AIA California recognizes LPA Design Studios’ design of STEAM-focused public high school in Menlo Park in ‘Design for Discovery’ category.
The American Institute of Architects California this week honored LPA Design Studio’s design of the TIDE Academy, a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics)-focused public high school in Menlo Park, California, with a Special Commendation: Design for Discovery award in the 2022 AIA California Design Awards.
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the 400 student, three-story TIDE reimagines the traditional campus to better support career learning and foster connections with local institutions. On a two-acre site in a rapidly changing industrial area, the campus promotes student choice, critical thinking and inquiry-based learning, as well as the interdisciplinary instruction necessary to support STEAM curriculums.
The heart of the TIDE campus is a courtyard with a wide variety of active spaces.
AIA CA honored TIDE in a new category which recognizes projects that excelled specifically in one of the 10 principles outlined in the Framework for Design Excellence. The Framework “represents the defining principles of good design in the 21st century,” the AIA says.
TIDE’s Special Commendation award was for “Design for Discovery,” which highlights the use of performance data and experiential stories to develop spaces that promote a sense of discovery and delight.
The project demonstrated “strong stewardship and great, dynamic, thoughtful design,” jurors said.
“We use the Framework for Design Excellence as the foundation for our design process, which makes this award extra special,” says LPA Design Director Helen Pierce. “TIDE represents discovery in the design process and discovery for students, as they explore different forms of learning.”
The campus promotes student choice, critical thinking and inquiry-based learning, as well as the interdisciplinary instruction necessary to support STEAM curriculums.
TIDE has already received several prestigious honors, including an Award of Excellence from American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE), considered one of the top national honors for school design. In February, the American Institute of Architects California (AIA CA) and the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH) honored TIDE with an Award of Excellence at CASH’s 43rd Annual Conference .
The AIA California Design Awards recognize design that “improves quality of life in places.”
“These awards demonstrate tangible ways architects are making immediate and meaningful impacts in communities while recognizing the importance of climate action and the critical urgency of the issue,” AIA California executive vice-president Nicki Dennis Stephens said in a press release.
