Eastgate Elementary School Bellevue, Washington Elementary School Project of Distinction – New Construction NAC|Architecture 2010 Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture

Eastgate Elementary School

Parent Drop Off / Visitor Parking 2.Entry Plaza 3.Kindergarten / Younger Child Play Area 4.Outdoor Classrooms 5.Hard Surface / Older Child Play Area 6.Field 7.Buses / Staff Parking 8.Bus entry garden 9.Existing Pre-School Building The school’s organization into small pavilions enables excellent daylighting and views to the established green edges that surround the site. The massing, developed in simple two-story forms, expresses the confident quality required of a civic project, while maintaining a fitting scale for the long established residential neighborhood. The scale and quality of the building and the exterior spaces such as the entry plaza and bus entry garden engage the surrounding context with an appropriate urban invitation. 8

Community Environment: Welcoming Entry The main stairway is in a welcoming light-filled foyer, a greeting place for students travelling by bus or dropped off by their parents. Everyone passes through the main entry space celebrating arrival at school.

Community Environment: Library as a Hub Overlooking the entry plaza and connecting to the entry foyer, the library is the hub of student activity. When used for community meetings it serves as a comfortable informal gathering and social space. With its views and daylight it has quickly become a favorite spot for district wide administrative meetings.

Learning Environment: Small Learning Neighborhoods - Flexible Indoor Classrooms Organized in Small Learning Neighborhoods, the core learning areas are well daylit, sized and designed to accommodate different learning modes, and enjoy the benefits of the surrounding natural quality. Gallery Core Learning Area Shared Small Group / Project Room Typical Small Learning Neighborhood

Learning Environment: Outdoor Classrooms Every Small Learning Neighborhood has an adjacent outdoor classroom, providing teachers with the opportunity to take advantage of the mild climate to better engage students in outdoor and kinesthetic learning

Physical Environment: Indoor/Outdoor Connection

Physical Environment: Landscape as a Teaching Tool The landscape design has been carefully integrated with the architecture for both teaching and experiential purposes. The immediacy, location and selection of plants enables teachers to reference them during relevant poetry readings, and while teaching about the seasons, native plants, and geology. The adjacent exterior classrooms are also used for art instruction allowing students to explore art out of doors.

Planning Process: Continuum of Learning Eastgate Elementary School is organized into Small Learning Neighborhoods separated by Outdoor Classrooms weaving a continuum of educational spaces across the site. Designed to connect to nature, the school invites the use of the site as a teaching tool. A series of small pavilions... with indoor/outdoor connections... enables a continuum of learning.

Planning Process: Small Learning Neighborhoods Core Learning Area Informal Activity Space Gallery Display Space Small Group Project Rooms Connection from Classroom to Project Room Connection from Classroom to Exterior The school’s teaching culture implements Small Learning Neighborhoods organized by grade level. Core Learning Areas are flexible and equipped to accommodate a variety of teaching and learning styles. Small group project rooms connect between Core Learning Areas, expansive windows maintain a connection to nature, and a continuous display gallery between the Core Learning Area enhances collaboration and identity within each neighborhood. L-Shaped Small Learning Neighborhood Typical Small Learning Neighborhood

1Commons 2Stage 3Music 4Gym 5Typical Learning Neighborhood 6Small Learning Neighborhood 7Art 8Kindergarten 9Outdoor Classrooms 1 st Floor Plan N FT

1Typical Learning Neighborhood 2Small Learning Neighborhood 3Library 2 nd Floor Plan N FT

Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Data Submitting Firm :NAC|Architecture Project RoleArchitect Project ContactSteve Galey TitleProject Manager Address2201 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1405 City, State or Province, CountrySeattle, Washington 98121, USA Phone Joint Partner Firm: Project RoleN/A Project ContactN/A TitleN/A AddressN/A City, State or Province, CountryN/A PhoneN/A Other Firm: Project RoleN/A Project ContactN/A TitleN/A AddressN/A City, State or Province, CountryN/A PhoneN/A Construction Firm:Spee West Construction Co. Project RoleGeneral Contractor Project ContactDoug Spee TitleOwner Address307 Bell St. City, State or Province, CountryEdmonds, WA Phone

Exhibition of School Planning and Architecture 2010 Project Details Project Name Eastgate Elementary School City Bellevue State Washington District Name Bellevue School District Supt/President Dr. Amalia Cudeiro Occupancy Date September 2009 Grades HousedK-5 Capacity(Students) 570 students Site Size (acres) 8.1 acres total (only 5.7 acres suitable for building) Gross Area (sq. ft.) 67,036 sq. ft. Per Occupant(pupil) sq. ft. / pupil gross/net please indicate Gross Design and Build? No If yes, Total Cost: Includes: If no, Site Development: $4,293,700 Building Construction: $10,038,000 Fixed Equipment: $3,982,900 Other: $2,879,936 Total: $21,194,536

Community Environment: School as a Center of Community The use of wood and views to the tree covered hill beyond dignify the interior of the gym and commons inviting community use. Because of the physical separation of publicly used spaces, multiple community groups can use the school’s facilities simultaneously. Library Gymnasium

Learning Environment: Informal Learning Spaces The school design uses ancillary spaces, such as stairways, to provide informal learning spaces for small groups, pull-out individual projects, one-on-one mentoring activities or for other social or relaxation purposes.

Learning Environment: Art Fosters Identity Community in the school is enhanced through engagement of students and parents in art. Hand painting of the eagle mascot and a pointillist landscape image on glass panels enrich the school’s identity for both students and the larger community.

Planning Process: Sustainable Pioneer The school achieved a vigorous sustainable agenda that continues to mark this building as a district pioneer; ground source heating located below the playfields, the weaving of landscape into the school’s courtyards, and a daylighting scheme that reduces reliance on electricity and gives dramatic views to natural site features.

Physical Environment: Slowness of Discovery Materials change scale and color to emphasize exterior community spaces and interior individual spaces. Landscape provides a counterpoint to the school’s textures and an accent to its experiential approach to teaching. Landscape and building weave together to invite a gradual spatial discovery through physical exploration.