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For more than a decade,Vitale has been designingand planning innovative learning environments for the international school community.

Ron Vitale is a principal of Perkins Eastman and serves asmanaging principal of the firm’s growing Shanghai office.He has more than 25 years of experience in the designand management of a variety of architectural projects. An award-winning designer whose projects have beenrecognised and published nationally and internationally, formore than a decade, Vitale has passionately focused his talentson designing and planning innovative pre-K through grade12learning environments for the international school community.His clients include The International School of Beijing, DulwichCollege (Shanghai, Suzhou and Beijing), GEMS WellingtonSchools (Abu Dhabi), Huijia International School Beijing, andConcordia International School (Shanghai and Hanoi).

Latest projects by Perkins Eastman

Perkins Eastman has been practicing in China for almost 15years, and in 2007 created a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise(WFOE) in Shanghai to better serve clients in Eastern Asia.The firm’s recently completed projects include The Hall ofAcademics, the headquarters of China’s Academy of Sciences;Jinan South City, a large new community in Shandong; andWanliu Shopping Center, a large new retail center in Beijingas well as various master plans and large-scale developmentplans. Perkins Eastman is expanding its presence in Asia withthe planned opening of an office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamin 2011.

Huijia International School, Beijing

Huijia International School is a K-12 all-boarding schooloffering Chinese and foreign students a world class education.In 1997, Huijia became the first member school of International Baccalaureate Organization in the world to offer IB programin mainland China. After over 10 years of development, it hasbecome one of the top ranking advanced private schools inChina.Seeking to build on their success, the school contractedPerkins Eastman to develop a master plan and design for theirnew IB high school campus, located adjacent to the existingUniversity campus. The school for 1,800 high school students,grades 10 through 12, is based on a ‘live-learn’ model for college preparation. This model offers students with around-the-clock, full-service educational experienceinfusing the latest in technology integration 

and transdisciplinarylearning.

The campus is planned with purpose-built high schoolfacilities including an academic complex which includestwo libraries, a 300-seat lecture hall, and a technologyrichstudy and activities concourse. Facilities shared withUniversity students include the Sports and Fitness Center,an Ice Hockey Rink, and a Performing Arts Center.

Concordia International School Shanghai,Shanghai, China

To meet the growing facility needs of this premiereducational institution, Concordia International SchoolShanghai (CISS) selected Perkins Eastman to plan,design, and implement a series of phased expansions totheir existing campus. The master plan, implemented overten years, includes an addition to the existing elementaryschool, a new performing arts pavilion and a 12,500 sq m(129,200 sq ft) addition to the high school.

CISS Elementary School and David F.Rittmann Fine Arts Center

The new pre-K through fourth grade 6,000 sq m (64,600sq ft) elementary school is a fully self-contained 500-student environment that supports the curriculum, enhances teaching, fosters creativity, and stimulates artistic explorationthrough improved interaction between students andteachers. To encourage student/teacher interaction, aseries of paired first/second grade classrooms and third/fourth grade classrooms can be arranged in a variety of individual or team settings—providing the necessary flexibility to address individual learner needs.

Programmed and designed as a center of creativity andenrichment, the new 2,250 sq m (24,000 sq ft) David F.Rittmann Fine Arts Center incorporates both presentationand learning environments for use by the campus andsurrounding community. A 400-seat courtyard theater andblack box space supports this charge as the centerpiecefor learning and performance.

CISS High School

The most recent project on the Concordia InternationalSchool Shanghai campus is a new 12,500 sq m (129,200sq ft) high school. The six-building complex integratesacademic, athletic, and administrative spaces; andembraces the latest trends in educational design. Theschool includes 20 high school classrooms, a sciencesuite that maximises space through shared facilities, aworld language lab, and seminar/group instruction roomsof varying sizes.

The 1,000 sq m (10,800 sq ft) gymnasium containsan interactive space called the PE commons, whichcombines traditional physical education with modernwellness instruction. The library/information commonsserves as a physical bridge, linking the new school withan older building and providing a visual focal point forthe school. The library capitalises on the special languageof a student center/bookstore that encourages informal,collaborative learning.

Energy efficiency and sustainability factors:

The new high school serves as an unparalleled exampleof Concordia’s commitment to sustainability. The schoolviewed the design of their new high school as an opportunityto redesign the entire campus’ heating and coolingsystem using highly efficient geothermal technology. Theoverall demand on heating and cooling was also reducedby employing green roofsover 40% of the new space,including a garden locatedon the roof of the library andadjacent to the science suite.Other sustainable strategiesinclude rapidly renewableand recycled materials,vegetated roofs, vertical landscapeand geothermal heatingand cooling systems. Theproject was recently awardeda National AIA Award (AmericanInstitute of Architecture)from the Committee on Architecturefor Education foran exemplary project that exhibitsinnovation in the designof learning environments.