Menlo-Atherton High School Performing Arts Center

The 31,000-square-foot, 65-foot-high building is inspired by the beauty of the historical grove of Valley Oak trees on campus and has been carefully designed and landscaped to create a tree house-like environment and the impression it is following the contours of an already existing hillside.

The new center also incorporates a range of energy efficient and sustainable features, including a heating and ventilation system that permits only specific zones to be heated or cooled as needed; an unconventional air distribution system that cools from the bottom up (to avoid unnecessary cooling to the rooftop); use of shaded glass and deep roof overhangs to reduce solar load on the building; and extra insulation to avoid heat loss during winter and heat gain in winter – all of which add up to less energy use than similarly sized buildings.