Completion Date:     8/24/2015

Square Footage:      73000

Building Use:           Middle School

Location:                 San Diego, CA

Project Description:

As a new and growing community, the Pacific Highlands Ranch neighborhood, located in northern San Diego, was ready for a new middle school to accommodate the growth. In 2012, with a long range facilities master plan complete, San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) passed a $449 bond initiative that outlined a vision for sustainable and technology-rich learning environments for each of SDUHSD’s campuses.

The new Pacific Trails Middle School, planned for 1,000 students, is part of the neighborhood center, adjacent to the existing Canyon Crest Academy high school and a community park. Immediately across the street are the Town Center retail and service functions. These public functions combine to create a focal point for the growing community. It was the intent of the project design to be a more youthful complement to the adjacent high school, using a brighter color palette and student-centric design strategies.

Designed around a central student quad, outdoor dining commons and adjacent Media Center, the campus core feels more like a college Student Union than middle school campus with a campus core that provides student gathering, dining and outdoor learning spaces. The first phase included an Administration Building, Gymnasium, Multipurpose Building, Learning Resource Center, Food Service and a Classroom Building.

SDUHSD’s vision is for community-focused campuses with a focus on sustainable, high performance learning environments and an emphasis on saving energy, improving student performance and creating future environmental stewards. Joint-use opportunities and welcoming gathering places, allow schools to become seamless parts of the communities they serve. The project includes shared use playfield space with the adjacent high school and also has a relationship with the Park District to provide community field spaces.

21st century learning is fostered throughout the campus, with flexible spaces for art and music/performance, a Learning Commons that replaces the traditional library with a robust wireless network and flexible spaces for project-based learning and small group instruction. Classrooms are also designed around integrated technology and flexibility, with moveable furnishings and outdoor learning opportunities, adaptable to a variety of teaching and learning styles. The final phase of the campus, a second two-story building currently in design, will include a Maker Lab, completing the goals for this next generational learning space.

In this family-oriented and growing community, the community environment is everything. Engaged stakeholders expect sustainable design. Designed to meet Collaborative for High Performance Schools Verified Status, the new middle school takes full advantage of daylighting and natural ventilation in this temperate climate. Outdoor learning happens everywhere: from the stairway that acts as amphitheater seating to the open air food court. The new Pacific Trails Middle School includes a student friendly color palette, flexible and adaptable furnishings and a robust technology backbone designed to allow for student learning anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

C.O.T.E. | Committee on the Environment

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