Metal cladding highlights focal elements of this new school. Façade transparency and an open stair invite community use of assembly spaces

A new Primary School shares its site with an existing charter school located within a residential neighborhood in the Bronx. Besides 18 classrooms ranging from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade, the school has specialized education classrooms, a gymatorium, cafeteria, library, custodial and storage facilities and administration offices.

The design is bi-nuclear, with the instructional spaces forming a volume which is connected to the cafeteria/gymatorium block by lobbies on the 1st and 2nd floors.

In order to encourage the use of the assembly areas by the community, visual transparency is provided at the entrance and the exterior of the cafeteria. Circulation up to the gymatorium is provided by an open sculptural stair, the treads of which are extended to form the reception desk.

Construction is steel frame and concrete slabs. The brick exterior, utilizing two brick colors, forms a background against which focal components such as the library, the gymatorium and a stair, are highlighted by being clad in metal panels.

To reduce the carbon foot print of this fully air-conditioned building, the school has been designed to meet the stringent requirements of the Green School Guide.