When PS X18 was originally designed in 1947, its architects anticipated and noted on their plans that an addition could be added at the front of the school. In 2014, the addition was conceived to house a 2,500 SF Student Based Health Center which incorporates components for physical, mental, dental and vision facilities. To make the Health Center easily accessible to students required connecting it to the school’s main circulation system, which required minor modifications to one classroom. An exterior entrance accessible from the street makes the Health Center also accessible to the public.

The plan configuration was shaped to maintain adequate daylighting into adjoining classrooms. The addition is enclosed by masonry cavity walls utilizing the same brick colors on the original school in configurations that recall but not copy the striped patterns of the school’s first floor. To screen off a mechanical rooftop unit, raised sculptural metal screens are integrated with the masonry parapets. In conjunction with the installation of a below ground site drainage system, a landscaped garden has been created at the front of the school.

To accelerate construction, the project was packaged to enable the construction of the foundations while the construction documents for the super-structure were being completed.