Summerfield Crossings Elementary School Riverview, Florida
Client: Hillsborough County Public Schools
Location: 11050 Fairway Meadow Drive
Site: A 15-acre tract with a subtle downward slope to the west. The only existing site feature was a retention pond on the west edge. The site is bounded on the north and south by homes, on the east by public playgrounds and a neighborhood recreation center and on the west by a multi-family residential development. Vehicular access and all public utility access are from the south.
Program Challenge: To create a 940-student station elementary school for students in grades K-5. The school had to meet Hillsborough County School District specifications for elementary education including the district’s paired classroom configuration standard. The school was also to serve as a prototype to be repurposed by the District in the future on a variety of other sites. The 97,994 square foot school was budgeted at $110 per square foot.
Solution: Given the school’s prototype status and its need for layout adaptability in the future, Rowe Architects designed Summerfield Crossings with a kit-of-parts approach created with two main elements: core buildings and classroom buildings. Core buildings house support spaces – an administration and guidance suite, media center, and a multi-purpose room coupled with a dining and food service facility – and were designed as three distinct one-story buildings that could be arranged in a variety of configurations. These core structures abut the parking area on the west and create a protect courtyard with the classroom buildings on the east.
The classroom arrangement was predetermined by Hillsborough County’s paired classroom configuration. Each 800-square-foot classroom is paired with another and they’re joined by an open pass-through and paired toilet rooms. The intermediate and kindergarten classrooms occupy a long, two-story building that is bookended by a pair of two-story primary classroom buildings. The primary buildings are designed to serve the Hillsborough County Emergency Management Department as Enhanced Hurricane Protection Areas in the event of an ordered evacuation of nearby areas.
The outdoor spaces of Summerfield Crossings are designed to suit students by grade level. The protected courtyard is the setting for the kindergarten and primary play court and play field areas, confining the younger children to the security of the schoolyard. The older, intermediate grade level children are allowed to venture beyond the courtyard to their play court and play fields, which are still still located within the secured school site. The school’s intermediate play area is adjacent to an existing recreation center. This spatial relationship fosters sharing of amenities and aids the school’s integration into the neighborhood.
RAI’s design for Summerfield Crossing was selected for inclusion in the 140th AASA National Conference on Education and the 2008 AASA Learning Spaces Architectural Awards Exhibition.