RKTB designed this addition to PS19X, a c. 1924 pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school with a student body that had long been in excess of its capacity, for the New York City School Construction Authority to relieve the pressure on the existing facility and accommodate approximately two hundred additional students. The new building includes an enclosed gymnasium for the first time in the school’s history; a modern administrative suite; and a “cafetorium” (combined cafeteria and auditorium)—one of the only public schools in New York City to have such a space.
With a new main entrance, lobby, and elevators, all of PS 19X is programmatically accessible. Incorporated into the interior design of the school are wall tiles featuring inspirational quotes by some of the notable individuals who are buried in the nearby Woodlawn Cemetery where the school hosts educational tours.
The new lobby also features site-specific artwork titled “Tree,” created by artist Corinne Ulmann, that “is meant to inspire connections to the natural world and to serve as a metaphor for growth and learning.”
