Page 59 - ArchDC Spring_2017

ArchDC Spring 2017.qxp_Spring 2017 2/22/17 2:55 PM Page 57

Courtyard between the Elementary
and Middle schools.

level has a “collaborative work space” approximately the size of a the budget for most of the new DC public libraries). Under these
classroom, which has open-office workstations for each teacher and constraints, such a project doesn’t happen without some pain.
small meeting areas. They are located somewhat away from the Fairly late in the process, for example, each floor was reduced in
classrooms, to emphasize the distinction. They encourage information height by about a foot to reduce the quantity of materials needed
sharing among the teachers and foster a sense of common purpose and the cubic feet of space to be air-conditioned and heated.
among the adults of Achievement Prep. One more nice touch is Because windows are substantially more expensive than masonry
that, within the new building, classes are located with 4th grade veneer walls, the glazed area was carefully considered and reduced
at the bottom and 8th at the top, so that students literally rise as several times. Almost all the red accents are simply painted.
they advance. Yet smart planning by Studio Twenty Seven makes the most
All spaces in the new building including the gymnasium are of all this. For example, red-painted walls, when seen through
daylit, some on more than one side. The classrooms face either windows, can give the effect that the glass is tinted red. The use of
northeast into a wooded vale or southwest into the central courtyard, vinyl flooring (perhaps the cheapest decent flooring available) in
in each case connecting with a calm outdoor area to maintain student most spaces allowed for more expensive terrazzo on the grand
focus. The exterior is brick veneer and glass, a palette drawn stair and natural-finish wood on the amphitheater portion. The
directly from the original building but with variations that clearly steel framing required for the building’s structure was strategically
speak to a 21st-century vision of modernism, in contrast with the used to create separations between areas of the central commons
Elementary School’s pared-down, mid-20th-century aesthetic. and to provide visual depth, shadow lines, and interest to the
The interior palette is mostly white and light gray, with accents of window wall along the stair. In the entrance lobby, the diagonals
bright red matching the Achievement Prep logotype. (Readers will of the steel—necessary for bracing—are enhanced by the placement
doubtless note that the students’ uniforms match the building. of light fixtures and mechanical grilles in the ceiling and a sleek
This obviously benefits architectural photographers, but it also is reception desk. When window sizes were reduced to meet the
intended to help forge a sense of community.) budget, Studio Twenty Seven added a subtle motif to the façade
With construction costs of about $300 per square foot, this was brickwork: areas in which header bricks protrude outward about
not a high-budget project (as a point of reference, that is about half an inch, casting shadows that break up the expanses of masonry.

ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENT 57