Page 40 - spaces4learning, Fall 2021

EDUCATION DESIGN SHOWCASE • K-12
PROJECT OF DISTINCTION
JAMES L. CAPPS
MIDDLE SCHOOL
PUTNAM CITY SCHOOLS WARR ACRES, OK
ARCHITECT
LWPB Architecture
JEFF WEGENER, AIA, ALEP 405-722-7270
PROJECT INFORMATION
CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR
James Burnett, Principal
COMPLETION DATE
August 2020
GROSS AREA
170,258 sq. ft.
AREA PER STUDENT
189.18 sq. ft.
SITE SIZE
38.55 acres
CURRENT ENROLLMENT
900 students
CAPACITY
1,200 students
COST PER STUDENT
$41,134.11
COST PER SQ. FT.
$289.92
TOTAL COST
$49,360,933
40 FALL 2021
INSPIRED BY HENRY DAVID
Thoreau’s words, “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees,” Capps Middle School re-envisions a neighborhood park into a new, future-ready middle school.
The building proper, heavily influenced by its natural setting, sits on the east and west sides of a bisecting creek. Connect- ing the two structures is an innovation hub in the form of a 250-foot bridge positioned over the creek, with media resources, computer applications, maker labs and broadcasting studios.
Along the creek’s east bank are three core learning neigh- borhoods, all of which architec- turally respond to the creek’s natural dips and bends. Each neighborhood is identifiably different and draws from the site strata — a lush green top layer, the red clay soil, and the blue from the creek itself, meant to metaphorically carry 8th grade learners onto high school and beyond. Learning studios open with glass operable walls up
to collaborative hubs dubbed “front porches,” many of which promote visual connections
to nature. Each neighborhood embodies a departure from tra- ditional teaching methods, en- couraging a new inquiry-based model that cultivates curiosity, inspires hands-on learning, and supports the environment as a tool for teaching.