Considered the flagship of the Minnetonka Public School District #276, which serves approximately 8,400 students in grades K-12, the high school was the first among the district schools to receive a facelift. Completed in January 2009, the project included a secure entry and office space within a two-story beacon-like rotunda. Four elementary schools and two middle schools also received entryway facelifts that spring.
“Our overall goal was to give the schools a facelift that would display a strong image of schools of excellence,” said Tammy Magney, partner and project architect, ATS&R Planners/Architects/Engineers. Additionally, the Minnetonka Public School District wanted to create more secure yet friendly building entryways for students and visiting parents.
“The entire entry at Minnetonka High School was torn out and replaced with a two-story glass-filled entryway that glows like a beacon,” according to Magney. “We used this architectural element to create an obvious and welcoming entry symbol.”
The high school entryway features a vestibule that is open before and after school and locked for security during the school day. The school office sits adjacent to the vestibule offering “a warm, welcoming and inviting reception to visitors,” Magney said. “Once the bell rings, the inside doors are locked.”
Alucobond Aluminum Composite Material by Alcan Composites USA was selected as cladding for exterior canopies, soffits and fascia, as well as for both exterior and interior column elements. The building updates utilized 5,359 square feet (498 m2) of 0.16-inch (4-mm) Alucobond in custom Arabian Blue and 4,385 square feet (407 m2) of 0.16-inch Alucobond in Platinum Mica. The Alucobond panels were installed on the high school with a route and return wet-sealed system.
Alucobond’s ability to be bent into curved shapes was greatly utilized in the high school entryway. In addition to wrapping 32 exterior columns located beneath the school’s canopies, Alucobond covered six round cylindrical interior columns that stretch floor-to-ceiling in the two-story entryway as well as four upper-level interior columns.
General contractor: Merrimac Construction Co. Inc., Bethel, Minn.
Architect: ATS&R Planners/Architects/Engineers, Minneapolis
Fabricator/installer: Innovative Building Concepts Inc., Bloomington, Minn.
Distributor: EBP LLC, Excelsior, Minn.
Metal wall panels: Alcan Composites USA Inc., Mooresville, N.C., www.alucobondusa.com
