Daylight Fills Tootin' Hills

Some say the name comes from the sound of train whistles echoing off the Farmington Valley hills. Others cite frequent car honking from anxious drivers on curvy roads. A third explanation involves horns from a proposed hunting club. Nevertheless, everyone in West Simsbury, Connecticut, knows Tootin' Hills as the local elementary school.

As in many American cities and towns, the district decided on an addition and renovation for the school to handle its expanding student population. Most extracurricular activity areas were moved into the new section and their former location converted into much-needed class space. A Media Center, computer lab and a pair of sixth-grade classrooms share Tootin' Hills' 18,000-square-foot annex with music, art and special education facilities. Its brick exterior and windows blending carefully with the existing structure, the addition was designed also for use beyond traditional school hours, including the summer. The most interesting parts of the addition, however, are the Media Center and art rooms, both of which benefit from daylighting with Kalwall translucent panels.

"Natural light is crucial for those two areas," says design team member Mark Welch, AIA, of OakPark Architects, LLC, of West Hartford, Connecticut. The firm created a Media Center with math and reading rooms, the computer lab, teachers prep and bookbinding rooms as well as the book stacks and reference areas found in a traditional school library. "We wrapped the space with a translucent clerestory. The Kalwall panels bathe the Media Center in gentle, shadowless daylight that makes reading easier and cuts the glare off computer screens."

Computer screens are susceptible to glare from the uncontrolled daylight of conventional windows, making them hard to read and causing eyestrain. Kalwall's diffuse, natural daylight is ideal for reducing computer screen glare while also saving on lighting costs. The panels' translucent, diffuse-light properties deliver the best quality of natural daylight. Kalwall transmits even, usable natural light, eliminating hot spots and shadows often associated with traditional glazing. Minute glass fibers within the surface of the panels act like prisms to magnify and transform even the lowest levels of daylight into uniformly balanced illumination.

For the two art rooms at the end of the Tootin' Hills addition, Welch took his cue from the Media Center and employed a similar strategy. "We used Kalwall in a clerestory light well to offer natural daylight to both spaces all day. Kalwall's glare-free light is ideal for art activities and the custom-designed display case between the rooms that features the students' work.

"Schools are a huge expense for any community's taxpayers, yet they need to last a long time under very hard use," adds Welch. "The Media Center is used by Tootin' Hills students as well as groups outside of the school. Kalwall's design and sturdiness reduce long-term janitorial and repair expenses." Since the panels are self-cleaning, normal rainfall creates a sheeting action to scrub the surface. Kalwall is rugged, shatterproof, vandal-resistant, and maintenance-free, further lowering expenses over time by reducing capital outlays for replacement.

In all, the school uses 600 square feet of 4' high Kalwall panels and six, 4' x 4' Kalwall window units for ventilation. With the inclusion of natural daylight in Tootin' Hills' design, students benefit from a better quality of learning, a less tangible, too-often overlooked advantage that is nonetheless central to a school's mission. Along with optimal indoor air quality and temperature, many studies confirm natural daylight contributes to improved student health as well as test scores. For example, in schools with properly diffused natural light surveyed in 1998 by Heshong-Mahone, a Seattle, Washington, research group, students raised their test scores 20% in math and 26% in reading.

According to Welch, both the West Simsbury School District and its students are "very pleased" with the way Kalwall brightens their school day. He calls Kalwall "the correct product for the needs of the design." OakPark's plan clearly pleased others as well, as it won awards including a National Art Education Association Facility Design Award for the art rooms. "Without a doubt," says Welch, "Kalwall is a huge factor in the overall success of the Tootin' Hills Elementary School addition."

Architect: OakPark Architects, LLC, West Hartford, CT

Kalwall Specifications:
Light Transmission: 30%
Solar Heat Gain Coefficient: 0.26
U-Factor: .23 by NFRC-100
Panel Color: Crystal
Trim Color: Hunter Green

For more information, contact:
Bruce Keller
Kalwall Corporation
1-800-258-9777