Project Data:

Completion Date:     5/1/2019

Square Footage:      50000

Building Use:           New K-5 Elementary School

Design Architect:      Brian Dougherty, FAIA, LEED AP

Project Description:

Community engagements where neighbors, staff, students, and families shared their aspirations have formed this replacement campus. Centered on strategies that embrace change, the design reflects the evolution of learning environments. A key criterion has been construction with minimal disruption to the existing community. Minimizing the building footprint while maximizing playfields has led to a 2-story solution, providing outdoor space as a critical component of District equity and student well-being for an underserved community.

Learning is an act of discovery, creativity, and collaboration. Every element of design supports this fundamental philosophy. Classrooms and MPR have built-in flexibility with furniture, sliding full-height writing surfaces, and multiple interactive flat screens allowing reconfiguration. The MPR sports a folding wall, acoustical tuning with draped glass walls, and tiered platform to support a variety of flexible scenarios. Hands-on research opportunities surround the day-lit learning environment, supporting small and large group activities indoors and outdoors.

This Village unites the neighborhood; inviting active engagement with family and community to become an integrated part of learning. From the entry promenade to the location of the Learning Center, each space becomes part of a 24/7 active environment. The campus draws you in, welcomes you, and provides interior and outdoor settings that encourage exploration. Student gardens and outdoor play spaces augment classroom experiences. The north/south student boulevard connects classroom spaces to the Multi-Purpose facility, Administrative Office,s and Learning Center. Buildings are a secure perimeter, ensuring all campus visitors filter through the front office while allowing a welcoming flow of students and parents in the morning and afternoon.

McKinna is an extension of this 1960’s Community. Planning embraces the context, with the goal of walkability. Larger buildings are set back to respect the scale of neighboring homes. The campus grid diagonally articulates a softer edge to the community. Materials have been chosen to reflect the residential fabric. The campus is zoned to allow after-school access to playfields, Learning Resource Center, Multi-Purpose Center, and outdoor plazas. In this age of COVID, the school has become a center of community, distributing hot meals and offering community health care.

A strong Southern California Coastal Tradition links indoor and outdoor environments. Classrooms link to outdoor spaces encouraging hands-on integration of lessons learned. These spaces flow to communal environments, teaching the value of stewardship through student/community gardens, active play, and combined academic and active learning. In a setting where the sun shines brightly, and ocean breezes temper the ideal climate, this campus is designed to optimize indoor and outdoor wellness to engage with the environment and support cognition.

Resource Conservation and High Performance are this project’s DNA. Designed to LEED Gold and CHPS, the design integrates efficient lighting and power reduction strategies, water reduction with a curated palette of indigenous Southern California plant materials, and extensive use of locally sourced and high recycled content materials. A new campus on an existing campus is the epitome of recycling. These lessons blend into the curriculum for students to be active participants in creating a sustainable future.