Rising Hill and Northview Elementary Schools

RISING HILL AND NORTHVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
RISING HILL AND NORTHVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Rising Hill and Northview Elementary Schools

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

  • North Kansas City School District
  • New Construction
  • Rising Hill: $20 million & 58,000 SF
  • Northview: $21.7 million & 70,900 SF
  • LEED Certified

Designed in tandem, Rising Hill and Northview Elementary Schools provide flexible, collaborative spaces that serve every type of learner.

Reinforcing a district-wide emphasis on literacy, the heart of these two schools are spacious, exposed media centers that push the envelope of a traditional library. Students have opportunities to gather on a learning stair for lessons, collaborate in smaller groups, or focus in a nook on an independent project or to enjoy their favorite book.

The academic neighborhoods set the stage for differentiated learning, accommodating every type of lesson and learner. Classrooms with garage doors are adjacent to collaborative spaces, amplifying space for group activities, breakout sessions or individualized learning. Writeable locker surfaces give students a sense of pride and ownership of their space, reinforcing an environment that is truly designed for the students.

As a forward-thinking district, the two elementary schools contain individual, single occupancy bathroom stalls that promote safety and privacy to ensure that every student feels comfortable in their environment.

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Independence Uptown Market

Independence Uptown Market

INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI

  • New Construction
  • 6,700 SF
  • $3.3 million

A revitalized downtown area offers a venue for farmers, citizens and small business owners to gather.

The Independence Uptown Market is the combined vision of citizens, farmers and business owners brought from idea to reality within the span of 18 months. An open-air pavilion paired with an enclosed farmers market pavilion offer a venue for local craftsmen to sell their goods. The enclosed venue offers the opportunity to host regional events that will bring commerce into the city, as well as weddings, parties and corporate events. The new building revitalizes the central area and offers a collaborative gathering space that will benefit citizens and business owners alike for years to come and fosters a sense of community.

Mason Elementary School

Mason Elementary School

LEE’S SUMMIT, MISSOURI

  • Lee’s Summit R7 School District
  • $13.3M
  • 22,000 SF Addition
    52,000 SF Existing Renovations

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.

Woodrow Wilson Academy

Woodrow Wilson Academy

WESTMINSTER, COLORADO

  • Renovation & Additions
  • 13,500 SF
  • $4.5 million

Middle school students feel like they have their own space to learn and grow separate from the elementary school students. Their new space supports expanded student collaboration and project-based learning.

Students can collaborate in the new classrooms with glass walls that provide ample daylight and open up to accommodate large and small-groups, including to the outdoors, encouraging classes to spill outside for learning and experimenting. This flexibility continues into the new dining commons, which features a variety of seating options, giving students more freedom.

Brookwood Elementary School

BROOKWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

LEAWOOD, KANSAS

  • Shawnee Mission School District
  • New Construction
  • 76,800 SF
  • $17.3 Million

The walls and floors come to life as avenues for learning and exploration.

Home to over 550 students, the Brookwood Beaver pride shines through in the building’s design. The original mascot, Oscar, is incorporated throughout the building, a nod to proud alumni of the previous Brookwood Elementary School. A mixture of colors and texture mimic those found in nature, and you’ll find a beaver den nestled under the learning stairs that provides a special place for students to socialize or study.

The built environment at Brookwood encourages learning through exploration. As students make their way through the corridors, subtle wayfinding cues and interactive environmental graphics inspire student engagement and spark inquiry. Beyond the interior walls are learning tools integrated onto the building’s façade – a central sun dial and diagram of the lunar phases.

Metropolitan Community College-Engineering Technology Center

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Metropolitan Community College – Engineering Technology Center

  • Penn Valley Campus-Engineering Technology Center
  • Renovation & Addition
  • 16,000 SF
  • $7 million

An integrated fabrication lab brings forth many opportunities for engineering majors, art majors and the surrounding community.

Metropolitan Community College is relocating the Engineering Technology program from the Business and Technology Campus to the Penn Valley Campus to increase utilization of their existing building and create synergies between the college’s graphic design diagram and the engineering technology program.

Functions such as the fabrication lab and the 3D printing lab offer regular opportunities for students to collaborate, ideate and prototype in a shared space that will now be available to the graphic design program housed in the current Carter Arts Building. The physical placement of the program on the south edge of the Penn Valley campus is seen as a means of being a visible and usable asset to the community from which they can also access tools and technical expertise provided by talented and industry-connected faculty. In addition, it will feature a double-height space for the fabrication lab with greater connectivity to the exterior environment through the use of extensive glazing and covered outdoor spaces offering students their choice of environments in which to create.

Staley High School

Originally designed from the ground up by Hollis + Miller in 2009, Staley High School recently brought the team back on to design two major additions for academics and athletics.

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Briarwood Elementary School

Briarwood Elementary School

PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KANSAS

  • Shawnee Mission School District
  • New Construction
  • 72,000 SF
  • $16.7 million

The walls come alive to inspire young learners at this new school. Whimsical landscapes and playful typography encourage students to open their minds to new possibilities.

Focusing on brain-based learning, every space at this new elementary school accommodates experiential learning. Corridors are learning spaces, with seating for large and small-group collaboration and integrated technology.

Safety was a paramount concern throughout the design and construction because this new elementary school was built next to the existing facility, which stayed open and operational throughout construction. Careful coordination between the District, our team and JE Dunn’s construction team was paramount to ensure students and faculty at the existing school stayed safe and secure.