Renaissance Academy | Virginia Beach, Virginia

The Renaissance Academy is the school system’s new alternative education center serving students in grades 6 through 12. This facility was awarded LEED Gold certification based on its sustainable design and unique academic programming. WPL was the landscape architect for this project, serving both the planting design needs and the supplemental garden design requirements for the site. The supplemental gardens comprise greenhouses, vegetable garden plots, compost bins, rain gardens, and other amenities useful for building onto the interior learning curriculum. Other academic opportunities are exhibited through sustainable project features such as the use of daylighting, geothermal wells, and photovoltaic panels, all of which supports the school system’s desire for a 100-year school life cycle.