Case Study

Thatcher Hall - Darlington Middle School

Rome, GA.
Size: 53,868 SF
Date of completion: April 2010

CxGBS Services:

Holistic Commissioning^®, Sustainable Design Consulting, LEED^®Project Administration Services, Energy Modeling

Project Overview:

The new Darlington Middle School (official name Thatcher Hall) is an addition to Darlington School, a college preparatory school in Rome, Georgia which serves students in pre-school through 12th grade in both day and boarding capacities. It replaced the existing middle school, originally built in 1962, in order to provide a larger space for a significantly larger student body as well as music and choral rooms, media center, etc. not present in the original building.

The construction is part of the school’s Second Century Campaign to improve and increase the quality of the school in its second century (Darlington School was founded in 1905). The building is 2 stories and roughly 50,000 square feet. Grades are segregated by story, with 5th and 6th graders being on the first floor and 7th-8th graders on the second. Aside from classrooms, the building will house a dining hall, band and choral rooms, a science laboratory, as well as offices for faculty and staff.

CxGBS^® guided the project team to attain the first LEED^® for Schools certification awarded in Georgia.

Sustainable Design Features:

40 percent reduction in overall annual water consumption
28 percent reduction in building energy usage
local materials used in construction
Low use of volatile organic compounds (VOC) materials
Natural daylighting

Team: