Kennedy Elementary School, Addition

Schiller Park, Illinois

Firm

DLA Architects, Ltd.

Client

Schiller Park School District 81

Area

36,631 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$10,276,115

Completion Date

12/2016

When kids leave their grand opening tour asking if they can come back the next day, you know that a school design resonates. From top to bottom, the addition at Kennedy Elementary is student-focused and designed to support all types of learning.
Classrooms encourage active learning with easy-to-rearrange, flexible furniture. Students collaborate in small groups (breakout rooms), research in an introspective space (window seat), or engage as a large group. Color defines the cohorts and special areas within the school (e.g., third-grade spaces are teal; pre-K blue; reading rooms green). Transparent walls enhance security and inspire wonder by putting learning on display. They function as writing surfaces in spaces such as the breakout rooms and excite students with their novelty.
Students and staff connect to the world of living things through natural light, views, and the selection of materials (e.g., “grass” Flotex flooring and wood-look ceilings). This is especially evident in the presentation space, where an amphitheater becomes a “hill.”
The “learning corridor” is a mash-up of circulation and media center that welcomes students to linger with a book or technology.