Category: Community Engagement + Capital Planning

The newly modernized learning environment preserves the rich history of a community while offering students innovative collaboration areas naturally integrated into the flow of the building.

Serving the district for nearly a century, Mason Elementary School has expanded and adapted over the years to accommodate a growing student population. The existing building was over capacity, and rather than construct an entirely new school, the design team developed a renovation and addition plan bringing the new learning environment into the 21st century, accommodating the increased number of students and leaving the legacy of the historical building intact.

The horseshoe shape of the existing building made it difficult for students to connect, and inconvenient to traverse to other classrooms. Recognizing the new building needed to achieve a lot within a small footprint, the team re-imagined how the use of space could be redesigned for efficiency. The corridors now serve as collaboration spaces integrating technology and flexible furniture while also opening to classrooms with glass doors and providing natural connections everywhere. Bright colors, the use of wood and the integration of the existing brick give a warm and welcoming feel, emulating the family emphasis of its patrons.