St Thomas school Center for Leadership and Innovation
St Thomas school Center for Leadership and Innovation
Medina, Washington
CLIENT
St Thomas School
size
6,975 sf (renovation)
YEAR
2022
Award
2023, Learning by Design, Renovation/ Adaptive Reuse, Outstanding Project
St. Thomas School (STS) is a private, independent school incorporating pre-school through eighth grade. The school is in the community of Medina, an eastside suburb of Seattle, Washington. STS was originally designed for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The expansion to include a middle school included the design an construction of the Performing Arts and Gymnasium building, which left the old gym space available to create additional learning space.
The Center for Learning and Innovation (CLI) at the St Thomas School is housed in the former gymnasium, located on the west side of the main classroom building. The space co-locates the existing Technology Lab with the CLI to create synergy for learners. This renovation included adding fenestrations to the exterior wall to bring in daylight, creating a bright, learning-ready space. The two-story space is punctuated with large interior windows that provide transparency across learning spaces for teachers and students. A moveable glass partition wall on the first floor allows the space to be reconfigured for flexible learning, creating separate spaces that may be utilized simultaneously by different classes. The second floor features private office spaces for one on one meetings, a conference room, and computer lab. Flexible furniture is featured throughout the space to allow for student personalization of their learning experience.
