This new school building in the Duranes neighborhood of Albuquerque, New Mexico was designed to meet the LEED For Schools, Certified standards. The project has numerous sustainable amenities and a real design focus on indoor environmental quality. The school has been designed to facilitate great teaching and student achievement. Energy and Environmental Design strategies include natural daylighting, reduction of VOC's, fresh air supply/ air exchanges, acoustic design, locally-produced materials, and rainwater harvesting.

The Duranes Kindergarten has been met with excitement and gratitude from the teachers and school community in general.
"[We] were able to go on a tour of the new building and we are very pleased with everything…. Just wanted to let you know how happy we are. Thanks for everything." - Ramona Corona-Desmond, Kindergarten Teacher.

This new classroom building for the Albuquerque public school system is designed as an exciting and functional facility, which will promote creativity and be conducive to teaching and learning. This project is seeking USGBC LEED For Schools, Gold Certification. Many of the same LEED strategies listed in the Duranes Elementary project have been utilized here, with the addition of natural light monitors, an active recycling room, and enhanced acoustics. The classrooms have been designed to be spacious, quiet and naturally lit.

- Spacious. Each classroom, which will house 4th and 5th grade students, is approximately 980 square feet. Larger classrooms which were requested by the user group allow various furniture layouts, reduce overcrowding and can facilitate project-based learning.

- Acoustics. Ceilings are constructed of Tectum, a unique structural panel which performs approximately 60% better in NRC (noise reduction) than the standard acoustical tiles. HVAC equipment is sound
isolated from the classrooms and specified to have low operational noise.

- Natural light / views. Our site necessitated a north / south orientation, so primary windows are to the east and the west. The sun has been controlled with large overhangs and orientation to limit glare and overheating. Large "light monitors" have been provided in the middle of the rooms to bring the natural light into the back of the room.

Since the Barcelona campus has a very limited area, it is especially important that the building is integrated into the site in a non-intrusive way. The building footprint strengthens the existing circulation artery from the playground to the field through the new breezeway. The design also provides a safe and sheltered waiting area for students at the pick-up/ drop-off area.

This is the winning competition entry for 8 new "Artistic Bus Shelters" in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The City of Las Cruces intends to install a series of bus shelters imbued with “cultural significance” and educational value. Our proposal identifies a natural phenomenon unique to Las Cruces among New Mexican cities; The City lies in the annual migration path of the Monarch butterfly, an endangered species.

The clustering pattern of hibernating Monarchs suggested a method of creating a panelized system that would allow shelters to be customized depending on the size of their installation site and their degree of use. Additionally, the colored, translucent infill panels allow for individuation and route marking.
The individual panels will be shop-fabricated with the newest technology. Both the webbing and translucent panel will be cut by a CNC (computer numerically controlled) plasma cutter for a high degree of precision.

Baker A+D teamed with Chris Beccone and Modulus, a fabrication shop in Albuquerque to propose these shelters.