Project By: Hummel Architects
Lot size: 19.49 acres
Project size: 41,418 sq. ft.
Location: Meridian, ID
Design Team
Ed Daniels / Partner
Megan Bedke / Project Manager
Andrew Lauda / Project Manager
Jacob Rivard / Project Manager
Isaac Prado / Project Coordinator
Jennifer Duke-Turner / Interior Designer
Caroline Woods / Interior Designer
Molly Pittman / Interior Designer
Brian Coleman / Architectural Staff
Zacharia Lester / Architectural Staff
Renee Quintero-Loustaunau / Architectural Staff
Hannah Beauvais / Architectural Staff
TJ Hammersland-Torres / Architectural Staff
Samia Amina / Architectural Staff
Lindsey Egbert / Architectural Staff
Luke Ivers / Architectural Staff
Collaborators
Collaborative Learning Network / Educational Planner
Krizenbeck Construction / Construction Contractor
The Land Group / Landscape Architecture
Cator Ruma & Associates / M/E/P Consultants
KPFF / Structural Engineering
As a magnet school, Idaho Fine Arts Academy (IFAA) offers middle school and high school students basic core classes, as well as the opportunity to hone their own artistic disciplines such as dance, instrumental or vocal music, theater and visual arts. With art at the center of the school’s mission, spaces were designed to spark creativity and foster collaboration. Through collaboration with the owner and users, they customized a building design driven by this vision while providing unique spaces that support each artistic specialty.
The first floor is home to contemporary dance studio spaces with sprung floors that allow dancers to practice in high-quality performance spaces that support a variety of dance styles. The studios open up to one another, providing maximum flexibility, and overhead garage doors at each studio open onto a common space that allows performances to bleed out of the studio and into the rest of the school.
The visual art rooms provide ample workspace for those yearning to create. This wing is equipped with a full-sized pottery kiln, spray booth, utility sinks and extensive storage for all types of artistic mediums.
A dedicated wing of the school houses the vocal and instrumental performance spaces that were specifically detailed to mitigate sound transfer and provide acoustical performance for group practice spaces and individual practice rooms. Strategies for these spaces included isolated suspended ceilings with acoustical tiles to reverberate and absorb sound, Soundguard wall framing system to isolate noise, and acoustic paneling and finishes to absorb sound. The music wing is complete with a recording studio for students to sharpen their skill set for monitoring and recording music.
The Black Box theater space allows for learning and informal student performances. Plans for future expansion include a Thrust Theater to provide a versatile theatrical space for larger performances. This room contains a pipe grid ceiling structure to support different types of stage lighting, creating an adaptable theater space.
The facade speaks to the function of the space with a custom sequence of metal paneling that reads like sheet music across the face of the building. The insulated concrete masonry units provide thermal performance while adding a whimsical aspect through the masonry pattern.
