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Hamilton Elementary School
Hamilton Elementary School When the Hamilton R-II School District set out to build a new elementary school for their small district, they wanted to incorporate forward-thinking educational concepts and lots of color. In rural communities, local school buildings also double as community centers for the town, and the School District wanted it to be as welcoming to the community as it would be to the students who study there. Due to the nation’s changing demographics, rural school districts like Hamilton do not always have the opportunity to build new schools as often as their suburban counterparts, and so when the District undertook this project, they aimed to build a school that would serve the area well into the future. The District’s board and elementary administrators visited a number of new schools in the Kansas City metro area to take a look at the latest trends in educational design to collect the best ideas they could find. They would be replacing their aging existing school on the other side of town, and would be building a facility to accommodate preschool through fifth grade students. Working with the architects, they settled on a “Main Street” scheme which placed two large community spaces, the Café/Commons and the Media Center, at opposite ends of the building. These soaring interior spaces express themselves on the outside of the building as large, airy glass-enclosures, in stark contrast to the solid massing of the rest of the building. Following the “Main Street” plan concept, the two main spaces are connected by a long, gently curving circulation spline, along which pod classroom groupings are entered, conceptually a “main street.” Groups of six to eight classrooms are arranged around a clerestory-lit common space that can be used for break-out group activity within the grade level groupings. Fine Arts, Learning Lab and Computer facilities are situated on the other side of the hallway for use by all pod groupings. On the exterior, the clerestory spaces within the pods reveal themselves as yellow-colored extrusions, peeking out from the top of the classroom pods. The simple wedge and block forms of the school, clad in colorful yellow EIFS and warm brick lie in contrast to the gently-rolling country landscape beyond. The large mass of the Commons space, clad in gray architectural metal panel is intended to reference the agricultural metal buildings which often dot the landscape of Northwest Missouri; however, the large glass curtain wall gives a different character to this vernacular reference, and upon entry, visitors to the school know this is active space for gathering, eating and educational play. The administration area of the school is placed right at the entrance to the school. A glassed entry connecting administration area to entry vestibule allows maximum visibility to meet the security needs of the school. A colorful reception desk made of stained MDF greets visitors to the school and sets the tone for the aesthetic to be experienced throughout the building. The Gymnasium shares a unique connection with the Commons space through a two-way stage, accessible to both spaces. A movable partition wall can be drawn across the stage to close off the gym for sport activities and then opened up for a musical performance in the evening. With the partition closed, the stage may also be used from the Commons side, for a smaller performance or presentation to the students. A ribbed concrete wall obscures an accessible ramp, which one school administrator pointed out, is also great for lining up kids for school assemblies like graduation. The rest of the school may be secured to allow access only to the Gymnasium and Commons for after hours community use. Along with materials found in a typical school palette (i.e., concrete block, vinyl composite tile), other materials were selected for their expressive and tactile nature: burnished and glazed block, the exposed ribbed concrete wall, exposed structure and reeded glass. Exposed steel structure, mechanical ductwork and piping become part of the design aesthetic and were intended to engage the young minds into thinking about how buildings are built. The tactile nature of the materials use encourages young hands to touch and experience the building. The defining interior feature of the school is the burnished block wall, which runs the length of the building; glazed block accents are interlaced into the masonry wall construction, creating long colorful “dashes” that lead people down the hallway and accentuate the curve of the wall. A bright red soffit forms a stage proscenium in the Commons, and then becomes a soffit which is carried all the way down the hallway and into the Media Center. Custom-designed tack boards hang outside the Fine Arts and Learning Lab rooms for display of student work. The pattern of the tack boards is carried into the glass wall of the Media Center and into the MDF panels above the serving area in the Commons. The Media Center was originally conceived as being open to the main corridor. This concept was reviewed by the school district as the design developed, and it was the consensus of the board that they would prefer some kind of separation between the corridor and the Media Center for security purposes. The architects then went to work on designing the patterned glass wall; alternating panes of clear and reeded glass were used to add tactile and visual interest to the element and provide some separation between library activities and hallway activity. The interior glass wall plays well with the glass curtain wall enclosing the media center itself, which offers views to the countryside beyond. Blocks of color are used as a uniting interior design element. In addition to the color block running down the curved masonry wall, color blocks are brought into the Gymnasium, the Commons floor pattern and even the reception desk in the Administrative Office. The bright primary colors reveal themselves, disappear and then reappear throughout the school. Color is also used to help the elementary students identify their “home base” pod classrooms. There is a yellow pod for preschool to first grade, a blue pod for second and third grades, and a green pod for fourth and fifth grade students. Intermediate walls in the curved hallway are color-coded to help direct students to their appropriate pod. Color was also used to define the Fine Arts, Computer and Learning Lab areas, as well as areas for teachers. Although having a fully LEED certified school was not a goal for the school, a few green concepts were incorporated into the school to help use resources more efficiently and produce a more pleasing environment for children. Daylighting was a design strategy implemented in the Media Center, the Gymnasium, the Commons/Café and the pod common spaces. The pod common spaces are sufficiently daylit to provide enough light for the space to be used quite comfortably without having to use artificial light. The large expanse of glass at the entry to the school is south-facing with appropriate shading devices to allow for winter sun to passively warm the school in during those months. Other simple ideas were used -- like occupancy sensors on lighting devices – to help save on the energy costs. The new Hamilton Elementary school is a showcase educational project for the city of Hamilton and for the Northwest Missouri region as a whole, and is sure to be an effective learning and community center for years to come. Project Description:
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