Design Architect:

LPA Design Studios

Associate Architect or Firm:

Landscape Architect:

LPA Design Studios

Owner / Developer:

Corona-Norco Unified School District

Project Data:

Completion Date:     6/1/2019

Square Footage:      105500

Building Use:           High School

Project Description:

At its inception, the objective of this public-school project was to support a new Career Technical Education (CTE) program, in addition to relieving overcrowding within Corona-Norco Unified School District with the addition of 40 new classrooms to an existing 4,500-student Eleanor Roosevelt High School site. This modest vision evolved quickly and significantly as the District engaged the broader community of Eastvale. After identifying a strong need in the health science, medical technology, engineering and architecture professions, the District decided this STEM Academy would have two pathways: Health/Medical and Engineering/Design.

During the Programming Phase, the District’s goals shifted from capacity increase to an educational experience that would create and support student passion and perseverance, allowing learners to become inquisitive problem solvers and purposeful contributors. This two-month schedule allowed the design team and robust stakeholder group adequate time to explore the relationship between ERHS and the new Academy, tour built facilities to see how spaces were being used firsthand, and help define the Learner Profile of an eSTEM student to understand the ideal environment to support their growth.

eSTEM Academy’s design intentionally redefines the organization and configuration of traditional learning and teaching spaces. Established during Programming, overarching themes of collaboration, flexibility, access and partnership lead to unique design achievements. Designing with the student in mind lead the stakeholder group and design team towards several educational innovations, without compromising the program offerings. A variety of classroom (studio) sizes and typologies, collaborative group and peer spaces, decentralized dining and media resources, as well as leveraging the outdoors for learning, all guided the design from the inside out.

Design challenges included: building consensus among 50+ stakeholders with different perspectives and priorities; that District Standards could not support the highly flexible and highly specific/outfitted nature of the program; finding balance between creating separate identity and fostering an inclusive environment for a “school within a school;” and being a good neighbor to adjacent homes.

Project assets included: a truly authentic engagement process in which CNUSD encouraged anyone interested in having their voice heard to be at the table, and sought out those whose opinion and insight they valued; open-mindedness and willingness to challenge convention; commitment to a shared vision that persisted even through value engineering; and sharing amenities with another school to allow program square footage at the Academy to concentrate on STEM needs.

The impacts of this new facility can be seen at every scale. The student is given power of choice and the freedom of agency day to day, hour to hour. Staff are empowered by professional learning. The campus moves from traditional and expected to innovative and boundless, attracting the interest of many more prospective students within the District. The community of Eastvale gains socially responsible citizens, equipped with the skills for personal success and to enrich society.