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Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School
Boston
TLCR Architecture
Programmatic flexibility shows Boston
schools are "moving up" in design
© Marc Halevi
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For more photos click on 'photos
& drawings' above.
To see the people and products
behind this project click on 'people & products.'
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This 750-student, community-administered
pilot school engages "small school" configurations
through a variety of innovative layout possibilities. The
three-story building can be organized in three ways: up-and-down
its three major stairways to form "strand" small
schools of 250 students from all grades; horizontally into
three "mini-schools" grouped by age; or by academies
sorted by interest groups (arts, sciences, ESL). This scheme
allows an unusual degree of flexibility to respond to new
teaching techniques and curriculum approaches.
With a community group insisting that
it not be reminded of the existing "project" which
the school replaces, the architects felt free to depart from
Boston's three-story brick archetype. "School bus yellow"
metal panels grow from a (vandal resistant) striated masonry
base to provide a joyful, welcoming image. Younger children
inhabit the lowest floor and experience visual ties to their
neighborhood, while as students get older they move to the
upper floors with expanding views. The "moving up"
metaphor is not lost on the kids.
To better reflect the diverse character
of the community, both African and European design inspirations
inform the massing, stylistic motifs, and interior colors
and patterns, and help provide both whimsy and permanence.
The corner of the site lies on a heavily trafficked arterial
road and serves as a major entry point to the neighborhood.
This locus is marked by a high-visibility tower which signals
the location of the third floor library/media center, the
intellectual heart of the school. The structure now symbolizes
the re-energized Orchard Gardens community, along with the
city administration's active concern for education in the
neighborhoods.
Formal name
of Project:
Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School
Location:
Boston
Gross square
footage:
144,000 sq. ft.
Total construction
cost:
$24 million
Owner:
Boston Public Schools, City of Boston
Architect:
TLCR Architecture
368 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
617.451.0066 Tel
617.451.9788 Fax
www.tlcr.com
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