Spokane Schools, Addition and Renovations

Spokane, Missouri

Firm

Dake Wells Architecture

Client

Spokane R-VII School District

Area

28,500 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$5,411,772

Completion Date

10/2013

With an existing middle school and high school located across a two-lane highway from each other sharing facilities, this rural school district was faced with serious safety concerns. Pedestrians had experienced too many close calls, including a teacher’s pushcart that had been hit by a passing car. The district needed an expansion to the aging middle school and desperately wanted a solution for crossing the road safely.

In response to the growing programmatic needs of the middle school, this solution provides additional classrooms in the form of an elevated bridge that spans the road, strengthening the visibility of the school while providing safe transit between facilities. The building’s plan is organized as a singular gesture spanning the road, with a subtle shift in overall width in response to an existing property easement on the middle school side of the road. This shift marks an interior transition of the single loaded corridor providing a daylit social space for students and faculty.