You forgot to mention all the mold and indoor air quality issues they've had with Terraset.

Very cool design, but they didn't have the air exchange balances figured out for the first 20 years or so. It is right next door to the junior high and high school that I attended.

According to their website, Terraset was built because the school board in 1973--the year of the Arab oil embargo--wanted to avoid oil dependancy. So how, then, did the school land Fahd Ibn 'Abd al-Aziz Al-Saud as financial backer?!

Man, I would sue the architects that built this thing. Green doesn't have to be an oppressive bunker. And there is no reason for solar collection systems to be screwing up in this day and age. I'd also like to get more information about how this fishy Saudi Arabian
funding scheme came about.

This building shows many examples of what is wrong with so-called "green architecture". All that concrete is decidedly not green. And not much daylighting would be possible in this bunker. That leaking solar system will have the school board resisting solar energy for the next 30 years. This school board needs to hire a LEED certified architect; it is making some expensive mistakes.

Green shouldn't mean vastly more expensive building that can only be built with Saudi Arabian handouts, or a concrete bunker that uses massive amounts of energy intensive materials to build or solar collections systems that immediately fail. Not to mention that calling Reston a "planned green community" is a bit of a stretch for a 70s suburb. Sorry, but I find this rather appalling.

That picture makes it look like a prison.

Wow your full of complimenting comments today huh? I agree it looks like a bunker. What do you suggest you build an underground school with, if not concrete?

I agree green shouldn't mean a vastly more expensive building. But it does, that's the reality of it. Hence the need for a donor for the solar cells.

I think this would be the perfect environment to use Sunpipes (http://www.sunpipe.co.uk/sunpipe/index.php) and fiber-optics to pipe in sunlight directly into the building.

With that, a good air exchanger and some good design, the building could be made quite comfortable.

I agree. sunpipes or some other way to get some sun in there. I feel my light deprivation syndrome coming on just looking at it :)

I grew up in maryland and remember this being on the news. They had to rip out all the drywall and insulation because of mold and then install sealing and drainage so it doesn't happen again then reinstall the drywall, etc. That took 2 years and during that time the students went to school in trailers. Add that to the other things like the leaking solar panels and you've got a real pain. And I don't think the Saudis chipped in to fix the mold problem :)

625,000 for a solar system? Must have been a hum dinger, I'd like to know more...

Finding out this was built in 1973 explains a lot. They would never build something like this today (at least I hope not).

nobody dumps on concrete like I do, but this is one important and seminal project, at the time so far ahead of anything anyone else was doing. This was 1977! At the same time, I had my first job in an architects office working on a courthouse north of Toronto that was the first super-efficient solar powered courthouse in Ontario. 25 years later, the lawyers refused to go in, the mould was toxic, the solar heaters never did anything (if you remove all the windows who needs heating?) and they are now working out of trailers while a new courthouse is built. Someone has to break the path, but it is much easier to follow.Who knew that it was all so complex? Who knew, as a disciple of Le Corbusier, that concrete was anything but the perfect, flexible, permanent and strong material? Thanks, Justin, for a great post.

Lloyd, agreed, that was part of my observation about 1973 - this was a brave direction that should be applauded for taking a chance. It just ended up being problematic in many ways.

There were a lot of earth bermed projects of the same era that didn't have these problems, however. This project just had one disappointment after another.

BTW, I love concrete, too. However, I think the heavy use of concrete has little to do with the problems this building had. The drainage systems, the sealing and even the grade of concrete used were wrong. This invited the mold problem as well as opening the door to long term degradation.

My biggest problem is with the siting and the resulting space itself. The siteing doesn't take advantage of seasonal solar gain; if it had it wouldn't have needed the expensive solar panels.

The most damning aspect of the building is the space space itself; gloomy, florescest lit, and all hard, raw concrete surfaces. Back in those days some thought windowless classrooms were a good idea. Today most of us believe in airy, naturally lit spaces, comfortably ventilated, with thoughtful design features. I can't help but think putting students in dark, poorly lit concrete walled underground rooms is a good idea for a learning environment.

You forgot to mention that most rooms had windows to the outside and the "pods" also had glass walls letting in a lot of light. It didn't feel oppressive.

Time for Tellitubbies! Time for Tellitubbies!

I attended Terraset from first through sixth grade. Grew up in Reston. Gosh, I've been on your website previously for a host of other reasons...I just happened to tell my daughters today about the neat elementary school I went to that was built underground and we used to play on the rooftop...I decide to do a Google search to find some pictures to show them and I stumble across your article. Interesting article, but the comments are just mean-spirited. You all need to relax a little. I'm sure those who designed/built the school made the best decisions they could at the time. And, speaking from a former student's perspective, it was a neat place to attend. Yes, I remember well the dripping solar panels and the barricades they had to put up around the entry courtyard to detour students around the ice in winter, but that didn't detract from the experience. And how can many of you criticize about the lack of sunlight in the building when you probably have never stepped foot in it? It's simply not true. There were a lot of windows. At least half of the classrooms faced the outside of the building and had windows along an entire wall. The comment about 'light deprivation syndrome?' Really. Let's just relax a little. The important thing about Terraset was that it had a fantastic staff of teachers...some I still remember fondly to this day. My memories are fond ones of my years at Terraset and of growing up in Reston (although I don't know if I would characterize Reston as a 'green community'). I would love it if people who know nothing about it or haven't even been there, would table their comments. Thanks for letting me share.

I was happy to read the last posting as my oldest son was in the first grade at Terraset the year it opened. What a wonderful place it was! Green design notwithstanding, the interior employed many new philosophies of teaching that were called revolutionary at the time. It was the "school without walls" where brightly colored carpet divided classrooms and kids learned to listen and study and shut out other noises. I still believe that his 6 years at Terraset set the tone for his academic accomplishments and his success as a trader working around hundreds of shouting people and successfully tuning them out.

He tells his 4- year old daughter stories of Terraset, and the poster of the school designed by its children that first year hangs in her room. Wonderful memories of a great place.

I was in Mrs. Larsen's 2nd grade class when the happy day arrived, when our school was finally completed. This was mid-way through the school year, which meant we were in trailers at Dogwood Elem. for the first half of the year (yuck!). I attended Terraset through sixth grade, in 1981.

This was indeed a great school at the time. There were four "learning centers" which were round clusters of classrooms shaped like pie wedges. About half of them had windows, in fact much more windows than my two daughters' school rooms, in a school which is only three years old!

Terraset's classrooms with interior-facing pie wedges had glass inserts in the top 1/3 of the walls, so they too got some sunlight. The library is in the middle of the 4 learning centers, and has a very effective sky light. Back in 1977, there was no pine tree in front of the skylight, so I don't know what genius plated it there, but that was pretty dumb.

I remember the Saudi's occasionally visiting. We were thankful for their gift. It's a shame that it was necessary to remove the solar array, but that's what happens when ideas are not properly spec'ed out.

They did not have it back then, but had they used fiber optic lighting from solar collectors just above the interior facing pie-wedge classrooms, that would have been great. Better exterior seals would have obviously been prudent, too.

There are lessons-learned regarding Terraset's construction, but even today I still love that school. Don't ignore the postive aspects of the school, simply because there were some problems that arose. Don't forget, that this school is now over 31 years old. Also, many of the 'strong opinions' written in above threads are clearly from people who have never visited Terraset, and who certainly never were there as a student. Like the other Terraset alumni, I thought it was a great place, and still is.

I grew up in Reston, and although did not attend Terraset, I had many a cub scout meeting there. I agree with many of the former students. In 1977 this was a revolutionary building winning major architecture awards. I remember thinking how Terraset, with its bare concrete and bright school bus yellow solar panels looked futuristic.

To use a 21st century view of architecture and environmental awareness of a bold and innovative building built more than 30 years ago is a bit short sighted. For its day, the building was considered full of light and very green. The county school system took a large risk, and used cutting edge technology in the building. It's not a surprise to me that not all the technology worked out. Not all revolutionary technologies work the first time around, but are built upon and improved to create commercially available products.

As people critique the building 30 years later, they should look at the historical significance of the building.

The greatest compliment I can give to the building is that I would have preferred to go to school there, instead of my elementary school called Sunrise Valley, which strangely I had no windows in any of my classrooms. It is sort of odd to call something Sunrise Valley that you can never see the sunrise from.

Here is a wonderful link explaining the technology and design features of the buliding. I believe this was written in the 70's as part of the construction of the building.

http://mars.gmu.edu:8080/dspace/bitstream/1920/2552/1/rm4_05_01.pdf

My children currently attend this school. It has windows - my children have never been in a windowless classroom until one moved to Sunrise Valley ES and the other to South Lakes HS. Terraset is the smallest public elementary school in Reston - this means small class size and individual attention. Whatever design issues people may accuse it of having, the students who go there know and appreciate it's one of a kind nature. The photos really don't do it justice. Bottom line, there's a great community surrounding this unique school.