Donna Lee Loflin Elementary School

Asheboro, North Carolina

Firm

Smith Sinnett Architecture

Client

Asheboro City Schools

Area

73,210 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$2,045,754

Completion Date

01/1998

Completed in January of 1998, this addition to Loflin Elementary transformed an awkwardly composed collection of antiquated buildings into a cohesive, brightly colorful educational environment. Situated in an established residential neighborhood across from a major city park, the school’s difficult site constraints dictated a carefully wrought infill of new construction and renovation.
A cafeteria was added to the southern portion of the existing building. To the north, a multilevel, handicapped-accessible link was added to reconcile varying floor elevations between the existing structures. Together, these two gestures clarified the school’s previously disjointed system of circulation and offered greater efficiencies in the use of the existing facilities.
The addition’s exterior expression draws upon the precedent of Loflin’s treasured 1928 Colonial-style gymnasium, generating a familiar but refreshingly animated street front facade.

Photographer: ©Peter Damroth Photography

“Contextual design respects old while creating new…good compact plan…nice materials.”—1999 jury