ML: BL Companies’ Hooker Environmental Studies Magnet School in Hartford

The Mary M. Hooker Environmental Studies Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut opened back in 1952 and provides practical environmental education for K-8 students. The school is about to undergo a two-year renovation that will seek a LEED Gold rating from USGBC.

Designed by BL Companies, the expansion will include a 30-seat science thereater, a greenhouse, an acquatics lab, and feature a working ecosystem in the lobby. BL’s design also includes a butterfly vivarian- one of just a few in the Northeast (including the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden at Rochester, New York’s Strong National Museum of Play, which also features a number of green design features).

Specific sustainable features of the Hooker School’s expansion are not presently available, but the renovation will boost the school’s enrollment from 400 to 660 when the project is completed in 2010. The Hooker School will be the first in Hartford to pursue a LEED rating; it’s located at 200 Sherbrook Avenue in the southwestern part of the city.

• Magnet School Goes for the Gold (HB.com)
• Rochester Butterfly Garden (gbNYC)
• Green Schools Archive (gbNYC)

ML is short for our weekly Monday LEEDoff™ column, which typically profiles a different LEED project generally in (but not limited to) the New York City area. You can access an archive of profiled projects via this link.