This independent boy’s school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, wanted to add a middle school to its challenging, college preparatory high school program. While they already had a “junior school” for grades 7 and 8, it had always existed in the shadow of the upper school and was too physically constrained to allow expansion.
It was critical that the design of the new school not only accommodate the team concept of middle school learning, but also reflect the independent school’s desire to provide students with informal gathering spaces and outdoor recreation areas.
The new school is organized along a diagonal atrium spine. At the heart of the school, opening off the spine, are a library/resource center and a "forum"--a flexible gathering space where students can meet for lectures, performances, or study groups. Each grade level shares four classrooms and a science room and is clustered around an entry area containing wooden cubbies for knapsack and bookbag storage.
Because the middle school is located along the school’s entrance drive, the exterior design reflects the traditional, southern design of the older campus buildings. A colonnade and landscaped plazas provide students with their own outdoor space for informal recreation, separate from the upper school.