THE HAMLIN SCHOOL

Completed while at Mark Cavagnero Associates

Occupying a through-block lot on a steep hillside in Pacific Heights, this project carefully knits together a campus of existing buildings with new vertical circulation, while simultaneously expanding back into the hillside and down a half level to create more space for academic programs.  This close community of K-8 girls previously shared one multipurpose room functioning as a gym and a theater.  The success of both programs led to scheduling conflicts during playoffs in the spring.  The expansion created a full size gym for basketball and volleyball, adding program elements overlooking the new volume along the sides.  A new multipurpose space with stepped retractable seating was the new home for the performing arts and dance programs.

Above these spaces, a new central outdoor space was created just outside the existing middle school science classrooms, and the new lower school science room, for a new gathering space and “science terrace” which can be used for science experiments and “project-based learning” activities.  

Classrooms in the McKinne building were also renovated to be enlarged and paired by grade with an operable partition for a co-teaching model, and a small project room for activities.

Nestled between the new central stair and the lobby is an indoor climbing wall, which further adds to the vertical knitting of the spaces in the steep hillside campus, creating views between levels.

During the 6+ years of the intermittent design process, completed during a long fundraising campaign, the team also completed other smaller interventions on campus, such as converting an existing library space into a multifunctional “maker” space in the historic Stanwood building, including custom furniture for project display.