West Junior High School

Swiftwater, Pennsylvania

Firm

Gilbert Architects Inc.

Client

Pocono Mountain School District

Area

285,577 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$45,207,020

Completion Date

07/2006

The media center for the new junior high school for grades 8 and 9 offered unique challenges in designing a functional environment for that age group. The space had to be inviting and easily supervised, as well as offer the resources and materials for interactive and research-based learning.
At the entry, a semicircular circulation desk commands the room and establishes a tone of control. The overhead bulkhead, a theme carried throughout the school to define key locations in the building, is replicated here. Centrally situated, this allows the librarian the ability to supervise all areas of the space.
The stack areas are situated at either end of the main gallery, separating fiction from non-fiction reading materials. The stack areas flank the instructional classroom and reading areas that are separated by a reference/research bank of computers.
Conducive to the climate and character of the Pocono Mountains, the roof, pitched to shed snow, afforded the opportunity to enhance the space with a vaulted ceiling and timber glue-laminated wood trusses.