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Architects: Orcutt Winslow
- Area: 95000 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Matt Winquist Photography
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Manufacturers: Corian, Daltile, Mechoshades, Modernfold
Text description provided by the architects. John Dewey, at the turn of the 20th Century, put forth a vision for modern education and re-imagined a future in which schools “carefully balance the delivery of knowledge and learning through active inquiry”. John S. McCain III Elementary, the only school to be named after the late senator, embraces and epitomizes these ideals. The school is designed to support the C-STEM curriculum and also fosters social and emotional learning.
A community-led, collaborative, co-creation process was utilized to establish a design direction, embed the school into its larger context, and set up the school district for future success. The project had to overcome several challenges, the biggest of which was the COVID-19 Pandemic. Major design efforts had to transition to an online format in the spring of 2020, challenging the entire team to still maintain a holistic, community-driven/ co-creation process while maintaining safety.
The pandemic induced supply chain and labor shortages, and the resulting escalation in costs, the project ended up having to rebid, taking three months out of the construction schedule. In the end, construction had to take place in under 8 months! Despite these challenges, John S. McCain III is a successful learning community-based organization. There are three learning communities initially operated along traditional age-based grade bands. They can easily adapt to an ability-based cohort organized around pedagogies involving teacher facilitated-student directed learning.
The learner-centric communities feature multi-dimensional infrastructures that support brain-based learning modalities and offer a high degree of flexibility, variety, and collaborative opportunities at multiple scales. High performance and biophilic design principles such as ample natural light, views, access to the outdoors, and balance of prospect and refuge, help cater to occupant wellness while creating a solid foundation for higher-order learning.
The life, legacy, and ethics of Senator McCain are embedded through a branding strategy employing computational design, as traits for students to unpack through the course of their development and growth at the school.
