Engineering News-Record Texas & Louisiana has released their 2023 Best Projects Awards based on safety, innovation, craft quality, and community or industry benefit. Both of the K-12 Category winners were PBK projects! Houston ISD’s Bellaire High School was awarded Best Project and Spring Branch ISD’s Stratford High School received Award of Merit. Congratulations to Houston …
Dan Boggio, PBK Executive Chairman, joined The Hechinger Report as they discussed how the design of educational facilities can save energy and create healthier learning places by “hardening buildings against heat.” When schools pull out all the stops for efficiency, he said, “We think we can come very close to saving 20 percent of the energy that …
Is A/C the new ABC? As the country gets hotter, schools need upgrades Read More »
Cliff Whittingstall, Managing Partner of PBK’s San Antonio office, joined EdScoop’s Cutting EDge podcast to discuss the future proof designs of Galveston College’s new Health Sciences Education Center. “Every surface of the room is a big, large projected screen and it interacts with you so you’re fully immersed in the environment,” he says. “To me, …
Melissa Turnbaugh, Partner, National Education & Innovation Leader, discusses the benefits of spending time outdoors for students and office workers in Costar’s article “Is This an Office or a School? Designs Blend as User Needs Overlap.” The article covers the similarities in the design of offices and schools that are becoming more prevalent, such as increased …
Is This an Office or a School? Designs Blend as User Needs Overlap. Read More »
Melissa Turnbaugh, Partner, National Education & Innovation Leader, engages in a conversation with K-12 Dive, exploring the modernization of school building design. She delves into the efforts of L.E.A.R.N. (Learning Environments Action Research Network) a new nonprofit organization collaborating with education design experts, district officials and others to promote safety, access, innovation, health and sustainability in …
During an interview with Education Week, Melissa Turnbaugh proposes a strategy for enhancing attendance, which involves evaluating the learning environments’ quality. She emphasizes three crucial factors: natural light, air quality, and outdoor learning, all of which can contribute to higher student attendance and better teacher retention. Notably, outdoor learning stands out as a cost-effective option, …
Could the Design of Your School Be Hurting Attendance? Read More »
PBK’s Melissa Turnbaugh spoke with the Houston Chronicle about Alief ISD’s new Jefferson Early Learning Center. The design aims to teach children about the region’s natural landscape before urbanization while also addressing urban flooding issues in the area. By engaging the students in hands-on experiences, the program seeks to foster a greater appreciation for nature …
PBK is employing elevated measures of community engagement with research-backed environmental solutions to positively impact how our children are going to learn in a post-pandemic society.
How enhancing classroom audio promotes equity in the classroom, improving academic performance and the overall learning experience. Research shows that the ability to hear clearly in the classroom environment has a profound impact on student engagement, focus, comprehension, and performance. Proper acoustics in the classroom benefit all students, not just those with unique hearing needs. …
By Melissa Turnbaugh, AIA, NCARB The school of the future will be student-centered and will aim to maximize the learner experience as well as the impact on local and global environments and economies. Learning environments will be designed with numerous factors in mind that all play a role in developing and empowering each individual. …
