Elementary school

At Fresno Unified School District, whether it's in the classroom or on the playground, safety and accessibility are paramount. At Columbia Elementary School in Fresno, CA, nearly 4,000 sq. ft. of sand was recently replaced with our 3.75" premium duraSAFE® Rubber Playground Tiles. Rising labor and maintenance costs with trying to keep the sand leveled, free of debris and weeds, and within the play area, helped justify the much-needed change. Not only is duraSAFE the safest playground surfacing tile in the world, it's also backed by one of the best warranties in the industry – a warranty that even includes fall-height performance for the useable life of the tile! sofSURFACES sofSURFACES More

After several years of dealing with some of the frustrations with poured-in-place surfaces such as: shrinkage, weeds growing through the surface, high maintenance and upkeep costs, hardening and premature wear in most of the high-wear areas, it was time to investigate other surfacing options. © sofSURFACES Inc. With the safety of their students and the rising maintenance costs being their biggest concerns, Pleasant Hill Elementary School landed on our duraSAFE® Plus Series Rubber Playground Tiles. © sofSURFACES Inc. One of the benefits that most attracted them to this type of a system in addition to the long-term cost savings is that duraSAFE offers a best-in-industry limited lifetime warranty on the tile – w... More

Just 45 miles from Denver and 17 miles from Boulder, sits Nederland Elementary School – uniquely nestled into the Colorado mountain-side some 8,000 feet above sea level. Located on Sundown Trail, this school is surrounded by vast National Forests offering majestic views of peaks over 10,000 feet high. This is perhaps one of the most exclusive locations you might find for an elementary school! This unique and sprawling building footprint offers the children of Nederland four fully accessible play areas – all at different elevations. The bold use of vibrant colors are accentuated with the breathtaking views of Boulder Valley. In total, these massive play areas feature over 13,000 square feet of duraSAFE® Rubber Playground Til... More

The physical spaces in which we find ourselves when developing certain actions have a direct influence in the quality if the activity itself. Due to cultural and of course economical reasons, school furniture industry offers a very limited variety of elements, designed in a way that promotes only a certain kind of educational activities, keen to certain individualism, based on taxonomy and separation, and with a great lack of collaborative spirit. Caption “Non conventional education spaces: The Debate Room” aims to give an alternative answer to the didactic necessities of the students and teachers of the G. Luosi Institute. The space is designed in order to host activities of Public Speaking, a practice widely present and... More

Featuring a number of unique play devices, this park removes barriers to all who want to play! Many of the play areas include structures that can be enjoyed by not only children with differing abilities and those with assistive devices, but also by family and friends that are with them to provide care. Some of the park's special features include an in ground trampoline and an inclusive spinner that users can wheel or walk onto. Adaptive swings for individuals and groups are also available for children of all ages and abilities. Perhaps the best feature of all though, are the accessibile routes that lead to all of the play areas. Gabriel Park is now the perfect place for children to make friends and explore their abilities while playing sa... More

This stunning park revitalization at East Bloomfield Elementary School in Bloomfield, New York now features over 15,000 sq. ft. of duraSAFE Premium Rubber Playground Tiles. Divided into two large outdoor play areas, this school playground design does an excellent job of accommodating the rolling landscape surrounding the school.  With the safety of their students being the number one priority, there were also mounting concerns about some of their existing surfacing systems being too costly to maintain and repair. Beginning with the end in mind, this customer took a close look at what the long-term maintenance costs would be of maintaining a failing surfacing system over a number of years. The results were shocking. Having a unitary s... More

An innovative project, the Domaine-Vert-Nord school has become the main pilot project of the Quebec's Ministry of Education for the design of tomorrow’s primary schools. The primary goal of architecture is to place students and their success at the heart of the project. The concept developed around a new approach to make school a child-scale living environment: maximum integration of natural light, large presence of vegetation and programming of spaces allegorically evoking a home. In the same vein, the building has only one floor and has several joint multipurpose classes that allow exchanges between class groups. The facilities are flexible, designed on the model of houses, that each combine 4 classes that can be modulated accordin... More

James Templeton Elementary School experienced a serious overhaul in 2018, featuring a brand new learning facility for the children of Tigard, Oregon. This beautiful property is home to over 500 elementary students and features a mix of brickwork and RusticSeriesTM siding products for a modern and architectural look. More

JJW Architects have transformed an almost 100 years old school in Copenhagen to support modern principles of learning and increase the connection between the school and the local community.   The almost 100 years old Grøndalsvængets School has undergone a comprehensive transformation. With respect to original qualities the existing main building from 1929 has been completely renovated and refurbished to support today's demands for differentiated learning spaces and healthy indoor climate. Furthermore, the school has been extended with two new buildings for teaching, sports and music - designed with strong reference to the identity of the surrounding neighborhood.   COHESION The transformation supports the unique... More

DRAW Collective led a very interactive District-wide study for the Franklin Regional School District seeking long and short term solutions to address the facility needs for their educational program. With the study complete, work transitioned to the design of a new two-building primary campus on the District’s Sloan property. The Study included an assessment of each of their five school buildings, the grade-level groupings, a demographics analysis, and work sessions and tours with various administrative teams to understand the needs and goals for the District. Multiple options were identified and explored, including combinations of building renovations, consolidation, and new facilities. The selected option to improve the elementary... More

The extension of the Durlet school generates a series of straightforward geometries, adressing complex contextual and structural questions. The existing built environment consists of a neo-Flemish renaissance court building from the late 19th century with three adjacent wings, renovated in the 1960s. The client wishes to construct a fourth wing referring to the initial plan, but due to an apartment building right next to the building plot, urbanism regulations do not allow a fourth wing of the same volume. Hence multiple ideas of exception. The socle of the building, executed in precast double walls and its floors in polished concrete, follows the general figure of the building conglomerate and organises the entrance. The upper floors are... More

Located in the heart of the Pacific Highlands Ranch region, Solana Ranch Elementary School is an independent elementary school serving approximately 6,000 students. In our partnership with Solana Ranch, HED designed and engineered a vibrant, community-oriented school that is sensitive both to context and to the fundamental design building blocks that foster community-building. Creative and iterative, the planning process brought together community members, parents, teachers, staff, board members and students to craft a comprehensive, inclusive vision for the new school. An environment that supports collaborative learning. Spaces that inspire revelatory “aha!” moments. A sustainable structure that leverages energy-efficient design strat... More

Located within the boundaries of the existing school, the project is divided following the natural topography of the site : In the lower part, the recreational center directly connected to the public space benefits from an underexploited courtyard. Caption On the upper level the new classrooms are oriented towards the current school courtyard. The complex takes advantage of an East-West exposure and quietly fits into its surroundings. Caption The materiality chosen for the recreational center is in continuity with the existing school in concrete. A mineral and monolithic shape emerges from the existing topography. Caption The interior spaces surprise by their brightness and transparency brought by the patios and the warm a... More