Pinewood School

Challenges

Difficult site, sensitive neighborhood, heritage trees and, oh yes, a school that needed to maintain operations during construction.

Approach

Working closely with teachers, parents and neighbors, MKThink designed a new K-2 campus capable of supporting enhanced arts and science enrichment programs. An emphasis was placed on creating a warm, inviting first-school experience for young children that felt as comfortable to a child as learning at home. By engaging in numerous neighborhood meetings throughout the project design, MKThink was able to incorporate the needs and concerns of multiple groups into a design pleasing to both the users and the community.

Solution

MKThink created a safe and healthy place for learning that is comfortable for young students and teachers alike. And because it looks like home it also fits well into a sensitive residential neighborhood. The new design fits naturally into its neighborhood and features a central courtyard which acts as an outdoor classroom while serving to provide child safety and reducing noise to adjacent residential neighbors. The facility includes a small performance theater and doubles the previous square footage devoted to classroom space. Classrooms take full advantage of natural light and offer a productive and flexible learning environment.