The new 97,000 SF Roosevelt Middle School serves 650 students. Mahlum’s design reflects the most current thinking around effective learning environments for teenage students, and is deeply grounded in the culture of the Roosevelt Middle School community.
We led a stakeholder engagement process in order to understand these cultural influences. Roosevelt Students’ social networking practice of “looping” the hallways before school drove design decisions about organization and circulation. The building is comprised of several building blocks around a central courtyard. The courtyard is activated by activity spill-out from areas conceptualized as: Idea Exchange – the intersection of school and community, Makers’ Lab – a multi-purpose, high-bay space for doing, Kinetic Center – a celebration of movement in learning, and Culture Hub – center for performing arts center and dining with views to beautiful open play fields.
How do we create protection, perceived security, or resiliency in our designs?
see our ideas in premise
“I never knew what my colleagues were doing in their classrooms, but now I can see everybody and I feel more connected. We collaborate a lot more.”
– 7th grade Teacher, Roosevelt Middle School
