The Anderson Eastside Elementary project replaced a trio of decades-old elementary schools with a single 101,000 square feet new facility. This provided quality educational environments, offered a memorable shape that imparts identity to the new young users in the school, and created a visible symbol of education within the community.
The exterior design of the facility is used to enhance the school’s visibility and emphasize the importance of education in the community. Simple geometric shapes such as circles, diamonds, and triangles provide a unique signature for the building. This calls attention to the combined playfulness and structure of the educational process inside, as well as defining the building as an elementary school. This signature is articulated in the architectural details that appear throughout the interior in display areas, signage, and the logo of the building.
In addition to more than three dozen well-appointed classrooms, the school offers spacious room for art, music, special education, two computer labs, a gymnasium, food service operation and a performance stage – conveniently positioned between the gym and the cafeteria which can be opened to either side. Enclosed by a wall of glass off the main lobby area, the media center provides a learning retreat for students. Following a “figure 8” design, the innovative floor plan is shaped in such a way where all the hallways lead back to the core of the building.
