Takoma Park Elementary School
- Type: Addition
- Size/Area: 34,995 SF
- Owner: Montgomery County Public Schools
- Location: 7511 Holly Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912
After
performing a feasibility study, SEI Architects designed a new two-story
addition to the existing Takoma Park Elementary School. The new academic
classrooms were clustered and located on two floor levels. The pre-kindergarten
and kindergarten classrooms were placed on the lower level, which exits
on-grade at the rear of the building. Classrooms on the second floor of the
addition tied back to the main floor of the existing school. The existing
building received minor renovations to the administration area, health room and
media center.
Residing
in a semi-urban environment, Takoma Park Elementary School is situated on an
extremely tight site with substantial grade change. In order to maximize usage
of the site and accomplish the site program requirements, SEI had to use the
grade change to our advantage with large retaining walls, switchback bus loop and
parking arrangement, and separation of parent drop-off/pick-up, bus loop, and
pedestrian circulation paths.
As a
community school with a substantial quantity of pedestrian traffic, we designed
a public plaza at the main entrance where parents could drop-off and pick-up
their children. Due to the steep grade change of the site, this plaza overlooks
the azalea gardens to provide beautiful views of this natural feature. These
scenic views further encourage walking instead of creating traffic in an
already congested area.