Stubbs Muldrow Herin architects navigated the challenge of designing a new school in historic Charleston on the South Carolina coast—including facing the analysis and sometimes-stringent requirements of the Board of Architectural Review—crowning its achievement with multiple awards.

Buist Academy, a K-8 magnet school, recently earned an Honor Award from the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) South Carolina Chapter, as well as the Best Design Award for the CEFPI Southeast Region. It was also granted a 2014 Founders Award from the Historic Charleston Foundation and the 2014 Brick in Architecture National Bronze Award, Renovation/Restoration.

Guardian Industries is proud to be an important contributor to the award-winning facility’s design, supplying SunGuard SNX 62/27 glass for the building’s exterior.

Glass, brick and cast stone make up the façade of the three-story, 68,000-square-foot structure, which complements the adjacent original school building, simultaneously renovated by SMHa. The new building has the capacity for 500 students and includes a cafeteria, gymnasium and media center.

Advances in design and construction have taken school projects to a higher level. Dark classrooms and drab interiors have given way to beautiful facilities that incorporate vast amounts of natural light, which has been proven to improve student performance.

High performance, low-E triple-silver products like SunGuard SNX 62/27 on CrystalGray glass adds another important benefit: The glass keeps energy costs low by blocking solar heat gain. When SunGuard SNX 62/27 is applied to the #2 surface of Guardian’s CrystalGray outboard lite, it allows 45 percent of visible light in, while keeping the solar heat gain coefficient at a low 0.22.

“SMHa specifying SunGuard SNX 62/27 glass for Buist Academy’s new building is a great example of how the most advanced architectural glass can fit into projects that must comply with environmental and historic preservation guidelines,” says Chris Dolan, Director of Marketing, North America, Guardian Industries Corp. “Triple silver products are great choices for architects and designers wanting to deliver abundant daylight and manage solar heat at the same time.”

Charleston Glass Company installed the glass, which was fabricated by independent Guardian Select fabricator Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope.  

The Guardian SunGuard glass product line for commercial applications offers excellent solar control and a wide variety of colors and performance levels. SunGuard glass products provide innovative, leading solutions for appearance, economics and energy efficiency, and are available through an international network of independent Guardian Select fabricators.

For more information, visit guardian.com/commercial.