Camino Nuevo Charter Academy
Los Angeles
Daly, Genik Architects

A Mini-Mall Becomes a Welcoming Elementary School

© Tom Bonner

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

With the help of EXED, a charter school developer, and Paul Cummins, a school specialist, an Episcopalian community group took over an abandoned mini-mall down the street from the group's offices and turned it into an elementary school designed by Kevin Daly and Chris Genik. The school serves 260 students in kindergarten through fifth grade from a series of classrooms and linked outdoor spaces that embrace an active courtyard.

At 11,000 square feet, the project is quite small. Its modesty, noted in light of the powerful effect it has had on the neighborhood, shows how meaningful architecture can be, even if it isn’t monumental or expensive. The building repairs a rift in the city fabric left by the abandonment of an unappealing mini-mall. Furthermore, its sequential and transparent layering—from the public sidewalk, into the courtyard, up the stairs, into the interstitial exterior "rooms" along the upper walkway, and finally into the classrooms—promotes social interaction.

See the February 2001 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of building:
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy

Location:
Los Angeles

Gross square footage:
11,300 square feet; 260 students

Total construction cost:
$1.1 million

Owner:
Pueblo Nuevo

Architect's firm:
Daly, Genik Architects
1558 Tenth Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
t. 310-656-3180
f. 310-656-3183