Located between a busy commercial street and a residential suburban neighborhood, the existing buildings —including an underused 1950s Ukrainian church school— accommodate Lady Liberty’s lower grade classrooms and a separate gym. To house the middle school, we designed a new, three-sided volume that wraps round the existing structures. This move created a central courtyard around which the whole community could organize, creating many opportunities, solving many school-specific issues and giving the place its unique identity.

The building itself becomes a protective fence for kids at play, and simultaneously shields the residential neighbors from playground noise. The courtyard becomes an easily monitored outdoor recess space and provides an overall ‘campus’ feel from where students and faculty alike participate in the school’s vibrant life.