New Lighthouse School building READY FOR STUDENTS
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
The Nantucket Lighthouse School's new 6,800- square-foot, two-story building, designed by Architect Steven Blashfield of Chip Webster & Associates and built by Blue Star Construction along with scores of parent volunteers, will be ready for the 2007/2008 school year when its doors open on Sept. 5.

Simple in design and utilitarian in function, the island's latest schoolhouse, built for the private day school that serves children aged 3 _ to 11 years old, or preschool through fifth grade, is a dream come true for teacher-founders Lizbet Carroll-Fuller and Elizabeth Sundell. For architect Blashfield, however, it was a chance to help his community. His design is one that accommodates the Lighthouse School's current student body without too much flare and with plenty of room for expansion.

"We tried to keep things not overly decorated, not really establishing a style," said Blashfield. "I think we made a building that looks like a school, not a house. As time goes by, the building will evolve and will take on the character of the school."

PHOTOS BY ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Shiny floors, custom cubbies (top) and a great green lawn (above) will greet students when the Lighthouse School opens next week.

Sitting on two acres at 1 Rugged Road, the Lighthouse School is an L-shaped building of metal frame and cedar shingled walls topped with a cupola. Classes will be on the ground floor in classrooms, each painted a different color, with cork flooring and large windows. Three concrete floored hallways partially lined with space-saving built-in wood cubbies all lead to an atrium that is styled after a lighthouse.

"Conceptually, we kind of designed the building with a central corridor," said Blashfield. "The design is representative of the lighthouse. By putting the main central space in the core of the building that runs all the way up to the cupola, it lets light into the building. It's just sort of symbolic for the building as a lighthouse."

Other than this nod to the school's moniker, Blashfield designed as basically as he could, ever cognizant of a tight budget of around $1,950,000.

He was able to include a super efficient ventilation system that employs an energy recovery unit to recapture heat expelled through its exhaust system and send it back into the building. And at every turn, he tried to make the building as economical as possible, including a basic layout, the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs and use of the first floor only for the school's needs.

Rather than heat the large second floor space, Blashfield said the school is leaving it unfinished until it either finds island nonprofit groups who want to lease it, or the school needs it to expand as enrollment rises.

"It's pretty simple and straightforward because all we need is space for what we already have," said Carroll-Fuller. "There's seven classrooms, we have a lunchroom/meeting space and office space. The open question is the second floor."

Outside, no jungle gym, slides or swing set have sprouted along with the new grass. Carroll-Fuller said that the school is still working on what sort of recess activities she and the school want their charges to use. Hesitant to cast her students out onto traditional playground equipment, Carroll-Fuller said the Lighthouse School is probably going to explore other more problem solving, team-oriented options such as capture the flag.

"We haven't decided what we're going to do with the outside because the thinking is you limit the amount of creative play that happens by how much structure you place on the outside," she said, adding that soccer and ice-skating is already an option for the older students. "You put up swings and people are fighting over the swings."

That the new building is on time and at budget is due largely to Blashfield's design and Blue Star's ability to coordinate legions of volunteers, including many parents, to work on the building. Because of this group effort, the school will open on time.

"I think that Blue Star really showed a willingness to work with the school and the school is made up of lots of construction workers who [donated labor and materials]," said Blashfield, who pointed out that Marine Home Center donated all of the interior doors and Toscana Corp donated a portion of the concrete. "So in the end, the school managed to come in on time and on budget, which are words you don't hear on

Nantucket very often." I