Huntington Elementary School, Renovation and Addition

Chillicothe, Ohio

Firm

Feinknopf Macioce Schappa Architects, Inc.

Client

Huntington Local Schools

Area

70,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$7,700,000

Completion Date

09/1999

Neil Uhrig, superintendent of Huntington Local Schools, sought to create a new type of learning atmosphere for the school. The K-12 district exists in one building.
The architect designed the high school in the late 1980s and was invited back in 1997 to renovate and extend the middle school and elementary school. The entire project consisted of a middle school addition and a 70,000-square-foot renovation of the elementary school, including 17,000 square feet of new gymnasium space, more classrooms and a new kindergarten space.
The design team was faced with Uhrig’s challenge of creating a new atmosphere from a deteriorated 1948 elementary school. The most cost-effective approach was to formulate a wayfinding plan through the use of tile patterns and paint colors throughout the elementary school. To set the area apart from the other two schools in the building, the administration area became the focus of the creative environment. Shaped masses evolved and became building blocks to welcome students, teachers and visitors to the school.

Entry photo: ©Brent Turner/BLT Productions