflected in the simplicity and straightforward nature of the small, non-descript structures that one finds scattered throughout the local environment. Covered footbridges, small country churches, and tin roofed Victorian era houses all display a welcoming simplicity, devoid of fashion or current design trends. These are Archetypal structures that display a timelessness that transcends the current fashions of the day. Notable structures in the area also reflect a distinctly “coastal character” due to the projects close adjacency to the Gulf Coast.
The two-story educational facility is organized along an interior “street”, the structure and nature of which is intended to recall the numerous steel and wooden pedestrian and vehicular bridges scattered throughout the immediate area. The media center is positioned as the educational heart of the facility with the gymnasium and cafetorium providing appropriate bookends. Concrete masonry units were the ideal material to graft the building to the site and complement the visually lighter metal wall siding and standing seam roofing materials.
Masonry was a natural and logical material choice for both the interior and exterior of the Middle School due to its inherent durability, low maintenance and natural beauty. Both painted and ground face concrete masonry units were used for roughly 90% of all the interior partitions. The choice of exposed ground face and painted CMU for the vast majority of interior partitions was an early design decision resulting from the anticipated harsh abuse most middle schools are usually subjected to coupled with the need for the school to function as an EHPA (Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area). Gypsum wallboard and other thin cladding materials were ruled out as potential choices very early in the design process. Exterior masonry consisting of both split and ground face units were incorporated into a cavity wall consisting of 4” veneer block, air space with rigid insulation, and backed up with either 8” or 12” load bearing concrete masonry units, the majority of which became the finished interior material of the exterior walls.
The split and ground faced concrete masonry units were produced with a unique “limestone/shell” aggregate adding additional texture and character to the block and further integrating the project into its coastal context. Ground face CMU units were incorporated within larger split face surfaces in an effort to provide additional visual and textural relief. Numerous design studies were conducted to determine how best to integrate the smooth ground face block units within the larger field of rough textured split face block surfaces. These units were randomly placed by the masons following a rigorous set of “rules” outlined by the design team. The textural difference is subtle, but obvious, due to the intensity of the sun filled Florida climate and serves to further highlight the unique materiality of both products.
