Page 57 - ArchitectureDC_Spring2015

The finished project, consisting of about 31,000
square feet of renovated space plus a roughly 9,000-
square-foot addition, fulfills those goals while maintaining
the consistent architectural character that Schmickel and
her colleagues have developed over the course of multiple
projects. All of the newer buildings incorporate grey
steel, natural stone, and abundant glass, though these
materials are composed in different ways in the various
buildings. On the interiors, spots of bright color add
contrast and allow for variations on the neutral palette.
For the Intermediate School, the architects also introduced
wood siding to help distinguish it further from the
other divisions.

Each of the classroom buildings that cox graae + spack
has designed boasts a core gathering space thoughtfully
scaled to the ages of the students who use it. The Upper
School, for instance, features the Crossroads, a three-story
space with a collegiate character appropriate for students
on the brink of adulthood. In the Intermediate School,
the core space is the Commons, which is two stories tall
and furnished with comfortable seating. Its focal point is a
wall of wood bookcases with a large flat-screen television.
The atmosphere is simultaneously domestic and institu-
tional, striking a balance for children who are negotiating
the tricky transition from familial dependence to greater
freedom and more complex socialization.

The new academic spaces in the Intermediate School
allow for more flexible, creative instruction than previ-
ously possible in the existing building. On the second
floor, for example, several informal breakout areas, nestled
among more traditional classrooms, provide places for
the kinds of semi-independent study and interaction that
fit the school’s expectations for students at this level. The
arrangement of these spaces is clearly expressed on the
exterior, with the classrooms clad in wood and projecting
slightly beyond the breakout spaces, which are marked
by floor-to-ceiling windows.

Another major determinant of the building’s layout
was the Potomac School’s emphasis on teaching students to
become good stewards of the natural environment. “From
an architect’s point of view, that’s really fun,” Schmickel
said. “We had the opportunity to make connections
between the building and nature. Every classroom that
can open to [the landscape] does. There is a lot of outdoor
space for learning.” Toward that end, cox graae + spack
also renovated an existing teaching garden at the southern
end of the campus, which had become overgrown and
disused but is now an orderly, living laboratory for
science and other classes.

At this point, the Middle School is the only major
facility on the Potomac campus that has not undergone a
full renovation or replacement. “We hope to get that
project, too,” said Schmickel enthusiastically. Given the
long-standing and apparently quite successful relationship
between cox graae + spack and the Potomac School, it
seems a safe bet that someday she will be getting that call.

POTOMAC PLACE 55