The new LAUSD Middle School #7 project is a 1,350 seat, two-semester school that will provide 50 classrooms and an overall building program of approximately 130,000 sq. ft. Osborn’s design includes classrooms for Small Learning Communities; administration, service and support areas; a performing arts facility; physical education spaces, including a gymnasium and play fields; a library/media center; a multi-purpose room; food services; maintenance spaces; and staff parking.One of the main challenges of the project was the limited site area. As a result, the success of the design is largely predicated on creative organizational strategies that maximize efficiency and function. The Osborn design team developed a building program that allows simultaneous activities to occur in close proximity without sacrificing the quality of the space or its programmed event. Another key charge for the designers was to meet a rigorous work schedule. In order to keep the project on track, the team developed new methods of digital and physical design exploration that allowed them to quickly study each new design possibility.The plan for LAUSD CRMS #7 leveraged a clever strategy for parking. A partially submerged structure allowed minimal rise to the first floor while minimizing mechanical ventilation of the parking area. The site plan for LAUSD CRMS#7 is carefully designed to provide the maximum amount of open space to the school and community. The building is consolidated on the north and west portions of the site in a three story classroom building over partially subterranean parking. A dramatic covered entry space provides a transition from the public street into the building, and then back out onto the playing fields and open space. The internal organization of the building allows configuration into three separate small learning communities (SLC’s) should the need for this type of organization arise in the future. The building consolidates open space in a dramatic covered area at the entry which makes best use of internal open space in this dense campus.
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