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ArchDC Spring 2017.qxp_Spring 2017 2/22/17 2:55 PM Page 56

Rendering showing the new Middle School at left and
the renovated Elementary School at right, with the
courtyard between them.
Courtesy of Studio Twenty Seven Architecture
A key facet of the Achievement Prep program is grand stair that connects the three stories of the school.
longer school days, allowing more time both in and out The main space, at the second floor, is two stories in
of the classroom. “Longer days demand an organized height, with windows on two sides and a flexible-use
environment with diverse, stimulating spaces,” noted homework area/lounge space. It extends both to the
Jacob Marzolf, Studio Twenty Seven’s project designer. third floor via a large-riser stair/amphitheater, and down
Architecturally, this translated into generous daylighting, to the main entrance lobby on the first floor. Overlooking
mostly single-loaded corridors, ever-changing views to the space are catwalk corridors and a red-walled meeting
the outside, and a variety of spatial experiences within. room. The diagonals of the space are expressed on the
Studio Twenty Seven’s parti, or organizing principle, for exterior, thus animating the façade that faces the
the new Middle School was to take “bites” away from the Elementary School.
basic, blocky massing to express the different program- A multipurpose room at the first floor is an architec-
matic elements within and to provide windows for all turally calmer version of the central commons and serves
spaces—on multiple sides where possible. Similar many of the same informal purposes, in addition to being
“subtractions” were planned to the original building, the cafeteria. It is also a double-height space, with part of
too, to bring daylight to the double-loaded corridors. its ceiling being the sloping underside of the grand stair.
Due to budgetary limitations, those changes to the original There are fewer windows to the outside and no through-
building didn’t happen, but the architects’ devotion to circulation, but it is overlooked by windows into the second
the idea is noteworthy. floor classroom corridor, which visually connect it into
The charter school’s goal to create community is the rest of the facility. The gymnasium uses a different mix
rooted in the practical, if unfortunate, fact that many of of the same architectural vocabulary to provide a third
the students do not enjoy stable lives at home, nor in their double-height space, this time focused on movement
immediate neighborhood. Architecturally, the principal and action.
manifestation of the goal is the central commons space Another unusual aspect of Achievement Prep is that
of the new Middle School, a dynamic space along the students have “ownership” of the classrooms. Each grade

56 ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENT