Gorham Middle School

Gorham, Maine

Firm

PDT Architects

Client

Gorham School Department

Area

139,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$20,028,401

Completion Date

09/2003

Gorham Middle School serves 900 students in grades 6, 7 and 8.
The design had three distinct and exceptional goals:
•To design a middle school that provides maximum educational flexibility and opportunity for evolving educational curriculums.
•To be a rugged, flexible, high-performance school with low energy consumption.
•To be the first public school in the state of Maine to rely entirely on geothermal heat exchangers.
The building is zoned for public and academic use. The academic wings are broken into three learning communities. Each learning community has three houses organized around an academic commons and has high-speed computers, student lockers and presentation project rooms.
High-performance features include an exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS), exterior air-barrier system, daylight harvesting, low-transmission glass and solar shades.
The building’s geothermal heat-exchanger system includes 116 six-inch-diameter wells, 15 miles of 1.25-inch pipe, and controls for every room.