Sugarloaf Middle School
Sugarloaf Key, Florida
Construction Cost: $17.5M
Completion Date: 2000
PGAL provided Master planning and full a/e services for this new 125,000 square foot middle school with a student capacity of 900 students, located on an environmentally sensitive 14-acre site. Programming services included providing an ed-spec, which conforms to SREF standards. The design concept of the five-building campus layout and the orientation of the buildings take full advantage of the fresh water wetlands and hammock area to the east as an extension of the classroom. Program elements include a gymnasium/recreational center, music and fine arts building, a two-story general classroom building, a media center with administrative offices, a multi-purpose cafetorium and 850 student stations. All buildings are interconnected by a covered walkway and surround the main drop-off and parking areas. Site design challenges included importing ten feet of fill to bring the finished floor elevations up to FEMA requirements and accommodating football/track and baseball fields on the tight site. All of the buildings are equipped with hurricane shutters and laminated glazing systems. The $17.5 million middle school was completed in 2000.