Greener building proposed for the Carver Center

The new building for the Carver Center for Arts and Technology will aim to foster connection between academic and specialized subjects and have an "environmentally sustainable design" that maximizes natural light, according to a schematic design briefing on the project.

Superintendent Joe A. Hairston referred to the construction project in his report to the Board of Education during its meeting last night. Construction will take place while the existing Towson-area building remains open.

Several options for green building are noted in the briefing, including energy-efficient equipment, occupancy sensors to control light, heat and cooling and the use of "high recycled content" construction materials. A geothermal system might also be considered, said Stephen Parker, the principal architect for the project, during an earlier presentation to the building and contracts committee. The use of natural daylight can enhance learning, he added.

Construction of the three-floor building will be in phases, Parker said, with the process starting as early as the spring. The facility will sit where the school's playing fields and courts now are, a construction fence separating it from the old structure between Kenilworth Drive and York Road, according to the design briefing.

Completion is expected in the spring of 2012. The current Carver Center building, which opened in the late 1940s, will be taken down after that, said Parker, president of Grimm + Parker Architects.

The countywide magnet school, which features specialties in acting, carpentry, cosmetology, dance and visual arts, among other areas, was founded in 1993.