Published: MAY 1, 2020
Architects present design of new building
The Edison Elementary School design team of Mahlum Architects and Robertson Sherwood Architects has completed design development for the new building, reflecting input received from families, neighbors and other community members.
The Edison school building that will be replaced, thanks to the community’s support of the 2018 school bond measure, is the district’s oldest existing building, constructed in 1926. It is nestled into the neighborhood on a very small school property, a single city block.
The architect team began the design process with an eye towards public collaboration and neighborhood fit as well as educational design specifications. The architects reviewed districtwide visioning and planning documents, and attended multiple public outreach meetings to gather feedback and identify community priorities. The team asked community members about their places of memory, how they use the property, what they cherish, and what could be improved with the new building.
The community had also previously weighed in on the design direction for the new school, when it was determined that, as preferred by the community, the building’s history would be honored through historic displays and potentially by repurposing some materials in an interpretive preservation approach, not by preserving any portions of the façade in place. Community members also indicated a preference for northwestern and traditional design styles over a more contemporary design approach for this building.
Responsive to community input, the architects have created a school design to fit the neighborhood in scale and prioritize green space, and utilized traditional and northwestern design styles in the provided renderings of the new building. (Note, while renderings help envision and understand a design’s team vision, renderings are speculative and the final constructed building may see some minor cosmetic differences.)
As the planned community open house to share the design update and invite community feedback cannot be held due to the coronavirus pandemic, this update is being provided virtually instead. The design and building renderings have been presented in a school board meeting and shared with school staff, families and the public.
Any comments on the presented school design are invited to be shared via an online form by Sunday, May 10: surveymonkey.com/r/EdisonDesign
After completion of the detailed design, construction documents and permitting, construction of the new building will begin in early 2021 to be completed by summer 2022. The new school building will be a high-quality learning environment and community asset now and for generations to come.