News and Notes Hartman Hall Receives LEED Silver Certification
MFS Leases 123 Chester Ave. Property to InterArch
In December, Hartman Hall, which opened in April 2012, was certified as LEED Silver by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary, consensus-based, marketdriven program that provides third-party verification of green buildings. “We were committed to adaptive re-use of the South Annex, now Hartman Hall, and not razing the building,” said Head of School Larry Van Meter. “Converting this former retirement home into a classroom building was challenging, but our team of professionals handled the task well and we’re very pleased with Hartman Hall. This certification is further evidence that our team designed a building that is both functional and energy-efficient.” Some key points that helped Hartman Hall achieve LEED Silver Certification: • Re-use of 100% of the building’s existing structural elements was achieved, meaning new resources and energy were not spent to build those elements. • Landscape design includes large areas, such as the wild flower meadow, to serve as protected habitat for native plants and animals. • Water-saving fixtures such as dual-flush toilets and low-flow urinals achieve a 21% reduction in potable water usage. • A geothermal system uses almost 20% less energy to heat and cool the building. • Over 26% of all new materials for the project are recycled, including the steel, doors, insulation, ceiling tile, and perhaps most visibly, the recycled glass embedded in the restroom floor tile and the ‘111’ chairs which are each made from 111 twoliter Coke bottles. • Over 36% of all wood used on the project is Forest Stewardship Council-certified, including all of the wood windows. 8
Moorestown Friends School has reached an agreement to lease the school’s property at 123 Chester Avenue to InterArch, a well-known architecture and interior design firm. “InterArch is a vibrant, well-established company and will be a great addition to Moorestown’s Main Street/ Chester Avenue business district,” said Head of School Larry Van Meter. Moorestown Friends School was represented by NAI Mertz in the process to seek and obtain a tenant for the 123 Chester Avenue property. In December 2006, MFS purchased the property at 123 Chester Avenue (the former Acme supermarket). After spending a year developing plans for modifying the building for classroom purposes to accommodate record enrollment, the school changed course when the former Greenleaf property at 28-32 E. Main Street (adjacent to MFS) became available and was purchased in 2008. In April 2012, Hartman Hall opened on the Greenleaf property providing eight math classrooms and a choral music suite for MFS students. “We were thrilled to open Hartman Hall in 2012 and we are now pleased to share the exciting news of this agreement with the community,” said Van Meter. “We look forward to a long-term relationship with InterArch and to seeing an attractive, active and renovated building on Chester Avenue.” Rapid progress has been made on renovations of the structure with an opening expected in the coming months.