This award-winning K-8 facility houses elementary and middle school programs under one roof, with shared core resources. The essential project challenges were siting and scale. Flansburgh Architects was charged with replacing an outmoded school on the same tight 7.3-acre urban site, with a program 50% larger than the original.
The compact L-shaped plan organizes grades K-5 and grades 6-8 in separate, three-story academic wings, each with its own administration and designated entry. Core facilities, including a cafeteria, gymnsium, and auditorium, are open to the community after hours. The school’s magnet theme, Health and Human Services, is supported by a life skills lab, a tech education lab, and a media center.
The building is tucked into the northeast corner of the site, leaving enough open space for the development of a tot lot and two baseball fields for the town’s Little League program.
The design addresses the issue of scale with a playful, block-like, Cubist massing accented by 28’ wide bays – roughly the same dimension as that of the residences facing the school’s public facades.