Natick, MA, 1969, Flansburg Architects
Students and visitors enter this South Natick elementary school through a scenic path between a promenade of aged trees and a historic stone wall. This decision to set the building at the rear of its plot is actually one of many choices the architects made in order to create a modern school building for the town as efficiently as possible. The wall and trees actually predate the building itself, so keeping them in place eschewed the need for complex landscaping while also creating ample space for the open fields necessary for students.
The building itself was also designed around a series of plan efficiencies with the goal of streamlining modern school production. The plan centers around three rooftop light monitors which bring natural light into the circulation spaces of the school. This move allows for inviting interior spaces while allowing the classrooms to have ample exterior light as well. The size and shape of the monitors also create three collaboration spaces between classrooms that help to organize the space.
The building itself was also designed around a series of plan efficiencies with the goal of streamlining modern school production. The plan centers around three rooftop light monitors which bring natural light into the circulation spaces of the school. This move allows for inviting interior spaces while allowing the classrooms to have ample exterior light as well. The size and shape of the monitors also create three collaboration spaces between classrooms that help to organize the space.
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