Anderson United Community School
Minneapolis, MN
Category: 2018 Education
Architect: Lawal Scott Erickson Architects, Inc
Starnet Member:
CFS Interiors & Flooring
Starnet Preferred Vendors:
ARDEX, Armstrong Flooring, Chapco, Flexco, Henry Adhesives, Johnsonite By Tarkett, Milliken Commercial, XL Brands
Project Strategy
The Anderson United Community School is part of the Minneapolis Public School system and is located in south east Minneapolis. This community based pre-kindergarten thru 8th grade school caters to the Hispanic and Somali communities that make up the neighborhood surrounding the school. Anderson United's mission is to prepare students to be high school, college, and career ready, academically, socially and emotionally. Students growth is supported by creating welcoming classrooms that are language rich with high expectations. They instill the PHOENIX P.R.I.D.E. values into their students to develop them into motivated learners that reach their highest potential. The values call for students and faculty to pledge to continually preserver in becoming the best educators and students that they can be; to respect one another and them selves; to behave with integrity in their actions and values; to practice determination in their resolve to reach their goals; and to practice excellence in all that they do. Perseverance Respect Integrity Determination Excellence.
The goals of the design were to create a welcoming environment in the building entry that would flow into classrooms that would stimulate both pride and the pursuit of excellence among their students. Those goals were achieved by the use of the custom hand cut Armstrong VCT in the buildings front entry. The design reflects and celebrates the beauty of the Minneapolis, the City of Lakes. The use of the light blue VCT represent the many lakes found in Minneapolis and the deeper blue represents the Mississippi River that flows through the city. The use of the green VCT represents the many walkways and green spaces that dominate the city. The additional design element represents the seed of learning blooming and taking hold. This theme was carried forward to the classrooms and the media center with the use of the Milliken Color Field carpet tile and Flexco LVT. The overall design accurately depicts the school's mission.
There were a number of special design challenges that made this installation unique. The first being that the architect didn't have CAD drawings available that would have allowed us to have the entry VCT design water-jet cut. That not only made estimating the project difficult but made transferring the idea from paper onto the floor difficult. This design was hand drawn onto the floor with the assistance of the Architect and the school's principal and then precision hand cut by our INSTALL Certified mechanics. The scale of the pattern added to the difficulty of drawing the pattern on the floor during the main push to complete the project. Multiple trades fighting for this space to complete their work also added to the difficulty. The school and the architect were close to scrapping the design altogether, the only thing that saved the design is that replacement field tile wasn't available. By working closely with the architect and LS Black, the project's general contractor, we were able to provide a quality installation that achieved the school's vision.