J. Turner Hood Elementary School

North Reading, Massachusetts

Firm

TLCR Associates Inc.

Client

North Reading School Building Committee

Area

54,176 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$4,924,000

Completion Date

09/2001

“Give us a refreshing impact on the learning environment,” they said. “School will be in session, so phased construction. We’ve maxed out the portables.” A nicely detailed, well maintained, fairly standard 1950s schoolhouse, J. Turner Hood Elementary School needed major upgrades.
So, a strong new visual presence was created—an exterior celebrating entry, an inside marking a crossroads starting point. This included a new canopy and tower, plus a lobby skylight.
A new wing uses program elements that benefit from increased ceiling heights—library/media center, art and music—as well as a separate community-use door.
Additional program pieces—improved administration and teachers’ spaces, support areas—are added within the existing fabric. New kindergarten rooms are carved from the liberated standard classroom space.
Renovations include new windows, roof, floor and ceiling finishes, lighting, additional casework (“cubby corners”), tack- and whiteboards, considerable infrastructure improvements, and the latest in communications and technology networks.